Service at airport can be improved

As a frequent visitor to Indonesia and therefore a frequent user of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport I feel that there are many improvements that can be made at minimal cost that would improve the airport and give a much better impression of Indonesia to the new arrival.

New investors arriving in Indonesia cannot help but be influenced by the airport as their first point of contact with the country.

The Arrival Hall is too small and on a recent trip I estimated 350 people to be waiting to go through Immigration. On that occasion it took me 40 minutes. There should be more immigration desks and the ones that are there should be used. Of the 13 desks only about eight were actually manned.

The lighting and decoration is dreary and the air conditioning is inadequate when the immigration area is crowded. Immigration Officers that are standing and watching should be encouraged not to smoke. In the stuffy and hot space a lot of cigarette smoke only makes the situation worse. When the immigration area is full the travolators which transport people into the Immigration Hall should be turned off as they simply pile more passengers into the crowded room causing a potential danger to those already waiting.

The staff should try and keep the toilet doors (after the Immigration Hall) closed as passers-by get a quick glimpse of the male urinals if they inopportunely glance in the wrong direction. I am not against urinals in principle but having them in public view reminds one of arriving in a very backward country.

The luggage trolleys should be kept near the Immigration Hall exit and before the baggage conveyors. Too often there are no trolleys and those available are at the far end of the baggage hall.

Taxi touts should be banned from the airport. It is inexcusable that pirate taxis have first access to arriving passengers after the customs hall. The official stand should be more clearly marked. The taxi operators who hand out explanatory leaflets should be removed. I had occasion to complain about a taxi driver but it was not responded to. If there is to be no response then it is useless having the system.

There is no need for touts/porters to hang around the taxi area. They grab your bag and lift it into taxi and expect a tip. Perhaps they could be employed gathering the luggage trolley's and returning them to the Arrival Hall.

The taxi loading area and passenger pick up area is chaos and the airport operators should look at Singapore Airport or Hong Kong to see how a taxi loading system should work. The inspection of taxis to determine which should be allowed to pick up passengers at the airport should be more frequent as many of the taxis currently operating are not in a fit state. It was much better when Blue Bird taxis were used at the airport.

Most of the above suggestions can be implemented at low cost and the impact on new arrivals would be dramatic. Instead of arriving in a third world country they would immediately have the feeling that Indonesia really is a fast developing and efficient country.

These are only a few simple suggestions which would help upgrade the image of Indonesia. At present the airport is a place to avoid and certainly makes Indonesia a less attractive center from which to base regional activities.

I would be grateful if these suggestions could be addressed.

DUNCAN SMITH

Jakarta