ASSESSMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE OF AIRPORT CONCESSIONING IN MURTALA MUHAMMED AIRPORT, LAGOS

Abstract

This study assesses the performance of airport concessioning in Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos with emphasis on the domestic airport terminal which is the only concessioned airport in Nigeria, and the concessionaires of non aeronautical service providers. It addresses the following objectives by marking-out the services of concessionaires in Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; determining the factors influencing the level of customer satisfaction regarding airport concessionaires in Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos; examining the association between the experiences of passengers and their perception about factors influencing level of satisfaction; and examining the adequacy of airport concession policy. This study was limited to Lagos airport. The population of the study were the passengers whom were direct customers of the airport concessionaires, and the airport staff whom are the workers in the airport and they have relevant experience about the airport operation. The study successfully sampled 356 passengers who patronized non-aeronautical concessionaires by simple random technique with use of questionnaire administration for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square. It was concluded that the non-aeronautical services offered in the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos are concession services, rents and car hire, shops for catering services, car park, recharges for gas, water, and electricity, consultancy services and business development, hotel and business services, and property development. The Relative Importance Index revealed that convenient location, price, and service level are the factors influencing customers’ satisfaction of services delivered by airport concessionaires. Chi-Square test applied revealed that brand name and image was significant at P value (0.018), service level at P value (0.002), convenient location at P value of (0.001), and product quality at P value at (0.004), all less than 0.05 (critical region). This implies that brand name and image, service level, convenient location, and product quality are factors associated with the experience of customers regarding satisfaction level services rendered by concessionaires of non-aeronautical services in the airport. Regarding the concessioning of the airport aeronautical services, the airport under study was concessioned under Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) agreement of thirty-six (36) years, which has been remitting Two Hundred Million Naira (₦200,000,000) to the Federal Government of Nigeria monthly. The airport gets their profit through aeronautical services such as Landing fees, Passenger fees, Aircraft parking fees, and Handling fees. Finally, it was recommended that there is a need for the concessionaires of non-aeronautical services in the airport to locate their businesses where it will be convenient for passengers, and they should set a reasonable price in addition with the delivery of quality products.