From New Delhi airport to NAIA

One cannot forget the experience in a wretched airport. Whether it’s the scorching heat, stinking restrooms, delayed flights, snaking lines, a lost baggage or just total chaos, there will always be something about a bad airport that will linger long after the experience. 

Lucky is the traveller who has the gift of forgetting. I’m not one of those. And I remember details vividly -- especially unpleasant ones - as if the experience happened yesterday. 

Take the New Delhi airport, for instance. I landed on this gateway many moons ago when it was still under government control, and until now, in my mind’s eye, I can still hear the noise. There was a wild rumpus of sorts, the wildest I’ve seen. One man was telling me where to fall in line, another was pointing to another direction. Immigration officers were chatting, joking, and laughing altogether while processing passports. 

You will wait longer than usual for your bag and you wonder if you will still get it intact. There was a conveyor belt of humans — men were passing the bags like in a refugee camp. 

Past the luggage section, a swarm of hawkish men came to me, offering all sorts of tips for my stay in India.  

While all this was happening, there is a kind of noise you only hear in a third world bus station — say, a provincial bus terminal in Cubao or one in Pasay. Everyone speaks all at the same time and with speakers blaring in high decibels, you won’t even hear yourself. 

And just when you think the gauntlet walk ends as you exit the airport, you will find a netherworld of cab drivers with their decrepit taxis scrambling for every passenger that steps out of the door. 

It’s no wonder the New Delhi airport, formally known as the Indira Gandhi International Airport, had been a fixture in the list of the world’s worst airports. 

But ever since it broke the shackles of government control in 2006, the airport is now among the world’s best. From a ranking of 101 out of 125 airports in 2006, it was named the best airport in 2016. 

It had been adjudged as the best airport in the world, according to the latest Airport Service Quality (ASQ) 2017 rankings released by the Airports Council International, overtaking Incheon in South Korea, which was ranked number one last year. 

The airport has been ranked number one in the world in the highest category – over 40 million passengers per annum (MPPA). 

I haven’t had the chance to see the New Delhi airport again, become but I heard that no less than President Duterte, who was recently in India, also found the gateway impressive. 

The group that took over the airport when the government privatized its operations is a consortium led by Bangalore-based GMR, Megawide’s partner in the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA). 

This time, GMR and Megawide are vying to redevelop the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), competing head-on with the super consortium of seven conglomerates whose P350 billion proposal has been deemed complete.  

Will the GMR-Megawide tandem be able to turn around NAIA if they win? It’s still anybody’s guess.

 In a recent briefing where they presented their proposal, I met GMR officials who shared with me how they turned around the New Delhi airport to become number one from the world’s worst.

 Andrew Harrison, GMR Megawide chief executive advisor, said there is constant communication with all the stakeholders on how the airport could be improved.

 “Managing an airport is all about putting yourself in the shoes of the user. We look at everybody, not just passengers, even the staff that work there.  We look at the requirements to make it easier for them. We consult,” he told me. 

In Cebu, Harrison said, they regularly consult a wide range of sectors using the airport including overseas Filipinos and persons with disabilities. 

The Delhi airport was very inefficient and congested, he said. 

“When we took over, the hourly movement was 36. It’s now 74,” he said. 

How did they do that? I asked.

 “GMR built a new terminal, added more parking space and it made sure that it improved standards.” 

“Once you give them the best, they give you back the best,” added Puvan Sripathy, CEO of GMR’s International Airports Group. 

Third runway

In its proposal, GMR Megawide said operational challenges associated with having an additional runway make this solution unviable. 

I’m no aviation expert. I don’t really know whether or not a third runway is necessary but I agree with Megawide that it wouldn’t be easy to build it, which probably makes it impractical. 

May The Best Proposal Win 

Whoever wins, I hope we will finally get an airport we deserve. As I’ve said before, it has to be more than just efficient.  Being the best will require more than that. And it’s not even about being a beautiful airport. It’s really about being humane.  

I’d like to see an airport where flights will not be delayed. There will be clean restrooms with toilet paper, no wet floors, a shower room with enough space for all your luggage while you take a quick bath, dining options with healthy food and free and fast wifi. It has to be an airport where economy passengers can also be comfortable in between flights just like first class travelers who have the luxury of retreating to posh lounges while waiting. 

More importantly, it has to be an airport where you can rest assured your baggage won’t go missing or be ripped apart. 

The Transportation department must decide soon. The time is ticking and the economy is growing, making our airports more congested than they already are.

In the meantime, other airports will overtake NAIA by leaps and bounds. 

Iris Gonzales’ e-mail address is [email protected]