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Old Aug 26, 2023, 8:07 pm
  #1  
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Bengaluru [BLR] connection/departure experience reports

This and other news sources say Terminal 2 at Bengaluru KIA (BLR) will only handle international flights from now on, while Terminal 1 will handle only domestic flights.
https://www.indianeagle.com/traveldi...ru-airport-t2/

I guess this means that if you're connecting international ↔ domestic you will have to transfer between the terminals, unlike in Mumbai where in many cases you can stay in one terminal.
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Old Aug 28, 2023, 12:56 am
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Haven't been to BLR in a while so don't know what connection options are there between the 2 terminals. I remember how inconvenient it was when both DEL & BOM had different terminals for domestic & international flights. Hopefully they will have a better system in place in BLR to connect the 2 terminals.
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Old Aug 28, 2023, 1:56 am
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T2 is about 200m to the east of T1. Strange that they never built a connector between the two.

https://www.google.com/maps/@13.1985...!1e3?entry=ttu
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Old Aug 28, 2023, 7:30 am
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AI is tweeting (sorry x-ing) that they will move their entire (domestic & international) ops to T2:

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Old Aug 30, 2023, 5:09 am
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Originally Posted by oliver2002
T2 is about 200m to the east of T1.
It more like 400 to 500m in a straight line from the exit doors of T1. It's close to 1km if you had to walk along the road access.
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Old Aug 30, 2023, 3:51 pm
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Well, seems like there is some confusion. Some news sources phrased it as "T2 will have only international flights after August" while others phrased it as "Only T2 will have international flights after August". The latter makes more sense and is kind of like the arrangement at Mumbai now, where the newer, "better" terminal is used for all international flights + the premium domestic airlines, while the older terminal is relegated for use by the low-cost domestic airlines.

However, even in this there is a further twist now:
https://www.newindianexpress.com/cit...r-2610089.html

Edit: If you don't want to follow the link, the summary is that they've announced the transition of international flights to T2 is indefinitely postponed.
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Old Aug 30, 2023, 3:54 pm
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Originally Posted by Keyser
Haven't been to BLR in a while so don't know what connection options are there between the 2 terminals. I remember how inconvenient it was when both DEL & BOM had different terminals for domestic & international flights. Hopefully they will have a better system in place in BLR to connect the 2 terminals.
I've been to BLR recently but didn't need to change terminals. I did see signs for an inter-terminal shuttle, although I have no idea how convenient and frequent it is. Physically the terminals are very close to each other, 300m or so as someone else said, and it should be possible to walk over along the walkways (there was another thread on this in the forum recently).
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Old Sep 4, 2023, 9:08 pm
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There's a shuttle bus running between T1 & T2 .. boards T1 near the relay store near the quad area.. New update is that INTL flights will move to T2 from Sept 12.
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Old Sep 12, 2023, 6:56 pm
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Originally Posted by Bandicoot
Well, seems like there is some confusion. Some news sources phrased it as "T2 will have only international flights after August" while others phrased it as "Only T2 will have international flights after August".
Edit: If you don't want to follow the link, the summary is that they've announced the transition of international flights to T2 is indefinitely postponed.
It was the latter, all international flights are now from T2 and have began today: (the Tweet isn't linking, but BLRAirport is sharing many posts on the subject).

B747-437B and Bandicoot like this.
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Old Sep 20, 2023, 3:45 am
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Used T2 on INTL arrival today - super impressed with size of immigration hall / number of counters.. wide spaces between belts at baggage claim (think DEL T3) .. easy wide exit after baggage through to outside as well.. Passenger car pick-up is about 100m walk straight out, take elevator/stairs/escalator small level down and about 18 car pick-up slots (numbered) available... as of now, its free to pick-up (not sure if DEL/BOM style paid will be implemented later)
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Old Sep 21, 2023, 1:35 am
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Used T2 on INTL arrival myself as well. Agreed with all of galaticos' observations. In addition, not sure if this was a fluke or a change of policy, but my bags were not scanned at exit. The scanner and staff were there while walking out of the baggage claim area, but they were just standing around not in the least bit interested in the flow of exiting passengers. At T1 it seemed they almost always made people line up to have their bags scanned. (Looking for gold, I presume.)

Also missing at T2, the staff checking if you actually got a stamp in your passport right after exiting from immigration (always wondered why they had that check - I think they still have it sometimes at BOM).
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Old Sep 21, 2023, 2:00 am
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The scanning is mainly for handluggage... the customs screening of the checked baggage happens before the bags are sent to the belt. The customs screening system in T2 was inspected by the big bosses yesterday...


https://twitter.com/blrcustoms

Looking at their tweets they seem to get lucky on BKK and DXB flights.
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Old Sep 21, 2023, 2:50 am
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Originally Posted by Bandicoot
In addition, not sure if this was a fluke or a change of policy, but my bags were not scanned at exit. The scanner and staff were there while walking out of the baggage claim area, but they were just standing around not in the least bit interested in the flow of exiting passengers. At T1 it seemed they almost always made people line up to have their bags scanned. (Looking for gold, I presume.)
Scanning of check-in bags used to be done prior to them arriving on belt.. chalk mark on bag = additional inspection prior to exit

Originally Posted by Bandicoot
Also missing at T2, the staff checking if you actually got a stamp in your passport right after exiting from immigration (always wondered why they had that check - I think they still have it sometimes at BOM).
very very happy to see no one inspecting immigration stamp seconds after leaving immigration counter.. waste of man hours if ever there was one.. glad its gone and hope its permanent
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Old Sep 24, 2023, 12:51 am
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Originally Posted by galaticos
Scanning of check-in bags used to be done prior to them arriving on belt.. chalk mark on bag = additional inspection prior to exit
I'm referring to the additional scanning of hand luggage that was very common for international arrivals at T1. The line would form at the green channel exit and most handbags and carry-on suitcases would be taken through a scanner set up in the hallway leading from the baggage claim area to the big arrivals hall.

The scanner was there at T2 but not being used - passengers just walking right by. Could have been just a time of day thing, though - I arrived at about 5am, only the BA flight from LHR arrives then, it may be deemed lower risk for gold imports compared to the 2am-4am period when the Emirates and Qatar flights typically arrive.
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Old Sep 24, 2023, 11:03 pm
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The scanning was disabled on T1 earlier this year (feb-march period).. however, as you said, might be timing.. I've heard that they usually do that for Middle east / east asia flights and not EU.. but dont have definitive data points.
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