[amtak]

slightly OT: When is Mumbai getting its "new" airport? I wish they don't close the existing one even after the new one is started!

[eclectix 1st]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

Eclectix,
So true! It is a militant / smugglers heaven!

Looks like that from Happywheels experience

Originally Posted by smsrini

From Hennur it took me 40min to get to BIAL via the Bagalur road, which joins the Bellary road at Yellahanka. So if anyone is coming via the ring road from KR Puram, take a right after Pizza Hut, at the Hennur Junction, and after about 9kms, take a left. another 6kms will bring you to the yellahanka junction *after* VidyaShilp.

This road is good (Except for two very short stretches).
But traveling there during the day is quite an unwanted experience.

• From the ORR, there are more than 10 villages on the way.
• Road humps before & after the villages
• live stock coming on to the road
• human stock walking in the middle / side of the road

I got bored of braking-shifting gear so many times on that stretch.

Its good only if you want to avoid peak hours traffic on the ORR.

Non Peak hours, there is nothing like zipping on the ORR onto Bellary Road.
cheers:

[spadival]

Originally Posted by smsrini

Cabs from AkbarTravels and other 'premium' operators are parked haphazardly in a separate parking lot near the terminal, giving a very bad first impression.

Is the cab service from KSTDC still available? It was available in the old airport and their rates were almost half of that of Akbar travels (for the same Indica/Maruti van taxi)!!

[smsrini]

Originally Posted by spadival

Is the cab service from KSTDC still available? It was available in the old airport and their rates were almost half of that of Akbar travels (for the same Indica/Maruti van taxi)!!

To my knowledge no. Hertz, Akbar Travels - premium cabs.
CityCabs ( 43434343 ) and MeruCabs ( 4422 4422 ) are the other cheaper options - Rs. 15 / km. you have the BMTC Volvos - Rs150/- per head.

[snaronikar]

Y'day, I had to use the new airport for my official work. The driving into the airport was OK as I had started from my house at 3.30 am. It was 50 mins to reach airport. The traffic was minimal at that point of time.

Parked my car in P1 parking around 4.30 am. It is for long time parking. If you are going in morning and coming back in evening this is the ideal place for parking.

The experience inside airport was OK. Though there were lot of check in counters only 3 counters were operated on. Hence there was a big queue. Then we went to Domestic Departures. The place is better than the domestic departures of HAL airport with lots of shops and we can roam around the place. Secondly, the place is equipped with wifi system and you can use your laptops. You get the instant internet connection. The seats after you pass through security check is OK. I would prefer the HAL airport's seats rather than this. The flooring should have been with carpet. It would have given that rich look. But they have put the tiles. Looks OK. Boarding into the flight, no aerobridges. Again bus service was used.

Came back in night. It as raining. Walking upto the P1 parking in rain. Took my vehicle at 9.24 pm. The total parking charges I paid was Rs.250 (including tax) for the complete day.

Started my journey back home. The traffic was quite OK till Yelhanka. Traffic srated after I passed Yelhanka. Not a heavy traffic. Reached my home at 10.40 pm.

Overall, the BIAL looks good at present though they need to improve a few services which I feel they will after some time.

[amitoj]

Guys! I have to go to the new airport tonight to receive my wife.
Any idea hows the traffic out there today on Bannerghatta Road, from Meenakshi temple to all the way to MG Road?

[prashanthyr]

Any idea on the self drive options from the airport to Bangalore? I am arriving in the middle of the night and I have heard taxis are not easy to get. So was wondering if self drive is a better option. Any one used it yet?

[eclectix 1st]

Originally Posted by prashanthyr

I am arriving in the middle of the night and I have heard taxis are not easy to get. So was wondering if self drive is a better option. Any one used it yet?

Nothing like that. Taxis are easily available from Airport. Its difficult only to get a taxi for pick up from the city.
cheers:

[hkollar]

> At first glance, it looks much bigger than the Hyderabad Airport.

Hyderabad Airport is far bigger. The terminal space in Hyderabad is almost two times as big, and the passenger count is almost half of that of Bangalore.

The Terminal area in Hyderabad airport is 117,000sft compared to 71,000sft of Bangalore. Current yearly Passenger turnover in Bangalore is 10.5mil compared to 6.5mil in Hyderabad!

Peak hour capacity of Hyderabad airport is 3,200 versus the 2733 in Bangalore.

Boarding Aero Bridges are 12 in Hyderabad, as compared to 8 in Bangalore!

Runway length in Hyderabad is longer by 260mts and it is wider by 15mts.

Baggage Carousel is Wider and is lengthier in Hyderabad!

As per design specification, At present, the only thing bigger in bangalore is Cargo handling capacity. Almost 3 times that of Hyderabad.

besides, Hyderabad airport looks fantastic, was working efficiently from week one, as opposed to Bangalore airport.

I should know - I fly twice a week to Hyderabad from Bangalore. The overall journey that used to take me 2hours earlier, is taking 4.5hours now. :-(

Best part about BIA is the Road from Hebbal to BIA and the Vayu Vajra bus service. Govt. gets lot of flak for a lot of things. But, this is one creditable work they have done. Much much better than Hyderabad!!

