The new Bengaluru International Airport - My take on it :-)

I've waited for about a week before I posted on the new Bengaluru International Airport (BIAL as it is going to be known I guess). The reason for the wait was to ensure that I did not post a "first / biased" comment without letting the thoughts in my own mind settle down :-). I guess, the end result should be a more balanced view ?

Let me get over my cribs first (as it popular with the BIAL bashing brigade)

- Not all loos are working : A whole section was blocked off and people were diverted to another area. Even in the area, where one'd expect a hugh crowd - ie. next to the eating joints at departure level, the mens loo has just 4-5 slots ?

- Food area is crowded : There is NO WAY the area is going to take the load. The gates were not fully operational and in the morning, there was already a team of people walking around the area with breakfast trays in hand trying to get a "parking" slot. The coffee line was about 30 feet long !

- Ground handling sucks : While, I did not have to go through a torture at the baggage retrieval area as I was traveling light, I did have to endure a 20-25 minute wait for the bus to cart us from the aircraft to the arrivals hall. While on the bus, I heard a number of conversations in Kannada where there was a LOT of back and forth as to which gate the bus driver was to go to ?

- Expect a LOT of public injury claims on the outside road : Fairly shoddy finish on the exterior with NO thought to safety. It is absolutely dangerous to walk on the footpath / pavement while wet towards the car park. I had to watch every step gingerly as it was very very slippery. This is while some of the vehicles were zipping past just a few feet away !

- Even the road in and out of the airport is not designed well in my opinion. People have to drop to almost ZERO from whatever speed they are traveling at (it is quite high - believe me), in a few feet when they hit the roundabouts. I will not be surprised to see quite a few "Crashes" into the roundabout. We Indians' just do not have the discipline at circles / roundabouts that one sees in places like UK


Let me cover the positive points now (and being an optimist - I like this)

- The first is the feel : The airport **atleast** feels like one now. Right from the road towards the airport, the area is clean and it feels as though you are heading to an airport / heading from an airport.

- While I did hear a few complaints on check-in. For me, it was a breeze

- Parking was also a piece of cake notwithstanding the rate !(although, there was quite a line at exit time due to a single functional gate)

- I was VERY impressed with the long line of Vayu Vajra coaches at the front of the airport. This should go a LONG way to reduce stress once it gets to work properly.

- Also, very impressed with the lack of touts and the orderly fashion people were going towards their exit : Taxi, parking, coaches, shared transport etc.

Balanced Synopsis ?

Excellent start - but, I think someone needs to start thinking of extensions NOW ?
I think the place is going to run out of space / will not be able to take the load within the close of this calendar year !!!