MONTEGO BAY, St James – Shane Munroe, chief executive officer the MBJ Airports Limited, the company which operates the Sangster International Airport (SIA), has announced that plans are in place to implement customer experience training to all airport employees as it continues to push for a more passenger-friendly environment.

“The passenger experience is central to what we do as we want to deliver an exceptional hospitality class service to our passengers. To make this happen, we will be implementing customer experience training for not just MBJ employees, but for all airport employees,” Munroe announced during a virtual forum on Wednesday.

He said that this training, which he said will begin early 2022, will become a requirement for all new and existing airport workers.

“This will actually become a part of the process for you to receive a pass for working at the airport. And we have more than 7,000 people working at the airport, so we want them to become ambassadors for exceptional passenger experience,” added Munroe.

After arguably the biggest financial hit to the aviation industry by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Munroe said that as the industry recovers from the blow, MBJ is focused on taking a holistic approach that puts passenger safety and experience at the centre while improving its facilities.

“The aviation industry is going through a major change with travel recovering to pre-pandemic levels still under way, and the need to constantly adapt to new challenges is greater than ever for SIA. We are now looking beyond the crisis to a more sustainable, and future-proof recovery,” said Muroe.

He added, “This means not only continued discussions with the Government on long-term recovery and sustainability, but also MBJ is taking a holistic approach that puts passenger safety and experience at the centre, and supports more efficient operations with an emphasis on improving business continuity, sustainability, and decreasing our environmental impacts.”

Additionally, passengers utilising the Montego Bay-based airport will benefit from a new biometric system which will aim to make the travelling process “seamless”, Munroe said.

“Our push is for biometrics to be introduced in the passenger’s journey from the time that the passengers check into the flight, all the way through to boarding. This will be a major change in the way passengers move through the airport,” the CEO stated.

“We see this as a way to not only improve the passengers’ experience but also to make the journey seamless, touch-less and less stressful,” he added.

Munroe shared that renovations will also continue in the airport’s departure lounge next year. He said this will focus on giving passengers “a taste of Jamaica, an opportunity to experience our culture and have memorable moments in the airport facility”.

“Not only will it be for improving the passenger experience, but certainly, some exciting retail concepts are now under construction…and are set to open early next year,” declared Munroe.

He explained that this renovation will see the airport acquiring new self-service kiosks in keeping with its push for a more passenger-friendly experience.

“We are replacing our common-used passenger processing equipment, so all the check-in equipment at the counters, gates and baggage areas will be replaced. And we are also acquiring 50 new self-service kiosks, adding to complement that is already here, so we will have a total of 60 self-service kiosks,” said Munroe.

“[This will] perhaps be one of the largest installations of self-service kiosks in the Caribbean or in this region,” he continued.

For his part, president of the Airport Authority of Jamaica (AAJ), Audley Deidrick, lauded MBJ for work it has done since the onset of the pandemic.

“The pandemic has significantly impaired the traffic and by extension the revenues of MBJ. Despite the setback, however, MBJ continues to implement its major capital development programmes that were planned,” said Deidrick.

“While it is opportune to do these works at this time of reduced traffic, it is more important to recognise that it speaks to the commitment of MBJ, and, by extension, shareholders Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico and Vantage Airport Group to continue developing SIA, in order to meet international standards and regulatory requirements, and, of course, to provide optimal quality of service to its users.

“It is by virtue of these constant improvements supported by consistent quality of service that SIA has been named the Caribbean’s leading airport in 2021 by the World Travel Awards,” added Deidrick.

He argued that: “The distinction of topping this award for the 14th time and the 13th-consecutive year, a year in which the traveller tourism industry was decimated by the incident of COVID-19, is testimony to the resilience and authenticity of SIA”.

Deidrick expressed confidence in MBJ’s current management.

“With MBJ having another 12 years under the current concession agreement, the AAJ is confident that we will recover better and stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic, and that MBJ will take SIA into even greater records of achievement.”