How Port Harcourt's Airport Became The Worst In The World

I woke this morning to see the headlines everywhere, “Port Harcourt International Airport is rated the worst airport in the world for 2015”. I was not surprised. Rated thus by popular tourism magazine, A Guide to Sleeping in Airports, the tag was given to the airport after a survey with 26,297 well-traveled respondents. The airports were rated based on four categories, comfort, conveniences, cleanliness and customer service, and in all categories, Port Harcourt International Airport scores a low – or high, depending on which side you are counting from. In the Top 10 worst airports, Port Harcourt International was the only African Airport. CNN Money which released a report on the tag earlier today has asked for a comment from the aviation authorities in Nigeria (FAAN), but it’s no surprise there has been no response. Many people are wondering how this happened, especially considering that Port Harcourt was not in the top 10 Worst Airports list for last year, I am just surprised it took so long for them to find out. You see, on Sunday, I went to drop some visiting relatives – my uncle, his wife and my little cousin, over at the airport, and though we shrugged off the treatment in characteristic Nigerian fashion, in a lot of different ways we got the full dose of the Port Harcourt International Airport flavor.

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Customer service

Customer service at the Port Harcourt terminal starts off with disrespect and then moves on to ingratiation. You are greeted with an unsmiling guard at the airport complex entrance who searches your vehicle with annoyance and deliberate slowness, daring you to complain about how late you are for your flight. Greasing his palm may be the only way you make it through the point in minutes.

Driving into the car park, you are mandated to pay for ticketed parking space, only problem is your money would be collected and the ticketing would be delayed. Another tactic to force you to get angry and drive off, leaving the scowling staff to pocket your ‘ticket’.

By the time you actually enter into the airport, all the derision and disrespect is gone, replaced by a self-effacing ingratiation. “Oga, is it Lagos or Abuja?” Everybody wants to help you, for a fee. Asking questions of staff, you are met with blank faces or polite “I am sorry, that is not my job” answers, unless there is a crisp note rustling between your fingers. The queues are intolerably long, of course because the staff at the counter are slow, but “Oga bring two thousand naira so I can get him to clear you”.

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Cleanliness

While offloading the car at the car park with my relatives, my little cousin made a sharp observation. “This place smells like pee”. The absence of clean serviceable bathrooms offers the car park as an alternative and almost every corner smells like the alley behind a bustling bar. At the end of the car park, bushes grow wild in untamed tufts high enough to hide animals and even thieves and you find yourself hoping the acrid ammonia odour of urine would be sufficient to keep them at bay. In the departures hall, the floor is sandy with the clumps of dirt carried in by travelers which the cleaners fail to take care of quickly.

Comfort and conveniences

The Port Harcourt International airport serves as a terminal for domestic flights to Lagos and Abuja and international flights to Europe and other countries in Africa, and as such the departures hall can be quite busy. Travelers who come early for their flight however have no place to sit and wait before their flight is called. There is barely enough space to sit and often travelers have to leave the terminal for eateries and restaurants outside to wait. The air conditioning is poor and it is not uncommon to see travelers fanning themselves with books and – for the prepared, hand fans.

On the list of worst airports in Africa, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja was 7th worst and Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport was 10th. Authorities of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) definitely have their work cut out for them this period. Former World Worst Airport, Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila, Philippines which had been worst airport three times in a row from 2011 to 2013, and then 4th worst in 2014, is surprisingly no longer on the top 10 list of worst airports this year. According to a spokesperson of the Manila International Airport Authority, this was due to major improvements which are still ongoing. The FAAN should take a leaf from the Manila International Airport Authority, before Port Harcourt International Airport retains the title again.

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