In pictures.. The Transportation Committee of the National People’s Assembly listens to the director of the Constantine Airport Management Company – Al-Hiwar Algeria

The Transport, Communications and Telecommunications Committee, chaired by Monsi Ali, Chairman of the Committee, met today, Tuesday, in order to hear the presentation of the General Manager of the Constantine Airport Management Company, Essam Ben Essid.

After Monsi stressed, in his opening speech, the importance and role of this institution, he raised a number of questions related to the grassroots structures that fall under its tutelage, the entities that provide services and manage interests, and how to coordinate between them.

The chairman of the committee also asked about the process of digitizing the institution, its financial balances, and how to manage its budget. He also asked a question about the feasibility of the current apparatus that coordinates between the parties involved in the workflow, and whether there is a need to establish an airport authority?

In his intervention, the Director General reviewed the various airports that fall under the tutelage of his organization, which are the airports of Annaba, Setif, Batna, Biskra, Jijel, and Tebessa. It is one of the very active airports, while Mr. Ben Essid proposed allocating the airports of Biskra and Tebessa for the shipment of goods due to their potential in this field.

As for the financial situation, the Director General of the Corporation revealed that the profits come mainly from the revenues of catering and parking services, which did not convince the members of the present committee, as they considered that the company’s resort to loans in order to secure airports contradicts the reality of a company that is supposed to enjoy good financial health.

The discussion highlighted the shortcomings of the old administration, during which appropriations were inflated after appropriation expectations initially considered final turned out to be provisional and compensable. The quality of reception and quality of services were also at the core of the Committee members’ concerns.

For his part, the Director General indicated that airport management is based on a strategy that adopts the principle of solidarity and balance between profitable and less profitable airports.

The Committee’s deputies valued the participation of qualified university students in carrying out maintenance operations, who accomplished this task brilliantly to the extent that it enabled the Spanish company that was in charge of this to be dispensed with.

Among the issues that caught the attention of the committee members was also the issue of modernizing services, boarding passes that require huge investments, as well as opening exchange offices and preserving manifestations of sovereignty.