Soekarno-Hatta world's second most on-time airport
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 12/16/2009 8:16 AM | Headlines
Despite numerous complaints about its meager services, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is good at one thing: punctuality.
Luxury travel news portal forbestraveler.com has announced that the airport is the second most on-time international airport worldwide according to data from FlightStats, an Oregon-based company that tracks flight information for airports and airlines around the world.
The portal ranked Soekarno-Hatta below reigning champion, Tokyo's Haneda Airport, and above Narita, which came in third.
The data defined an on-time airport as one having the most flights less than 15 minutes late.
The same yardstick is used by the Geneva-based Airports Council International.
The study, which included 50 of the busiest airports in the world, took data from Aug. 1, 2008, to July 31, 2009.
The portal's report called Soekarno-Hatta this year's most improved airport on its top ten as it "jumped from last year's sixth slot thanks to impressive 84.2 percent on-time arrivals and 89.2 percent on-time departures."
Arrival and departure flights were 79.3 percent and 86.3 percent on-time, respectively, last year.
The head of Soekarno-Hatta airport, Hariyanto, attributed the achievement to the joint efforts by the airline companies, the airport management, the custom and excise agency, and other stakeholders to increase the overall quality of service.
"We check the passengers' belongings in a timely manner and coordinate with the airline companies to prevent flight delays. We also urge passengers to come two hours before flight time," he said.
Hariyanto said to improve service, the airport management team planned to add visa and travel
counters for arriving international passengers.
Tulus Abadi from the Indonesian Consumer Protection Foundation (YLKI) said he disagreed with the ForbesTraveler rank.
"I do not think 'second most on-time airport' rightly describes the flights to and from Soekarno Hatta.
Also, the punctuality of flights are indicative of improved airline services, not so much airport management," Tulus added.
Tulus said a YLKI survey among passengers using Soekarno-Hatta last year found that the general perception was that airlines there often delayed their flights and that the airport did not properly manage its facilities, especially the toilets.
Out of eight airport facilities listed in the survey, toilets accounted for 46 percent of the 955 complaints about the airport's facilities.
The other eight were prayer rooms, sign boards, X-ray machines, trolleys, waiting rooms, parking lots, airport information and eating places.
"Maybe the myriad complaints regarding the toilets has forced the airport management to take steps to flush out the problem," Tulus said.
Soekarno-Hatta was declared as the international airport with second cleanest toilets in Indonesia by the Tourism Ministry in September 2009, lagging behind Surabaya's Juanda International Airport.
It was an marked improvement from 2007, when Soekarno-Hatta ranked fourth. (mrs)