After blackout, tourism sector points out multiple failures at La Aurora airport

Although the electricity supply service was restored that same day at the airport, there are a series of direct and indirect repercussions that business organizations in the tourism industry pointed out.

These reveal a deterioration of the facilities, abandonment, lack of investment and maintenance that can put airport security at risk.

The lack of electricity supply last Saturday for two hours affected some 1,500 passengers, on 10 arrival flights and five waiting flights, which could have caused the loss of other connections, according to data presented this Sunday, June 26. at a press conference by representatives of the associations that make up the crisis committee of the organized tourism sector, and in which they addressed the recurring problems in the operation of AILA.

“There is a lot of concern about the general deteriorated state of La Aurora International Airport because it is the first and last impression that a tourist, businessman and investor from Guatemala takes away,” said Mark Rogers, president of the Union. of Tour Operators and Tourist Transport of Guatemala.

Dozen shortcomings

Roberto de la Fuente, acting president of the Guatemalan Chamber of Tourism (Camtur), stated that Saturday's power failure is only one of another set of deficiencies detected in the AILA by users ranging from the micro to the macro.

Among the deficiencies mentioned are failures in the boarding docks, lack of cleanliness and supply of hygiene products in restrooms and public areas, lack of cleanliness in all public areas of the passenger terminal, leaks, failures in systems and security equipment that has even allowed the entry of stowaways and damage to the air conditioning system.

In addition, poor condition of the carpets and floors in the waiting rooms, lack of internal and external signaling of the airport, lack of vehicle ordering and adequate parking areas for authorized tourist transport, disorder due to the authorization of the installation of food sales and street vendors and lack of security around the airport.

Laggards in the region

Carlos Rafael Sarda, president of the board of directors of the Guatemalan Association of Air Lines (Agla), assured that there is concern due to the lack of maintenance and frank deterioration of the AILA terminal building, which is the gateway for all foreign visitors, as well as the exit door and it is the last image they take of the country, and competitiveness at the Central American level has been lost.

“The failure that occurred on Saturday is one more that has been detected previously and the concern is that there has been no frank and effective communication with the authorities and the quality of the services that are being offered at this time to all users does not it is up to the payment that is made by the members through their taxes and those made by the passengers through the taxes paid per ticket”, he pointed out.

Public-private table creation

One of the requests from the sector is the creation of a technical table to be able to urgently attend to the problems indicated.

De la Fuente stressed that the proposal is to work together to be able to address and solve the situations presented by AILA at a high level, make an action plan, and the sector is willing to improve the airport.

In the case of Agla, Sarda, he emphasized that they have tried to keep communication channels open with the authorities of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), "it is understood that communication is two-way, and it has manifested itself when Our observations, disagreements and dissatisfaction about the current state of the services and facilities of the terminal building have given us the opportunity, which ranges from the issue of air conditioning, state of the bathrooms, electrical energy problems, and electric stands”.

The director affirmed that these approaches have been sought with the DGAC, however, it has not been possible to obtain responses from the responsible authorities, and work plans that can provide peace of mind that the needs of the airport are being met. They have been coming for many years.

Sarda clarified that on this occasion they are not talking about AILA's international certifications, but about the quality of services that are being offered to users, and that the frank deterioration is due to lack of maintenance, lack of investment and follow-up. , and has been "far behind the competition in the region in the provision of services."

Motty Rodas, executive director of Agla, said that these aspects put at risk the possible plans of airlines to increase flight frequencies or open new routes.

Snowball effect

Rogers assured that the situation presented on Saturday affected passengers and there was a risk of losing their connections, which implies problems changing flights, staying in intermediate places and, even worse, for those passengers who had an itinerary of a cruise ship that had to be in a certain port of embarkation.

“Missing a second flight or having arrived late is a situation that tremendously affects all users, the traveler and the company, not to mention the bad image that is being given to foreigners who visit us. We are giving a terrible image with the current state of the airport”, he stressed.

Justification and modernization plan

The director of the DGAC, Francis Argueta, stated that the power outage at the airport was related to three fuses, one damaged on the power pole that supplies the AILA.

According to Argueta, this post is located outside the airport and was repaired after contacting EEGSA.

Previously, there was a fluid outage because a tree fell in the zone 13 area, breaking a high-tension cable and damaging the airport area.