I am writing from Hyderabad. I was here a year ago and took the same route as I did then. However this time all the airport buildings I have used were brand new.
I started out from Heathrow Terminal 5 which thankfully seems to be working properly now. The buildings are far taller than other Heathrow ones and you spend a lot more time in either lifts or escalators. However the design makes much better use of the building footprint than the older, flatter terminals. There is also far more natural light and with atrium spaces between the levels it is much more airy than say Terminal 4.
I knew that there was a new airport under construction in Bangalore but had not appreciated that Bengaluru International was already open. The old airport was very dingey and old fashioned. The immigration queues also seemed very long. Arriving this time was a very pleasant experience with a short queue for immigration, a well-designed baggage hall, then a long wait for our 747 to be unloaded (a local contact said this was due to customs insistence on screening every bag).
I had an internal flight to Hyderabad and the new check-in area was very open with a very high ceiling. Note the extensive marble flooring!
I flew to Hyderabad with IndiGo airlines which required a short bus ride to the plane. Judging by the excavation work another similar sized terminal will be on the way.
Hyderabad airport was also new. the old Begumpet airport was handy for the city centre but clearly not up to date. The new Rajiv Gandhi International is about 50 km outside the city and is another airy design with plenty of natural light. A modern highway takes you to the edge of Hyderabad although it has a strange feature - speed bumps - at intervals.
After two days in our Hyderabad office...it is off to Bangalore again this evening but this time with Kingfisher airways.
So this is the departure lounge...
2008-07-01 @ 13:11