JDiver

Did you know 40% of FlyerTalk's members are international? Did you know FTers speak many languages, including ASL (American Sign Language), that are not American English, as their natal or primary language?

cbn42

This does seem like a logical policy for India. If they started allowing anyone to enter the airport buildings, the place could get overrun with homeless people. The terminals are already crowded enough as it is. Even hotel lobbies in India often have guards to make sure that only guests enter. It's just the reality of the third world.

I would say that this policy is more for comfort than security. I don't see how it could benefit security, as any terrorist wanting to blow up the terminal could easily buy a ticket.

mre5765

There has to be more to it than comfort. Otherwise, arriving pax could enter the departure lobby and vice versa, arriving domestic pax could stay in the gate area, departing pax who entered the lobby and needed to leave (e.g. forgot something in their parked car) wouldn't need special permission to do so, etc.

As I wrote, security screening to enter an airport terminal lobby is likely coming once they figure out the logistics of screening large bags, especially those destined for check in. The age of the Sky Cap is coming to India; better have spare rupees when departing.

As for hotel lobbies allowing only guests, this is false. I've been to countless hotel lobbies in India where I am not a guest, and many Indian residents have met me in lobbies of hotels where I am a guest. Many of the popular restaurants, pubs, and nightclubs are in hotels, and the hotels would lose money refusing locals. The guards are there to screen for bombs and weapons.

cbn42

The guards will gladly let you in if you are a customer of the hotel in any way, even if you aren't staying overnight. They can tell just by looking at you whether you plan to spend money or not. They can and do turn people away who are there for free shelter.

Hotels can get away with this because they are private property. Airports, which are government facilities, can't let their guards decide based on instinct, so they have to have a firm policy.

mre5765

As do American hotels.

FlyingDesi

As I have been discussing on another post, many procedures at the Indian airports are frustrating and useless but there are some pro's too.

Some airports have visitor access and there is a gated area in the lobby where visitors are allowed in after paying a fee. They are not allowed near the check-in counters but a passenger can check in and walk towards the visitors area and chat with his friends/people from the other side of the fence.

A few airports don't have visitor area at all.

For Domestic Travel: You have to present a Valid Photo ID and a ticket at the gate to the officer posted at the gate. You can show an e-ticket too on your cell phone. The ticket cannot be just a booking number, it has to look like a ticket. you will not be allowed out once you are checked in. You cannot walk out of the terminal building even if you missed your flight. An airline representative has to accompany you, tell the reason to the policemen posted there and make an entry into their logbook with your ticket number, their employee information and the reason for your exit. (I could get out many times without all the above by just showing my press credentials and/or chatting up with the policeman - Most of them want to tell me their sob stories that they want me to report)

Next comes the security check. I find Indian security to be a bit more relaxed as you don't have to take off your shoes and sometimes they go easy on liquids too but it varies. I travel with a lot of camera gear and some airports require you to take out everything and some don't so there is really no consistency. The best thing is, I can yell at them and still get away with it.

Once you are done with the security, you cannot get out without getting your boarding pass cancelled. You have to get a fresh boarding pass issued which is a hassle as you have to again stand in the check-in line.

As for the boarding, there are no zone systems so as soon as there is any pre-boarding announcement, people scramble and rush in to get ahead of the line. I don't understand this as their seats are confirmed and they are not gonna lose their place!!!! They would also have space for their carry-on's guaranteed as Indian airlines don't gate check the bags and it is the responsibility of the airline to find space for your carryons in the flight. Well...

Be prepared for a mad dash when the flight lands. You will find people taking off their seat belts even before the aircraft comes to a complete halt! People would want to use the rest room right then too! So the best thing is to sit and wait it out. You will find these people again anyway at the baggage area waiting patiently.

If transportation is not arranged, I suggest everyone get pre-paid taxis before exiting the terminal. It is the safest and cheapest. Once you get out and don't know what to do, it is open season.

relangford

Sri Lanka's CMB is similar. Only passengers are allowed in the landside area; then x-ray of all bags, even purses; then to the check-in counter; then another x-ray; and finally to the waiting area.

I don't see any problem with the Indian requirements; makes the airport less crowded (well, somewhat) as well as improves security.

mre5765

What's amusing is the trend to have semi-enclosed areas at airports in the sub-continent region where services like dining are available and no ID and itinerary are needed to enter. About a year after it built the new airport hours from the city center, BLR started a project to add such an area, and it finished recently. So there is a Cafe Coffee Day outside under a roof, and and one inside before security. MLE has the same set up. So airports are more expensive to build in the name of "safety and security" and the pax bear the brunt of it in higher airport taxes. Stupid.

As for problems, helping someone who is elderly or an inexperienced traveler makes such set ups a hassle. And for those unfamiliar with the set up, being dropped off by taxi early, and forced to wait outside in the heat before their window for entering the lobby comes up are at risk, especially in a third world country.

In July we got to MLE early because the previous day, we planned on leaving our island resort four hours before takeoff. Alas, a tropical storm rolled in, and the resort refused to run the water transfer. So next day we decided to leave 8 hours before departure. We arrive, then approach the enclosed lobby and are told to come back in 5 hours. When we come back to check in for our business class CX flight we see that CX has a lounge set up for business class customers in the lobby just for the situation we were in. The jerk security guard didn't tell us that. Idiocy.

So how does this improve security?