A very sad experience at the airport

I TRAVEL to Langkawi for business on a regular basis. Over a number of years, I’ve noticed a gradual decline in the standard of the cleanliness and customer service at the Langkawi airport but nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced on Aug 18 while waiting to board a flight back to Kuala Lumpur.

It was in the middle of the afternoon and the air-conditioning system throughout the airport was not working. I was there for four hours but there was no public announcement to explain the breakdown or even an apology for the resultant discomfort.

To make things worse, my flight was delayed by almost two hours but there was no formal announcement of the delay. It was only after the boarding time had long elapsed that passengers including me realised the delay and confirmed this with the airline staff at the counter. And that person was curt and insensitive.

There were pools of stagnant water on the floor of the waiting areas near the boarding gates and rubbish was strewn on the floor too, but there was no cleaning crew in sight.

Most of the people there that afternoon seemed to be foreigners and appeared to be families on vacation, some with young children who were crying. There were sections of the airport which looked like a humanitarian disaster zone with many people visibly (and some vocally) distressed by the heat and the generally bad standard of airport service.

As a Malaysian, I was actually ashamed of what was happening and could not believe I was experiencing this in the airport of one of our most promoted tourist destinations.

I have been in bus stations that offered better service.

But I have recognised conscientious efforts to improve the passenger experience at other airports in Malaysia, including at KLIA where a baggage trolley tracking study to improve its accessibility to passengers has been done.

As a frequent traveller, I think this is long overdue at that airport and such improvements are necessary if we are to retain and grow a significant share of the regional tourism market.

We should not underestimate the impact of the airport experience to tourists, especially these days when airlines are providing a wide and growing array of choice destinations at budget prices (and lower airport taxes).