The last time I was in BLR in December, there wasn't any *A or contract lounge. With all the international flights now, will this change? Or are there space constraints?

Also, there has been talk about a new airport. Any idea when this is planned for and where its going to be?

There is very limited space in the international departures area and no business class lounge (just before customs there is a VIP lounge and I guess IA/AI have access to it besides the airports authority. Even while flying *A first I did not get any lounge offer.

The new greenfield airport in BLR is probably a damper on new investments in the current airport. Unfortunately, there is a strong speculation that the new airport is now delayed by another year or two - we'll just have to wait and see.

So instead of opening in 2030, its delayed to 2031 or 2032?

Seriously speaking, when is it scheduled to open and whereabouts in relation to the city is it?

The new greenfield (i.e. built from scratch) Bangalore airport is past Devanahalli, way out of the city on NH7 if I remember my highways well. This is way past Yelahanka and the Airforce station there (they have airshows here by IAF during key events). THe good news is that it is just not the airport being builtup but a whole infrastructure around it (expanding the highway to 6 lanes - 3 each direction, several hotels near the airport, upgraded ring road to bring traffic to city quickly, etc.). Some of the conditions by investors in the new airport include ending all flts to the current HAL airport (including domestic and cargo flts) and routing them all through the new airport. This will ensure passenger numbers and a good return for the investors for their massive investment (massive by Indian standards, puny by China standards).

The new airport was originally supposed to open by late 2005, early 2006 (which had already slipped past original projections by previous govts) but now it looks to be 2007/2008. Chief Minister Dharam Singh announced during the IT.com event this month that the new govt will invest in infrastructure for Bangalore and that the new airport and infrastructure will be ready within 40 to 44 months (hence the projection of 2008). He may be referring to the completion of all phases - phase 1 may indeed open by 2006 as planned but I doubt it and so does most of the business press in India.

Additionally, I hear that there are 5 high-end hotels being built now in BLR. That town is booming! MAA is next.

What about lounges for Domestic at BLR? Does 9W have anything like they do in DEL? Now that is a great lounge!

Hmmm, I've never been offered access to this when flying IC First.

Just returned from Bangalore. In the departure area (past security where you wait for planes), there is not only no lounges, I couldn't even find a place to buy a beer. Soda, coffee were available, but nothing with alcohol.

The good news: They did have cheap wireless LAN available that worked well and was fast. $2 USD for 1 hour. I wished I hadn't packed my webcam in my luggage as I'm sure it was fast enough to video conference with my kids. As it was we had fun with instant messenger.

The bad news: My LH plane that was scheduled to take off at almost 1am was grounded for 2 hours due to a light fog. The pilot came out and talked with us. He was pissed. Said the plane could handle much denser fog, but the air traffic control didn't believe him.... I barely made my connection in Frankfurt. My luggage showed up a day later.

Robert

P.S. The food in LH even in "C" class still leaves a lot to be desired. And I can't wait for them to upgrade these planes to their new seats. Their old seats are not competitive.

Thanks for the report Robert.

stimpy, there is really no domestic side lounge for Jet Airways. It is an invitation to the airport restaurant (the usual pattern in Indian domestic airports). Sahara a small lounge (also in the airport restaurant) and it is a little better. They definitely need airport upgrades in India and the current govt seems to be on top of it (a lot of private and public investment is planned starting this year with upgrades in DEL and BOM followed by MAA and the greenfield airports in BLR and HYD).

After a lot of foot dragging it looks as though the agreements for BLR and HYD airports have been finalized (there was a delay in BLR with a new govt but things seem to be settling down).

Last month when I was in BOM, I read a newspaper article that said the new airport at BLR will only open in 2010.