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Bengaluru International Airport
Bangalore

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Bengaluru International Airport - Bangalore

Vijay Padiyar@vijaypadiyar

Jul 01, 2008 01:05 PM, 9218 Views

(Updated Mar 27, 2010)

Better than old airport, but could've been better

On the 24th of May, 2008, I made a trip to the new Bengaluru International Airport

(BIA) at Devanahalli, Bangalore with a couple of friends. That being the very first day of the new airport’s operation, a heavy security presence was visible all around and it somewhat appeared as if we were entering India’s equivalent of Area 51!

Based on my experience of getting to the airport as well as the airport itself, I thought of writing this comprehensive review. Listed below are various aspects of the new airport:

Salient features:

Looks good, although the Terminal is much smaller than many people

expected it to be. Compared to the leading Asian airports like Singapore Changi Airport, Seoul Incheon Airport and so on, this airport is minuscule and has nothing that really stands out. However, the substantial use of glass in the design gives an airy and open feel inside the Terminal.

I just wish the designers and the Govt. had bigger dreams about making

this one of the top ten airports in the world in terms of size, design, facilities/services and flight frequency. In that sense, it is a huge

letdown and displays our inability to think big.

Greenery and attractions in the airport complex are still being developed, which

is rather surprising given that the airport opening was delayed by over

two months and so all this should have been in place by then! Currently

the area around the Terminal bears a desert-like appearance.

Website (https://bengaluruairport.com) is minimal by global airport standards, but sufficient. There is information on getting to and from the airport, transportation facilities available, guides on shopping and leisure facilities available and, most importantly, a real-time table showing the status of arriving and departing flights.

A brief mention about the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, which is

supposed to be the tallest in India. Unfortunately, co-ordination

between the ATC and BIA doesn’t seem to be very good so far and that

has led to delays in flights landing and taking off. Pretty sad...

Facilities:

There are 53 check-in counters and 18 self check-in terminals to make

checking in a breezy affair. Unlike the old HAL airport, where one had

to stand in a long serpentine queue to get their check-in luggage

screened in the solitary X-ray machine, here one can directly proceed

to the counters for check-in and deposit their luggage there. Upon

finding any disallowed items or in case of excess weight, passengers

will be called via the public address system.More

departure gates (about 14) and aerobridges (about 9) as compared to the

old HAL airport, which is welcome. However, the seating capacity and

area at the gates is less which makes them congested and reduces the

passenger comfort. Tch tch!

Free Wi-fi! This was a long-standing grouse of passengers travelling from Bangalore. All major

airports around the world provide this facility (I have seen this in

Dubai, London Heathrow and Singapore airports), but surprisingly the

old "IT City" HAL airport did not offer any such facility. To use it, you need to type "WIFI BIAL" on your mobile phone and SMS it to 56677, following which you will receive a password. Then connect to

BIA’s Wi-Fi network from your laptop and enter the password when

prompted. You can use the facility for 1 hour at a stretch.

Ample parking space, divided into various parking zones,

namely P1 (long-term parking i.e. over 4 hours), P2/P3 (general

parking, i.e. around 2 hours) and P4 (drop-off and pickup). P4 is the

costliest (first 10 minutes are free), followed by P2/P3 and P1 and

proximity from the Terminal is in the same order, with P4 being

closest. Parking lots are well designed (but adequate signboards are

lacking) and have an international look about them.

Food outlets are few and very expensive compared to normal city rates, which

is disappointing. No doubt, food at an airport is sold at a premium,

but certainly not to such an extent as to make it virtually

unaffordable for many! In any case, the smallish Terminal building

pretty much limits the number of shops and eateries you can have anyway!

Same case with shopping outlets. Very few stores and certainly not adequate

for an airport which is said to be India’s answer to major air hubs

across the world such as Dubai, Frankfurt, Singapore, London, etc. Once

again, very uninspiring thinking from a nation that is surging ahead in

every sphere.

The toilets are small and urinals pots are few and clearly not adequate, which is actually shocking! Yikes! I

really don’t know what to say here. What were they thinking??

Getting there:

The road all the way to BIA was good once we passed the Hebbal flyover. The

stretch between Mekhri Circle and Hebbal flyover is a complete mess, as

it is being widened (in a very ungainly manner, just like the Golf

Course road outside Le Meridien Hotel) and construction is on in full

swing.

Even after Hebbal flyover there are about three signals,

each of which have the potential to cause serious jams (as they nearly

did for us) in the near future. We need flyovers or underpasses at all

these junctions. We also need the BDA to develop alternate hi-speed

routes to the airport urgently to avoid huge pileups on the sole

existing route.

Dedicated Airport Shuttle (bus) terminal very close to the airport Terminal. Efficient AC Volvo (Vayu Vajra) and non-AC (Suvarna) bus services from locations throughout the city to the airport, at very reasonable rates.

Frequency is about one every half hour per location in the city, and

people who have used them say that the timings are maintained. This is

clearly the one outstanding achievement of the planning agencies!