Just last year, the Indira Gandhi International Airport received the award for the best airport in Central Asia and yet for any Indian visiting this airport or just about any airport of India, the troubles and agony start right from the gate.
One of the biggest problems at Indian airports is the long queues. Knowing the kind of footfall they receive every single day, why the authorities don't have enough people manning the various desks is beyond us.
The baggage check in is very confusing and every airport has a different set of rules. Some will tell you to first put baggage in a scanner and then do the check in. Some say, direct check in. No matter, how you go about it, you'll definitely be in the wrong queue.
Even though there are charging stations around the airport, very few of them really work, especially when you desperately need one.
By the time you reach to pick up on newspaper or magazine to read, the shelf would be empty. Oh damn! Plug in your headphones and move on. Again, what happened to the supply vs demand proportion?
Whatever you buy to eat or drink at the airport, you don’t find it worth the money. Yes, even the tea would be too expensive at an airport. It's just like you stepped into a different zone all of a sudden.
If you are thinking to do some last minute shopping at the airport, you will never find any product on time. Or else, you will just see the shop will be closed down for maintenance.
The screen showing flight information display changes faster than a blink of an eye. You just keep staring at this board and rather than making things quicker, it delays just about everything. Today it is an even bigger problem with airports going into the 'silence zone'.
It's always chaos at this point. First the fight for containers to put your laptop, bags and other stuff and then the queue, irrespective of what flight you are on. Some counters will always be closed and there will no known reason for it as always.
The bathrooms are supposed to be clean with attendants around all the time. Unfortunately there will always be passengers who make a mess of the toilets and the attendant will not clean up for hours. Then there are all the passengers loitering around to put on their make up or just talking on the phone.
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