Istanbul Airport prohibits agencies to meet passengers in front of terminal hall exit gate
Istanbul Airport authority prohibits agencies to meet passengers in front of terminal hall exit gate.
IGA (the operation company at Istanbul Airport) prohibited staff from agencies to meet passengers in front of the terminal arrivals hall exit gate and announced these staff would be directed to the paid Meeting Lounge area. It was also made clear how much the fees would be in this area and how they would be used.
The Meeting Lounge area, which was made mandatory for the agencies to welcome passengers at Istanbul airport, will cost 4 euro plus VAT per passenger, and this figure will go down as the number of passengers increases. For example, in a group of 50 people, Payment Per person will be 3.22 euros plus VAT. On the other hand, the chaos at the airport has increased since January 1, as it is forbidden to hold banners. The chaos is likely to escalate during the tourist season.
Those who do not comply with this new regulation (ban) are fined as of January 1st. The Meeting Lounge will be available for free of charge until March 31 and after that date the new application will go into effect. The representatives of agencies have certainly reacted to this decision.
The Meeting Lounge, designed as an area where guests from abroad will meet with travel agents, is located on the left side of the Istanbul Airport International inbound passenger gate. The incoming passenger door has arrows pointing to the Meeting Lounge. However, the orientation was crafted in English only with Latin letters. Information in other languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Persian is not available.
How are passengers met?
Guests and passengers line up in front of a desk, similar to the one at the check-in counter, and register by presenting their passports to the attendant. The Meeting lounge, where two desks are currently active, already has occasional queues. Then they move to a seating area with a capacity of 40-50 people. The screens here display the names of passengers from abroad.
Tourist guides and those involved in the transfer of hotels are expected to see the names of the passengers they will meet on this screen and meet them. However, the passenger does not know the person who will meet him or her, and the person who comes to meet him or her does not know the ‘description’ of the passenger, so everyone tries to guess each other’s appearance
Agency officials who meet passengers at the airport are said to be in a difficult situation. “He’s from Spain, he’s probably blond,” a guide waiting at the incoming passenger door says to his guest. “He could be a brunette, how can you be sure?“when I ask him, he says,” you see us, ” with his hands on both sides.
