In most of the world’s airports, there are car parks that can be used for short periods as well as others for longer periods. They are used by travelers who want their cars when they return from their journeys. This seems to be the arrangement all over the world except at our airports in a car park which charges exorbitant rates or hire a taxi to go to and from the airport. Shoura Council member, Hamad Al-Qadi, has brought the issue of airport parking services to the council’s attention, together with the high prices charged by airport restaurants and cafes. He said that none of these services take into account the limited financial abilities of many passengers.
This is true but the main reason behind the unreasonably expensive services is that the Civil Aviation Authority charges exorbitant rents for the sites it offers for use as restaurants and cafes. The result is that the establishments offer poor service and bad food at extremely high prices.
If the Civil Aviation thought of renting these sites as places where decent services are provided to the public at affordable prices, this would help improve the performance of our airports as well as their rating compared to others. It should have looked at the whole process as an image-improving one and thus offered the sites for rent at reasonable prices — instead of the present unbelievable cost which in the end is borne by passengers.
As for the car parking, there should be a parking system serving passengers who want to keep their cars at the airport for extended periods. This system exists in all international airports. It is simply unacceptable that people traveling from Riyadh to Dammam to spend the weekend with their family find themselves forced to pay an amount that exceeds the price of the airline ticket that took them away and then brought them back.
