By Kate Henshaw

I get it that there are major renovations going on at a few major airports across the country. I totally understand it and believe me when I say they are long and truly well overdue. How do we claim to have an international airport that looks like a cargo hall?

The Abuja International Airport renovations are in full swing going by what I witnessed …though quite an inconvenience, a lot of thought has gone into making it as painless as possible for air travellers. It is an organized chaos and am sure if the task at hand is done properly,all will be glad at the upgrade.

Port Harcourt Airport on the other hand is a total mess. The Omagwa International Airport needs to be extended and totally overhauled. There is no order at all, check-in desks are on the exterior of the building, one’s luggage is battered on the bare floor as it is dragged to the aircraft; the departure lounge downstairs leaves a lot to be desired,and the so called VIP lounge is just a rip off! Passengers pay 1000 Naira for a little more comfort and end up being seated in there like sardines in a tin, not to mention the deplorable state of the toilets.

They are far from hygienic, and like I always say, just because it is where we dump the waste from our bodies, it does not need to look and smell like a dump!
Flying out through the Muritala Mohammed International(I use the word international loosely) airport on Thursday last week, my heart went out to the ground of staff of Virgin Atlantic. The queues at the check-in desks were horrible. No fault of theirs I must say.

The system for check-in was down, why I wonder? Thank God I had checked -in online the day before. The staff were sweating profusely as the air conditioning at the airport was not functioning. No surprise there. The electricity kept coming on and going off. They decided to do a manual check-in and then revert to their system when the electricity came back on but at the end of the day, doing it manually turned out to be the best way though tedious as the electricity was unstable(tell me something I don’t know).

One staff told me of  how she was trapped in the lift for 45minutes and the panic button in the lift was not functioning. My goodness I cried out; how did you feel I asked her, She just shook her head in frustration at the whole scenario and said” it was not funny at all my dear”.

Later Federal Airport Authority staff came to pry the doors open and released her from the cage called lifts at the airport. Moving along to the bureau de change area to change some money, no electricity as well and so it was manual counting of cash.

The ATM machines were out of order; an endless stream of non functioning systems. Finally,I made it through to the departure lounge which was already filled to capacity. I would sincerely appeal to the airline to get a bigger space for its passengers as the current space they have cannot cater for the amount of passengers passing through. I suspect they have applied for one but the usual bureaucratic red tape has been a stumbling block and so they make do with what they are given.
At the boarding gate, we were all given information on a sheet of paper informing us of delays at the Heathrow Airport when we arrived due to Industrial action by the Uk Border force. It read “ Due to Uk Border Force Industrial action on the Thursday 10th May 2012,passengers on flights arriving at a Uk airport may experience queues and delays at passport control the management of Uk Border Force have been doing everything they can to minimise disruption for passengers”.

It gave more information on how passengers could help manage the situation and then ended by saying that the Uk Border Force wish to apologize to all our customers for any inconvenience caused.” It was signed by the Customer Relations Manager. Receiving this kind of information ahead of time makes one prepared for eventualities. The reverse is always the case in my dear country. Most times, no information, no apology, no explanation is given. You just deal with whatever scenario you are faced with.

We landed at Heathrow Airport behind schedule because of the delay back in Lagos but going through passport control was actually not as bad as we thought. The skeletal service provided by the few staff present was swift and thorough and one did not feel the effect of the strike. Luggage was already out and going round on the numerous conveyor belts available.

I look forward to the day this will also be the case at Muritala Mohammed and truly International Airport, where one would not wait endlessly for luggage after we have disembarked from a flight, where the escalator would be extended and fully functional(on my return it was not functioning), where the passport control area would not be choked. It is not rocket science.

It can be done. These ongoing renovations or expansions at the airports must bear the mark of a much needed change when they are finished, else they would have been an exercise in futility. The airport is the first port of call for visitors entering any country and as such it must reflect positively on Nigeria.