the airport of Faro it is facing the busiest summer in its history with ongoing works and there are reports of 'chaos', mainly in the arrival of passengers, with long queues at passport control and a reduced-format arrivals area. However, the management of the Airport guarantees that the difference in the level of passenger satisfaction “is minimal” and that this is even “surprising”.
On the issue of delay in passport control by the SEF, which has already prompted a question to the Government of the CDS-PP deputy Teresa Caeiro, Alberto Mota Borges, director of the Airport of Faro, told the Sul Informação that “there hasn't been a problem there. The search at the airport of Faro it is quite seasonal and the SEF service provision structure is not designed for July and August».
Therefore, he added, “it is common practice for the SEF to readjust the country's human resources for a satisfactory response in these months. This year, due to the increase in demand and the strong commitment to taking advantage of the circumstances by various entities, there was a significant increase in passengers and the SEF, instead of bringing the reinforcement to 15 June, brought it forward to 18 May. Since that time, there has been only one punctual episode of delay in the departure».
Alberto Mota Borges says that this reinforcement "has given a very good response in border control" and adds that, in departures, the average time to pass the control is 1m54s and 90% of passengers take less than 3m41s. These are "very interesting indicators", for the responsible.
At arrivals, the average for passing control is, according to Alberto Mota Borges, of 3m48s, and 90% of passengers pass the control, on arrival in a queue, in 7m49s.
The airport director considers that «the service provided by the SEF has been magnificent this year» and reveals that «the waiting times, which we have monitored, are lower than in previous years. We also ask passengers about satisfaction and we have very good ratings, even better than at other airports in the network».
Therefore, regarding the information that was made public, Alberto Mota Borges says that «in our perspective, this information does not adhere to what is the standard of the provision of services from the Airport of Faro. There may have been an event, I won't deny it, but overall it's very reasonable».
Alberto Mota Borges also clarified that, "in the specific case of border control, any difficulty has nothing to do with the works, which are in no way interfering with the border area."
O Sul Informação he asked to photograph this area of the airport but, at the time the image collection was allowed, there were no flights arriving. In other words, it was not possible to assess the effectiveness and speed of the service.
The works forced several changes to the Airport, namely in the departures and arrivals area. Operators who were previously at arrivals are now in car park No. 2, and it is with this scenario that those arriving in the Algarve are faced with. Therefore, the responsible considers normal that the levels of general satisfaction of passengers decrease, taking into account the conditions.
“There was a slight decrease in the level of overall satisfaction, but some subsystems and aspects were improved. It is normal, the system [of satisfaction assessment] itself was not valid if passengers were not able to ascertain that there are exceptional circumstances. We don't have the same level and system available in its entirety as last year. This only proves that the system works and that passengers value a construction environment less. But the difference is minimal and this is even surprising», says Mota Borges.
According to the official, «at the start, we have a rating of 4.31. None of the other airports in the ANA network reach this value. Upon arrival, we have 3.84, and we are only surpassed by two airports in this parameter».
Alberto Mota Borges says that «this is a very difficult project, which forces us to adjust our reality of providing services to demand. We have to provide a quality service, this has to be done at any time. We have to plan and create add-ons to give an answer and we have given. Among all services, from SEF, PSP, Customs, there has been an impressive collaboration and performance is above initial expectations», concludes the responsible.
Situation at the airport is like an "autogolo" for Algarve tourism
A different view of what is happening at the Airport of Faro has the entrepreneur Eliseu Correia, owner of EC Travel, the largest company in incoming of the Algarve. "Chaos" is the word used to describe the situation.
“Passengers take forever to get out and in, there are huge lines. Customers are in the habit of going early to catch flights, but as time goes by, they start to panic, fearful of not getting on the plane. It's chaotic», says the entrepreneur.
Eliseu Correia considers that the situation “is terrible for tourism. It's a bad image for the region. We had many people who came this year to the Algarve, from other destinations, “pushed” by the international situation, and we should take the opportunity to welcome them “in our arms”, but that is what is in plain sight. Everyone talks about the importance of tourism, but those who talk the most are the ones that do the most harm».
Despite the numbers given by the Airport of Faro, Eliseu Correia says that “it is visible to anyone who works at the airport, and I think this must be difficult [waiting times less than in previous years], from what I see, feel and hear”.
The businessman says that “letting the works drag on into the high season is not providing a good service to the region. After all these people who came here for "drag", the last thing we should do was welcome them like this. We missed a great opportunity to score points».
“This is the image that remains: if this were football, it would be an own goal!”, he concludes.
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