ASTANA – Akim (Mayor) of Astana Adilbek Dzhaksybekov recently instructed taxi drivers officially serving Astana International Airport to be taught Kazakh and English, reported the official website of the akimat.
The city head gave the assignment during a meeting on the activities and development of the airport.
“The staff of the official airport taxi, which is Zhebe taxi company, should speak three languages as befitting the level of the capital… It is also necessary to consider the possibility of teaching English to bus conductors who work on routes in the direction of the airport,” said the mayor.
Dzhaksybekov also noted that the requirements of official taxi companies and bus fleets No. 1 and No. 3, whose transport carries passengers to the international airport, should be the same. He also recalled the observations on the sanitary condition of the buses and illegal taxi drivers at the airport have not yet been eliminated.
“These so-called private cabs that meet their clients in the main hall and aggressively impose their services continue to give a negative impression to arriving passengers. The department of internal affairs on transport must insure that comprehensive measures are taken against any illegal taxi drivers,” instructed the mayor.
Questions about the quality of services were also raised. According to the mayor, about 30 small and medium businesses at the airport have services that are not always perfect.
“The airport administration must work out the issues to make all their service in the same style. This means uniform clothes, dishes, price tags and other elements of service. It is clear that every company wants to promote its own brand, but they need to understand where they operate. When any situation arises, all claims are brought against the airport administration and not the private traders,” stressed the head of the capital.
The akim also noted that a major focus of the Nurly Zhol new economic policy is the development of transport and logistics infrastructure, where the development of airports receives special attention.
The main hubs for domestic and international air traffic today are Astana and Almaty. The share of the capital’s airport, which holds second place in the aviation market of the country, accounts for 12 percent of all shipment flights, 24 percent of outgoing passengers and 6 percent of processed cargo, mail and baggage.
“Insufficient capacity restricts the Astana airport operations and airlines from fully satisfying the needs of air travellers. In the future, this could have a negative impact on passenger traffic. In order to address these issues, work on the expansion of the airport terminal and the reconstruction of the runway and the platform began in February 2015 and is planned to be completed in March 2017,” said the mayor.
Finally, Dzhaksybekov called on all relevant government entities to solve the problems and shortcomings together and in an expeditious manner.
