The gates along the main apron walkway is where passengers have to turn 180 degrees to face the entrance. The gates and the staircases go back to the days when passengers used the old terminal for boarding so passengers came in from the other direction, which is why the gates now face the wrong direction. There are no plans to improve them.
The airport have put a few new seats in, which look really uncomfortable and many of them have no seat backs. It would appear that their shape wastes a lot of space as there used to be rows of cushioned seats in this area. I think the hard surfaces is to encourage people not to hog them.
