[dropcap]P[/dropcap]assenger comfort seems to be of top priority to Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo who has identified three key areas in the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport: the chillers, escalators and carousels that need to be changed to enhance passenger
The Minister who toured the Abuja airports yesterday to inspect the facilities and assess quality of services at the Abuja Airport expressed disappointment that in the new terminal only four out of the ten chillers were operational.
He however said structure wise and in terms of ambiance, there was nothing wrong with the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company ( CCECC) built terminal but stressed that maintenance must be factored into everything to ensure nothing breaks down.
Keyamo said,”On arrival at any terminal what the passengers want to see are that facilities are working, they want to come into a conducive atmosphere, they want the chillers working, they also want to see that the lifts are working they are tired and and they can’t climb the stairs so your lifts and escalators must be working and the carousels which are those fan belts that carry the bags they must also be working.
“On visits to most airports those are the challenges. Even at the new airport I learnt only four of the 10 chillers are working now and what is the immediate solution? I have told them every two months they bring bills of fixing chillers and by the time you fix them twice it amounts to almost buying a new one. I told him to get rid of them and let us buy high-quality lifts.
“I won’t be spending money to repair lifts every two months. Beyond that we should have a maintenance culture. If we cannot maintain these things internally, we can get people who can maintain them and hold them accountable and responsible.”
“Three critical infrastructures are the lifts, that is the escalator, the chillers, the air conditioners and the carousels. That is what I think we can focus on but structurally I think Abuja is okay. We don’t need any purchase at the moment for now. Nigerians complain too much about this every day and this is what we need to change, the optics.” He said