[zenx]

Made a trip a couple of days ago to BIAL@Devanahalli to pick up people.
* Its far. I mean really far. Bangalore, as the crow flies, is probably 20kms across at most. This place was 53kms from home (near the ORR-Sarjapura Road intersection)!
* Roads are good almost all the way. Of course I left at 10:30pm and started back at 2:30am, so the journey took 1 hour to and 40 minutes from there. But in traffic, there are a few unpredictable hotspots and while 2 hours should be enough, its anyones guess.
* Lotsa people do not stick to lanes, and in that kind of traffic and at those speeds, there are a few big ones waiting to happen.
* From the trumpet exchange onwards is a dream run, with the two roundabouts before the parking lot a little scary, when there's some traffic - most people hate slowing down even a bit.
* The parking lots are large and affordable, and its easy enough to find your way around.
* They need chairs since "visitors" aren't allowed inside.
* The food courts and the ATM kiosk was a pleasant surprise. Got coffee at 15/- even at 2am!
* The dustbins need to be covered, and the staff needs to pay more attention to keeping it clean - even railway stations manage that these days
* Lotsa taxis (Sumeru/EasyCab) at ALL times - even 2am - and no night time surcharge. 15/- a km is ok. Logans, mostly, so for international customers a lot of luggage will be an issue.
* The buses were around and busy right through the night, and as we crossed the bus stops - the drivers/attendants actually invited us politely to take them! I was taken aback, personally!
* Looks - very "industrial" - functional and nice but not pretty. I guess it makes sense from a cost efficiency point of view.
* The Arrival/Departure displays are too small from a distance - since visitors aren't allowed to get close.

Overall, one felt quite optimistic about the Airport, yet the distance reaffirmed that short haul flights will die a slow death. Trains will get even better/quicker.

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by hkollar

> At first glance, it looks much bigger than the Hyderabad Airport.

Hyderabad Airport is far bigger. The terminal space in Hyderabad is almost two times as big, and the passenger count is almost half of that of Bangalore.

The Terminal area in Hyderabad airport is 117,000sft compared to 71,000sft of Bangalore. Current yearly Passenger turnover in Bangalore is 10.5mil compared to 6.5mil in Hyderabad!

Peak hour capacity of Hyderabad airport is 3,200 versus the 2733 in Bangalore.

Boarding Aero Bridges are 12 in Hyderabad, as compared to 8 in Bangalore!

Runway length in Hyderabad is longer by 260mts and it is wider by 15mts.

Baggage Carousel is Wider and is lengthier in Hyderabad!

As per design specification, At present, the only thing bigger in bangalore is Cargo handling capacity. Almost 3 times that of Hyderabad.

besides, Hyderabad airport looks fantastic, was working efficiently from week one, as opposed to Bangalore airport.

I should know - I fly twice a week to Hyderabad from Bangalore. The overall journey that used to take me 2hours earlier, is taking 4.5hours now. :-(

Best part about BIA is the Road from Hebbal to BIA and the Vayu Vajra bus service. Govt. gets lot of flak for a lot of things. But, this is one creditable work they have done. Much much better than Hyderabad!!

Good comparo. Hope BIAL takes remedial actions by building an extension to the terminal well in advance of their next phase planned for 10+ years later. Having the same seating capacity has HAL for international departure and 2x for domestic departure beats any reason (when we are building a greenfield new airport). Hope public and govt pressure forces them to make the required improvements (and investment - it seems Siemens+Zurich only want to make money, not investment into the business with mid/long term vision)!

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by sk456

...
lots of shopping but with very few food joints.. The barista outlet had queues a mile long ...

..

Strangely they seems to have more food joints in the arrival hall! Saw two CCDs on both sides of the hall and they were mostly empty. Why would somebody want to drink coffee on arrival instead of trying to escape from that remote place at the earliest. Think they messed up here also.

[sk456]

Originally Posted by appuchan

Strangely they seems to have more food joints in the arrival hall! Saw two CCDs on both sides of the hall and they were mostly empty. Why would somebody want to drink coffee on arrival instead of trying to escape from that remote place at the earliest. Think they messed up here also.

well ya..overall intent seems good but implemetation and planning is a bosh up to a large extent .

[ajmat]

Went to collect my little girl off the flight.

Journey time from city centre 75 min. Most of it was spent between Mekhri circle and Hebbal flyover. Traffic is maddening. Trucks in the fast lane etc

Trumpet interchange onwards - awesome road and well made. Imagine when we went for our last Nandi Drive in Oct - nothing existed except the flyover. Well done L&T

Parking - Straight forward - read the signs

Walking to the terminal - fine but remember your brolley during monsoons

Quite crowded around the terminal - a lot of folks are there to sight see new airport and enjoy chaat from Gangotree.

Pay Rs 80 to enter arrival terminal. Not enough seats - well they are at the far end but you cannot see if your passeger has come. They really do not encourage people to hang around. I can understand this.

Two CCD's - the Lounge - if you are wearly/ late. The cafe if you want to wait and watch. The cafe is understaffed, - it serves the departure area and the queue over there was large.

It was kept clean, every 10min a guy in a cart drives around wiping the place but the CCD area is unkept with wrappers checked around.

Baggage took 20 min to come out, baggage carasouls look too small.

Walk out, the area outside is kept sterile so that one can look for your name card in peace. Step out and the usual hustlers are around. Area was wet due to rain, staff around to regulate traffic.

Drive back - scary due to rain, unlit roads and local traffic "jumping" in. some guys were hiting 120 - how do they!

Summarising, airport could be bigger but the nonsense with the government meant that the BIAL folks dare not bet big.

A good effort and a much needed one. If is not stunning like KL (I really like the rain forest blending design) but can't expect too much too soon

[jango]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

The flooring should have been with carpet. It would have given that rich look. But they have put the tiles. Looks OK. .

Exactly !! they should have had carpets like in Changii Airport. It would have given a posh feeling.

Toilets needs to be maintained properly also.