Aviation authority aims to improve ‘airport experience’ |31 October 2014

The Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) has undertaken a series of customer service training in partnership with its stakeholders operating at the international airport terminal to better its services and improve the airport experience.

The first group of stakeholders benefitting from the two-day training were frontline staff from Skychef and car hire operators.  

The objective of the training is to help the participants understand the importance of customer satisfaction and the need to promote a positive image of Seychelles as a small tourism destination to all passengers passing through the airport.

The training was run in-house by marketing executive Sharon Gappy.
The chief executive of SCAA, Gilbert Faure, welcomed the 21 staff at the organisation’s headquarters at Pointe Larue recently.

He took the opportunity to remind the participants that about 80% of passengers who disembark at the international airport are tourists, and that “we have to work together to meet their expectations once they set foot on our soil”.  

He added the SCAA recognises that in the modern business environment customers’ needs are becoming more demanding and it is important for an organisation to meet these needs if it wants to remain competitive.

“The local civil aviation authority is such an organisation where one of its key business functions is service oriented towards the tourism industry,” he said.

Mr Faure said the SCAA needs all stakeholders onboard to maintain its vision and strengthen its image among the public locally and internationally as one of the best airports in the region.

He also stated that the objective of such training is to equip the employees with the right set of skills and competencies that will mark each and every passenger interactions from the first point of entry into our country.

“The spill-over effect will create the finest first impression for the airport and for Seychelles as a destination of choice,” Mr Faure said.

It is very important for the international airport and SCAA to maintain service standards as both entities are assessed closely by international standards on SkyTrax - which monitors airport services and passenger experience. In the past, SCAA has concluded customer survey reports and from the results it was necessary for the organisation and its stakeholders to work closer together linking the business operations of the airport with customer priorities.

SCAA hopes that the enthusiasm from its partners for these new initiatives will continue so as to address priorities and boost business at the airport.  
The training is ongoing and other service providers such as taxi operators will be able to attend soon.