Transit in Aden - not for the faint hearted
This transit was one I thought may have some difficulties with. One risk factor was taken care of in Amman with being checked in for the onward flight and boarding pass in hand. However other issues remained.
The original schedule had a 90 minute transit, but schedule changes had shortened this to 60 minutes.
The airport did not, according to the limited information I was able to find, appear to be set up to deal with international transits. Not surprising given how few international flights the airport gets.
The visa requirements were unclear. Potentially I would not need one just for a transit, or I may be required to get a visa on arrival.
The airport has no airbridges, so we disembarked by stairs. We were made to get into a bus to take us the 20 metres to the terminal.
Inside was chaos. The Yemenis on the flight pounced on the arrival cards on a small desk opposite the immigration desks and then proceeded through the desks labelled Yemeni. As I waited for an opportunity to grab an arrival card I looked around and was surprised to see a transit sign. Unfortunately it was affixed to a wall across an unpaved floor and appeared out of bounds and furthermore there was no functioning door to go through.
I filled in the arrival card as best I could, there being no option for transit for example as reason of visit and waited in line for immigration on the offchance I would not need a visa to transit. When I reached the desk I was told no, I needed a visa. Okay. Time is ticking by but I can't imagine it will take too long, and probably just a few minutes to get through immigration and back to departures in the tiny terminal.
There was one guy doing visas with a scrum around his desk. He appeared to have no set order to processing people, forcing some people to wait their turn while allowing others to push in. Each visa took a seeming age as details were meticulously copied out. Payment was either in local currency or 65 USD, with the latter representing a terrible exchange rate. No change given.
After 20 minutes in the scrum and still not yet my turn I was beginning to get anxious as it appeared he would not process all the people before boarding of the onward flight began. I thought about what options I had. Very little. I expected the onward flight may wait a short while for me, but how long I did not know. There were no alternative flights. If I missed this one I'd be stuck for a day and throw my itinerary into utter chaos. I figured I had less than 10 minutes before I may have to offer some inducement to serve me next.
Then out of the blue what I think was the airline station manager appeared shouting something. I didn't understand what he was saying other than the word transit, but I guessed it was about me. Who else would be attempting to transit here?
What followed next was bizarre. The guy doing the visas, who was an officer in the army, was arguing with the station manager about whether I was or was not allowed to transit. The station manager argued back that I should be allowed to bypass immigration and go through to the departures area by going back out the door we'd entered and in the exit door for departures. At least that is what I think he was saying given I didn't understand the language but relied on the odd comment made to me as an aside and the gesturing of the people involved. Meanwhile, a supervisor, with higher army rank, came out, and so did several other immigration staff and joined in the debate. Much arm-waving and shouting ensued.
I felt sorry for the other passengers on my flight who had not yet gotten their visa processed while this took place. I really did not mind getting a visa but the station manager was hellbent on arguing that I did not need one. Every now and then one of the army guys would flick through my passport. It seemed they had some interest in my entry and departure stamps for Kurdistan on the same day.
After 20 minutes of an argument about me which I could not participate due to language inability and concerns I had about saying something that would get me into real trouble, finally it ended abruptly. The station manager had won and I was allowed to transit without getting a visa. By now it was time to board, and so no visit to the Alzaafran lounge.
One of the army guys ordered a bus to pick me up and take me out to the aircraft, separate from the other passengers. I assume this was to ensure I really left Aden. I was given my passport back at the foot of the aircraft stairs.
Once onboard the cabin crew naturally had lots of questions as this was something they'd never encountered before.
I've had a few slightly unnerving transits before but this one was odd. If the original schedule had been maintained I bet the station manager would not have come looking for me so soon, and I would just have been processed for a visa despite the oddness of not staying in the country. The transit would have been very different.
Oh well, I saved a page and a half in my passport.