Service at airport can be improved

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