The government’s efforts to improve the service quality of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport will focus on the details, Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said yesterday.
Mao said that the nation’s transport authorities need to examine every aspect of the airport’s facilities and operations, which have long been criticized as unsatisfactory.
A recent survey released by Airports Council International (ACI) ranked the airport 27th in the world last year in terms of quality of service. This represented a drop from 18th in 2008 and 14th in 2007.
The falling ranking in the ACI survey came as the airport has been faced with a spate of problems, including a lack of well-designed shuttle services to and from the airport, a shortage of baggage carts, limited parking capacity and lackluster catering services.
Mao said that much of the Civil Aeronautics Administration’s (CAA) improvement efforts should address seemingly small things, such as the baggage cart shortage, dirty toilets, expensive beef noodles and limited parking, since the failure to provide basic services is often a major cause of passenger dissatisfaction.
The growth of the global tourism business has raised the standards for service at international airports, and any airport that fails to please travelers will lose out in the rankings amid the fierce competition, Mao said.
Mao made the comments as he witnessed Yin Cheng-pong (尹承蓬) being sworn in as the new CAA director-general.
Yin replaces Lee Long-wen (李龍文), who stepped down amid a recent string of scandals at the airport that have embarrassed the transport authority.
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