I have to say I am very impressed that it opened on time. So here goes my first experience.
I arrived from Chennai to Hyderabad new airport (also named Rajiv Gandhi Intl. airport) on April 25th at 7:40 a.m. by Jet Airways flight 493. You can see that the airport is in the middle of nowhere before landing itself. After it landed I noticed all the construction still going around - so they barely made it. The first glance is impressive - a lot more modern looking, international standard airport. Our plane taxied close to the gates, I noticed that there are a lot more jet ways for planes. BUT, we ended up parking at the end of building and used a traditional steps to get off the plane - what a BUST!! Why Jet Airways is too cheap to pay for the gates (there were plenty open ones)? Oh well - the rush to get on the bus ruined the impression - to make matters worse the Kingfisher plane that landed minutes after ours comes and parks next to us using a Jet way and the people getting off from that are looking at as second class passengers :) (may be it was my own interpretation).
So we get wheeled off to the arrivals - and we get up on a mini escalator and get to the baggage claim area. There seems to be a separation glass wall between the belts in the middle - later I learned that it was International arrivals. There are nice flat screens showing belts and status. There was a porter handing out carts (hmmm... is that really necessary - I will give an A for effort though). I went to the toilets close the baggage claim - now here is a brand new HUGE airport and they have 8 urinals? I noticed the typical line of people waiting - a big let down. There are nice amenities, but people couldn't figure out how to get napkins out - so they opened the top and picking them as needed - oh well!
Surprisingly the bags came out really quick - nice work - as I started walking out - I noticed that the bars outside the doors are same as every where else - people waiting for arriving passengers on both sides. At least it looks like the area is big and covered. Well here the chaos begins - there are so many signs - after I met my father and nephew who came to receive, they couldn't figure out how to get back to the car. We strolled down to the bottom level and started to walk towards the cars lot - I swear there was an arrivals pick up area. There were a few long golf carts that were being used to take people across the long middle area to the car parking lot. We ended up walking to the car and I noticed about 10 people directing cars inside the lots. Again, looks like a lot of man power. The exit gate had parking payment booths with tickets resembling US/western new parking booth system - so no more yellow ticket given by the guy in the parking lot? :) Looks like the fee is based on time - we paid Rs. 70 for the hour. Not bad.
While coming out - I had the driver go through the arrivals level - there seems to be a lot of cars parked on both sides - shuttles, rental cars, reserved spots, etc. The stickers on the pillars are peeling off already - hopefully they are temporary signs :) Still couldn't figure out if there was an actual passenger pick up area. I have to go back later this week and figure that out.
So, in conclusion - it definitely a good step forward for Indian Airports - lot of work left to do. Can the cleanliness and facilities maintained at the high level? I have seen a lot of facilities crumble under the relentless use and abuse around here - hopefully this will sustain. Only time will tell.....
Look - A
Parking - B
Cleanliness - A-
Man Power - A+
PS: By the way, the parking isn't Rs. 300 or they didn't collect Rs 1,000 usage fee upon arrival as a lot of people asked me about - there seems to be a lot of rumors going around :)
I arrived from Chennai to Hyderabad new airport (also named Rajiv Gandhi Intl. airport) on April 25th at 7:40 a.m. by Jet Airways flight 493. You can see that the airport is in the middle of nowhere before landing itself. After it landed I noticed all the construction still going around - so they barely made it. The first glance is impressive - a lot more modern looking, international standard airport. Our plane taxied close to the gates, I noticed that there are a lot more jet ways for planes. BUT, we ended up parking at the end of building and used a traditional steps to get off the plane - what a BUST!! Why Jet Airways is too cheap to pay for the gates (there were plenty open ones)? Oh well - the rush to get on the bus ruined the impression - to make matters worse the Kingfisher plane that landed minutes after ours comes and parks next to us using a Jet way and the people getting off from that are looking at as second class passengers :) (may be it was my own interpretation).
So we get wheeled off to the arrivals - and we get up on a mini escalator and get to the baggage claim area. There seems to be a separation glass wall between the belts in the middle - later I learned that it was International arrivals. There are nice flat screens showing belts and status. There was a porter handing out carts (hmmm... is that really necessary - I will give an A for effort though). I went to the toilets close the baggage claim - now here is a brand new HUGE airport and they have 8 urinals? I noticed the typical line of people waiting - a big let down. There are nice amenities, but people couldn't figure out how to get napkins out - so they opened the top and picking them as needed - oh well!
Surprisingly the bags came out really quick - nice work - as I started walking out - I noticed that the bars outside the doors are same as every where else - people waiting for arriving passengers on both sides. At least it looks like the area is big and covered. Well here the chaos begins - there are so many signs - after I met my father and nephew who came to receive, they couldn't figure out how to get back to the car. We strolled down to the bottom level and started to walk towards the cars lot - I swear there was an arrivals pick up area. There were a few long golf carts that were being used to take people across the long middle area to the car parking lot. We ended up walking to the car and I noticed about 10 people directing cars inside the lots. Again, looks like a lot of man power. The exit gate had parking payment booths with tickets resembling US/western new parking booth system - so no more yellow ticket given by the guy in the parking lot? :) Looks like the fee is based on time - we paid Rs. 70 for the hour. Not bad.
While coming out - I had the driver go through the arrivals level - there seems to be a lot of cars parked on both sides - shuttles, rental cars, reserved spots, etc. The stickers on the pillars are peeling off already - hopefully they are temporary signs :) Still couldn't figure out if there was an actual passenger pick up area. I have to go back later this week and figure that out.
So, in conclusion - it definitely a good step forward for Indian Airports - lot of work left to do. Can the cleanliness and facilities maintained at the high level? I have seen a lot of facilities crumble under the relentless use and abuse around here - hopefully this will sustain. Only time will tell.....
Look - A
Parking - B
Cleanliness - A-
Man Power - A+
PS: By the way, the parking isn't Rs. 300 or they didn't collect Rs 1,000 usage fee upon arrival as a lot of people asked me about - there seems to be a lot of rumors going around :)
