The Tribune

PASSENGER satisfaction with facilities at Lynden Pindling International Airport are continuing to improve, an Airport Quality Service (ASQ) survey has shown.

In the final quarter of 2014, the LPIA received improved scores on waiting times at check-in and security and passport inspection, cleanliness of the terminals and staff courteousness.

LPIA scores on Waiting Time In the Check-in Queue increased from 4.07 (out of five) in the third quarter of last year to 4.37 in the fourth, Waiting Time at Security Inspection climbed from 4.04 to 4.25 and Passport/Personal ID Inspection went from 4.03 to 4.19.

The airport scored 4.56 on the Cleanliness of the Airport. In the category of Courtesy/Helpfulness of Check-in Staff, scores improved from 4.14 to 4.40.

“We’ve put quite a bit of effort into ensuring that, from a customer experience perspective, our terminals reflect the beauty and tranquility of our destination through art, landscaping and other initiatives but at the end of the day LPIA still has to run efficiently and as we see from the survey results this matters to our passengers as well,” said Nassau Airport Development’s President and CEO, Vernice Walkine.

Efficient movement of passengers through the facilities weighed heavily on overall passenger satisfaction numbers which rose from 4.35 in Q3 to 4.40 in Q4. Ms Walkine believes the airport will see a further rise in scores with the addition of 20 new self-service Automated Passport Control kiosks in US Customs and Border Protection earlier this month. Considerations are being given to similar technology at the international arrivals.

Ms Walkine also contends that shorter wait times benefit the company’s bottom line. “Our push has always been to challenge the way we move passengers through the terminals. When the process is efficient, we see improved dwell times – that is, the amount of time passengers have between checking-in and taking off from the airport. If this time is expanded, then shoppers have more time to shop, dine and relax before their flight, and there’s immediate benefit to our bottom line with the increased passenger spend.”

Since 2011, the ASQ survey programme has evaluated LPIA’s performance and benchmarked the airport against other facilities within the region and in similar size category (two to five million passengers per annum). ASQ surveys capture passenger appraisals from more than 250 airports in over 50 countries.

LPIA finished 2014 with a ranking in the top 50 out of 267 airports, fourth within the Caribbean and fourth in its size category.