Monday, 26 May 2008

• BIAL - Bangalore International Airport - A mixed experience.

  After all the hullabaloo created for the opening, all of us didn't know what to expect.Out of my group / family, I was the first one to be traveling through BIAL so I might well document my experience for the curious ones.

  THE ROAD / JOURNEY

  The road is not all the bad as it was hyped up to be. I mean it's better than Bombay's suburban roads I assure you of that. I was lucky to have chosen a decently timed flight (11.15 am) so I didn't have to get up at an unearthly hour to get there and we majorly avoided traffic on a sunday morning.The roads were practically empty so we drove smoothly

  I left home (JP Nagar) at about 8 am got to JC Road to pick up something and left there at 8.20 am. By 9 am we were in the parking lot of the BIAL.I thank my friend who drove fast but very decently.We were there in a flash and didn't even feel the distance!!

  THE AIRPORT

  - Parking Lot
  Really narrow lanes to enter.We were sooo close with a Chevy Optra. Go only know what would happen if a sumo were to enter!

  - Restrooms
  Did the engineers not have to relieve themselves when they built this? It like half a km away from the main airport building...hello! people!! the men might as well go at it in the empty space between the airport and the loo!! urgh.

  - Entrance / Lobby
  First thing you notice is the huge 10-12 foot high Louis Vuitton Bag.hehe...nice branding. no one will miss it :) The sheer size of the place is astonishing.HAL seems like a small little playground from children.Number of snacking stations out side.But very little place for visitors to sit :( oh cmon..a visitor's lounge would've been so much better..they have the space for it anyways.We have subway and then followed it up with Baskin Robbins.Good stuff.

  - Checking In
  Ahem...no baggage screening when you enter.Proceed to the check in counter.snake like never ending queue.Surprising because the place can handle more.took me half hour to check in.

  - Boarding Gates Floor
  Proceed upstairs towards the floor with the boarding gates. You are welcomed with the choicest of brands (ahem..did they anticipate the delays?). French Connection, Shopper's stop and many more on the other side which I didn't get time to browse...you want to know why??? here's the best part

  - Waiting to Board (OH MY GAWD UUUUUUUURGH)
  No one knows where my flight boards from. No one knows when it's leaving.No info about boarding gate no number on the card.I almost walked into a HYD flight cos the attendants kept scooting me over to the next one who was worst informed than the pervious one.At 11.25 i go and ask then what time am i excepted to board. the answer is. "Yes ma'm.11.15 ma'm. It's right on time" HUH? but its 11.25 now? Have I been left out or what? Apparently not.The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.quite literally.I spent one hour trying to figure out where my boarding gate was and what was the estimated time of departure.sigh

  - WI FI
  The saving grace.You have to send an SMS to BIAL in return of which you get a password which expired in an hour.Decent speed i must say.

  - Boarding
  I didn't realize my security tag was not stamped after the check.I thought...damn it...i was have to go alllllllll the way back to the security screening and get it stamped.But No.I waltzed right into the aero bridge without a second glance.Ummm...that cant be good can it?

  - Take Off
  What take off? The pilot said he had been waiting for 15 minutes to take off but to his utter dissatisfaction at the airport's infrastructure only one "trolley" was available for pulling out the brakes from the aircraft. we took off at 12.45 pm.

  I think BIAL has is own teething problems like any other new facility would, but it could have been started with atleast the basics in place, like enough staff to man the gates, better security & more screens to view status of flights. Overall it was a mixed bag of experiences, the worst being trying to find out where to board from.

  Happy Flying!
  

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