- facilities to enhance passenger experience
Plans are underway by the Civil Aviation Authority of Botswana (CAAB) to establish a lounge and another high-end one within the Maun International Airport as part of the organisation’s efforts to enhance the experience of passengers using the facility.
With the airport being one of the busiest in Southern Africa and also a gateway to the most sought after prestigious Okavango Delta, the authority has decided to bring befitting amenities that will cater to its clients, including the most discerning travellers or tourists.
Amid the current constraints the airport has such as a runway that is not strong enough as well as an inadequate terminal building, CAAB’s Director of Airport Services, Isaac Mabote says they however want to be creative and see how they can improve the value chain of their services at the facility.
“We are looking at any other means that the passenger experience can be enhanced at the Maun International Airport simply because people who go through this airport have been through airports that are of high standards so we do not want them to come here and find the standards lowered. Let’s look at the airport and see how much we can do to improve the amenities here,” the director said this during a media tour of the airport recently.
He indicated that the old Puma building is being converted into a VVIP lounge with a section meant to exclusively cater for the President during his/her visit to Maun while the other will be for those with spending power.
“When the president is in Maun it is a serious headache for the airport manager to host him because there is no such space suitable for that,” Mabote stated.
As for other VVIPs he indicated, “Some of these wealthy people come with their aircrafts, some come flying business class from London into SA and to Maun and when they arrive here there is nothing first class about whatever they can do in our airport.” He stressed that the VVIP lounge will ensure that the whole value chain of services provided to such people is fulfilled.
Furthermore, Mabote indicated that the current restaurant at the airport is also being converted into a lounge which will be open for everyone affording to use it.
“When you run an airport the most important thing that you need to focus on is the passenger experience. Passenger facilitation at check in points should be faster but during their layover time if nothing is keeping them engaged that can be a concern, so to address that there is need to try and bring amenities into the airports such as restaurants, lounges, and shops.”
The Maun airport already has other niceties such as a snack bar with a duty-free shop at the international departure hall which CAAB is providing to enhance customers experience. Other concessions available at the airport include those for internet, catering, retail, advertising, and car parking which the organisation has since urged people to take advantage of.
