Airport review: Mumbai Terminal 2
Sometimes I believe we travel aficionados really do strange things just for the experience of it. Case in point, my flight a few days back out of BOM. I had the choice of two flight but I chose the later one simply because it departed from the new international Terminal 2. I just had to take a look at this new terminal.
Reaching the airport itself was pretty smooth, with the dedicated expressway that leads you straight to the departures section on the first level (arrivals are at ground level), just as it was earlier. The biggest difference was the number of lanes for vehicles, thereby minimising the chaos that used to exist.
The next sight that greeted me was the vast amount of space for the lobby and check-in areas - again a stark contrast from the days of yore.
The finish of the check in counters are also a welcome sight.
Of course, if there's one thing that hasn't changed, it is Air India's ground service. Anyway, after about half hour at check in (and I was flying Business Class, plus the only passenger checking in at that counter), I moved towards security. This was around 7.30 pm, and the crowds were thronging the security area.
I was able to access the business class security check area. Sadly, there were only 3 counters (2 for men, 1 for women) and one of the men's counters was exclusively being used for some corporate travel that was happening that day (see the top of the security frame on the extreme left). So it took a good 10-12 minutes to clear security.
Anyway, from there, I had to go round in a large circle to bypass the immigration counters (I was flying domestic), and got my boarding pass stamped for immigration not required. I ended up at another long queue where the boarding passes were being checked by a single person, for all passengers - international or domestic, which was highly inefficient.
True to my bad luck, just as I reached the end of my wait, they opened up another counter for this ! Oh well...Here's a look back at the empty immigration counters and the throng of people waiting for them to open.
Then I reached the main area of the terminal, which is no different from the food court at a large mall, with multiple retail outlets. A great thing here was the ample seating space available.
A quick look at the murals....
and I headed towards the common lounge, which is located near gate 86 and right beside the Clipper Lounge (which serves Priority Pass customers and those under the Mastercard Lounge Access program). En route, I saw this which has raised my hopes for future flights.
Again, there's a lot of seating space in the lounge, as well as a rather good spread of both food and drink. And the best part about this is that there's no separate Maharaja Lounge for Air India passengers (which is pretty pedestrian normally). There are some live salad and sandwich counters too.
I took some pictures, when one of the attendants came over to ask me why I was taking pictures, and whether I was an auditor appointed to do a verification of the lounge - like I'd have told her if I was! Nonetheless, I explained why I was taking pictures, and then got directions to the bar.
Which isn't all that bad. Admittedly, the only whiskies they had were JW Black, J&B Rare and some Indian whisky, but I couldn't care less. The attendant got me some whisky and soda, and also some peanuts, while I helped myself to a small sandwich.
There are Macs strewn all over the airport, including the bar area, with free internet connections, for users to check email, browse, whatever.
There was also complimentary internet available, which was quite fast and, therefore, a good thing! However, I had to leave rather early because it was time to board, and I had to walk another 9-10 minutes or so.
Passed by more Macs on the way.
They've also done up the interiors really well, and the entire concourse is dotted with shops and food / coffee stalls, so it was a rather comfortable stroll right up to my gate.
There was no separate access for business class, but once I showed the agent my boarding pass, he removed a barrier to let me through, bypassing the queues.
And on to my flight.
Reaching the airport itself was pretty smooth, with the dedicated expressway that leads you straight to the departures section on the first level (arrivals are at ground level), just as it was earlier. The biggest difference was the number of lanes for vehicles, thereby minimising the chaos that used to exist.
The next sight that greeted me was the vast amount of space for the lobby and check-in areas - again a stark contrast from the days of yore.
The finish of the check in counters are also a welcome sight.
Of course, if there's one thing that hasn't changed, it is Air India's ground service. Anyway, after about half hour at check in (and I was flying Business Class, plus the only passenger checking in at that counter), I moved towards security. This was around 7.30 pm, and the crowds were thronging the security area.
I was able to access the business class security check area. Sadly, there were only 3 counters (2 for men, 1 for women) and one of the men's counters was exclusively being used for some corporate travel that was happening that day (see the top of the security frame on the extreme left). So it took a good 10-12 minutes to clear security.
Anyway, from there, I had to go round in a large circle to bypass the immigration counters (I was flying domestic), and got my boarding pass stamped for immigration not required. I ended up at another long queue where the boarding passes were being checked by a single person, for all passengers - international or domestic, which was highly inefficient.
True to my bad luck, just as I reached the end of my wait, they opened up another counter for this ! Oh well...Here's a look back at the empty immigration counters and the throng of people waiting for them to open.
Then I reached the main area of the terminal, which is no different from the food court at a large mall, with multiple retail outlets. A great thing here was the ample seating space available.
A quick look at the murals....
and I headed towards the common lounge, which is located near gate 86 and right beside the Clipper Lounge (which serves Priority Pass customers and those under the Mastercard Lounge Access program). En route, I saw this which has raised my hopes for future flights.
Again, there's a lot of seating space in the lounge, as well as a rather good spread of both food and drink. And the best part about this is that there's no separate Maharaja Lounge for Air India passengers (which is pretty pedestrian normally). There are some live salad and sandwich counters too.
I took some pictures, when one of the attendants came over to ask me why I was taking pictures, and whether I was an auditor appointed to do a verification of the lounge - like I'd have told her if I was! Nonetheless, I explained why I was taking pictures, and then got directions to the bar.
Which isn't all that bad. Admittedly, the only whiskies they had were JW Black, J&B Rare and some Indian whisky, but I couldn't care less. The attendant got me some whisky and soda, and also some peanuts, while I helped myself to a small sandwich.
There are Macs strewn all over the airport, including the bar area, with free internet connections, for users to check email, browse, whatever.
There was also complimentary internet available, which was quite fast and, therefore, a good thing! However, I had to leave rather early because it was time to board, and I had to walk another 9-10 minutes or so.
Passed by more Macs on the way.
They've also done up the interiors really well, and the entire concourse is dotted with shops and food / coffee stalls, so it was a rather comfortable stroll right up to my gate.
There was no separate access for business class, but once I showed the agent my boarding pass, he removed a barrier to let me through, bypassing the queues.
And on to my flight.
Comments
Post a Comment