Limlingan: Why we have one of the world’s worst airports

May 27, 2011

A COUPLE of days ago, I went to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to fetch a buddy from his sojourn somewhere. He has been out of the country for years and he has no family in our country. I became his adopting friend and our residence was made his temporary abode.
As I waited for his (delayed) flight at the Terminal III of the said facility and doing nothing except kill time, I deliberately observed the structures and facilities in and out of the supposed premier airport of the Philippines.

While the building per se is not that old, one can see cracks on the walls and posts. Its ceiling is turning brown and has several portions of its gypsum board (a construction material usually used for ceilings) damaged. Remember the tales of the leaking ceilings during downpours?
On the floor are cracked tiles; others are tilted a bit and trips anyone walking on them. Some floors are not leveled and scratches are prevalent. Glass panes are either scratched or stained, which can give the feeling that no one cleans them even with an old newspaper.
One need not be a civil engineer or a construction person in order to see several defects of the structure. Saddening is the fact that the said airport facility is supposed to be the show window of our country to the world and yet there are some things in need of repairs. The elevators are so slow that if one is trying to catch a flight, he might be left by a departing airplane. They seem to be non-friendly too, for persons with disabilities.
One of the busiest amenities in an airport is the restroom. I give a failing grade for the restrooms that they cannot even be called “comfort” rooms. They have a pungent smell that anyone using them will be led to believe that someone is bringing a durian inside a comfort zone.
There are also no tissue papers, although the trash bins are filled with the used pieces of the “most important” paper while inside the toilet. The urinals are filled with chewing gums or candy wrappers. Who threw them is not an issue. Who maintains their cleanliness is. The smell of ammonia complements the air inside a supposed comfortable place inside the airport.
There are several broken faucet fixtures evidencing that they are not maintained or poorly maintained. The result of the leaking faucets is a “flashflood” under a lavatory or on the floor. There are some toilet bowl flushing mechanisms that need to be fixed. They are either out of water or with an overflowing water tank. While we generally need to save water, some toilet bowls do not.
I have observed the presence of some mothballs lying on the floor and in some urinals. I believe they are the replacements for an air deodorizer. This fact makes the toilets smell like grandma’s old cabinets and drawers.
There are some fastfood stalls near shops. As expected, soda splashes stain the flooring, gravy sauces dirt the tables and rice leftovers taints the plastic chairs. The stall owners should be held responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the area surrounding them. This is not the case.
Some shops add up to the filth of the inside of the airport. Their plastic bags litter their areas and some removed price tags are left scattered on the floor.
While I do not mean to unappreciate all the things inside the said airport, there are some things that need to be done. What happens to the terminal fees that every passenger pays before boarding a plane? What happens to the taxes that are incurred by flyers when buying their plane tickets? What happens to the additional charges that people have to pay when purchasing some “pasalubongs” for their waiting loved ones? What happens to the fees that advertisers pay when a simple poster of them is put up in a conspicuous place inside the facility? What happens to the fees that airline companies pay to the airport management?
I do not intend either to malign the kind of management that airport officials are exercising for the airport’s upkeep. These are only some things that need attention for the benefit of all travelers especially tourists visiting our country. Our pride is at stake.
I am saddened by all these facts. As a matter of fact, I would want to fix the leaking faucets myself and clean the mess on the floors.
Having seen and visited other airports abroad, they are far from the looks and maintenance of our country’s premier. Perhaps it’s high time that airport management should look into these. I am saying all these not to curse what I have experienced but merely to suggest some things that may somehow help our country in terms of aesthetics.
No wonder, we have one of the worst international airports in the world.

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/opinion/2011/05/26/limlingan-why-we-have-one-worlds-worst-airports-157679

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