My reinvigorating experience at Singapore Changi Airport years ago

A section of the Singapore City as seen from the air. PHOTO | FILE

More than 30 years ago - around the mid-1980s - I was assigned by my employer, a prominent public company, to attend a meeting in Adelaide, Australia.

I was, naturally, most thrilled. This would be my second sojourn to that land - commonly known as ‘Down-Under’ - but my first to this southern Australian city.

To save company funds, my company decided to book for me a slightly tricky and complicated flight. I had to first travel by road from Arusha to Nairobi to catch a 5am flight to Mauritius via Comorro and Madagascar.

Sleepy and tired, I boarded that Kenya Airways flight from Nairobi. The airport in Comorro was, by then, small, worn-out and boring; that of Madagascar was a bit better - although a bit rugged and spartan.

Hours later - even more tired and sleepy - we landed at a more cosmopolitan and modern airport in Mauritius. I spent five sleepy hours there to again catch an Air Mauritius long flight to Singapore. Here I would then have to fly for more than nine hours to Adelaide by Singapore Airlines.

What I did not know was that I would have to spend another ten hours at the Singapore Changi Airport before connecting to Adelaide, Down-Under...

But - come to think of it - the time spent there was worth every second. Changi was by then already very futuristic; a thrilling experience altogether. No wonder it has now collected more than 500 awards for its excellent services and facilities. And it has presently been voted the best airport in the world for the last eight years.

Indeed, notwithstanding my being very tired, sleepy and worn out, the airport offered me - like all other transiting passengers - the ‘Customer is King’ treatment and in its true meaning.

First: the transit lounge we were brought into had four themed parks with waterfalls. Now, with three terminals, I am told they have a total of ten themed gardens. During my stopover, it had a cactus garden, piazza garden, sculptural garden, and a water lily garden.

We were ushered into this lounge and served with snacks and refreshments, including alcoholic drinks. Then those who needed a nap, a shower - and even spa facilities - all were available. Hotel and pool facilities were also at our disposal.

I first took a shower followed by a nap before joining a free two-hour tour of Singapore city, courtesy of a Singapore Tours firm run by the Changi Airport authorities. All tat time, I was enjoying free snacks and drinks, followed by a free, sumptuous dinner.

Before departure later that evening - well after that exciting and reinvigorating transit stint - I asked at the Airport Information Centre how the airport pays for all these luxuries.

“Our passengers spend a lot of money in our airport shops on souvenirs, drinks and related products - and that is where we make our profit,” they told me.

As I boarded the Australian Qantas Airline flight on my way to Adelaide, I remembered our stinking and dilapidated Dar es Salaam International Airport in those ‘dark ages.’

Luckily, we in Tanzania now also have a relatively modern Terminal III at the JKNIA in Dar es Salaam. If the authorities want to do better, they only need to learn from Singapore on how best to run the travel and tourism industry. After all, Changi has been voted the world’s best and cleanest airport for eight consecutive years.

[More on my Sojourn to Adelaide next week].

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The author is a veteran journalist and communication expert based in Arusha