CEO Says Customer Service is Vital at Airports

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MBJ Airports Limited, Dr. Rafael Echevarne, says it is very important that visitors are given a great first impression on arrival at the island’s airports.

Dr. Echevarne, whose company is in its 15th year as operators of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, said it is to this end that MBJ Airports Limited has taken steps to have training and sensitisation programmes for those who come in first contact with arriving passengers.

“It is important that with all the infrastructural work we have been doing that we also take time to have good customer service training and discussions as well,” he told JIS News.

“I am talking about our Customs and Immigration Officers…who are some of the first to interact with the guests, and the Red Cap operators who handle their luggage,” Dr. Echevarne said.

The CEO noted that with Sangster on track for another record year in visitor arrivals, it is even more important that the area of customer service be treated as a top priority, adding that “a satisfied guest will always want to return for another vacation”.

Meanwhile, Dr. Echevarne said customers will now be automatically issued a ticket upon entering the car park as they approach the barrier at the Sangster Airport.

Tickets, he said, should be kept with customers until they are ready to pay and exit. The tickets carry a time stamp that will allow customers to pay for parking in cash at one of three automated payment locations at arrival, departure and in the car park itself.

One of the automated exit lanes will be manned to accept debit and credit card payments, he noted.

Parking fees, he said, will remain unchanged at $150 per hour for the first three hours, or part thereof, or $600 for more than three hours and up to 24 hours, with an additional $600 due for each additional 24-hour period, or part thereof.

“We are pleased to introduce cutting-edge technology from one of the world’s leading manufacturers of automated parking systems, making it easier and faster for our customers to enter and exit the car park at Sangster International Airport,” Dr. Echevarne said.

A record 4.2 million passengers used the airport in 2017. MBJ operates the airport under a 30-year concession awarded in 2003 and provides employment for more than 160 Jamaicans. The Sangster International Airport has been named the Caribbean’s Leading Airport by World Travel Awards for the past 10 years.