Delhi Airport

I must admit I was not looking forward to returning to Delhi, especially having to use any of its airports. On arrival I have to say I was very happy with the process, fast, efficient through passport control and baggage reclaim. I had a driver meeting me which helps you avoid some of the chaos when you leave the terminal, but even that was not as bad as I remember. On departure all nice and easy through check in, security and passport control a good choice of shops and eateries once you enter the main terminal. The independent airline lounges are a bit poor and to be honest not really worthwhile using unless you have a long wait. My only confusion was at the boarding gate a security guard noticed my security tag from my hand luggage had gone missing, so he made me stand to one side for 15 minutes while everyone else boarded, I honestly thought I would be refused boarding, then he waved me onto the aircraft, no idea why that was, just another one of life's mysteries.

I recently used the airport for domestic to international transit and had a horrible experience. I realised that the airport has a design flaw - and it is not designed to be a international hub. They might advertise and want to be one but they have no idea what a transit hub is supposed to be like. There are miles to walk and queues that are miles long as well. There are too few Security and immigration counters if you are a transit passenger especially if you travelling with children. There was no restroom facility in this section and the process took more than 1 hour. I almost missed my connection. Too few security counters and seemed to me that inexperienced staff are allocated to the transit area. It was horrible.

Beautiful airport, spacious, great decor, decent shops and restaurants - there is also a pharmacy and doctor. Areas for improvement - efficient immigration and better Wifi. The arrivals area gets crowded and could do with multiple exit gates. Overall Delhi is a beautiful airport with decent facilities.

To begin with, had low expectations for this airport. However, to my surprise this airport was excellent. It was so easy and quick to find my way from my terminals to baggage pick up and vice versa on the way back home after a months stay. Smiling, polite staff and the airport was clean. The duty free shops were a bonus.

Delhi airport has turned out to be a smart place, we arrived by Jet from LHR and were connecting with a domestic flight. One is required to collect checked in bags, clear the customs and hand over the bags to the carriers domestic desk, even though our bags were checked in for the final destination. The security was quick. The gates are miles away from the main concourse, which is full of all the International chains, but they were pricier than the UK. The walks to the departure gates were extremely long, I counted 6 level escalators to our gate. The airport is clean and well maintained.

I have always liked Delhi Airport and love its overall vibe, however the free wifi system here is out of place compared to international statndards. The place has a mandate of having an Indian SIM to connect to Internet and someone from a foreign land just can't access this service free or paid. An international airport which sees so many travellers daily should know better and provide service for all. Can't comment on the wifi speed because I never got past the OTP issue. Hopefully this thing would be considered and internet access would become easier.

Nice airport, save for passport control the airport is modern and roomy. The rail connection to the city center is possibly the best (comparing cost and service) I've ever tried. Passport control is annoying to say the least. Very very long queue, staff disappearing for a long time to make the queue longer, and not very polite.

The facilities are good and considering the Indian standard the washrooms are really neat and clean. Scope for improvement, if wifi can be provided without any OTP as not everybody could be having an indian number at the time they are at the airport. Secondly, the queuing time at the airport immigration which needs to be reduced to improve the customer feedback. I was really disheartened by the time it took at the airport in the immigration. It was really a pain. Everything was good until I reached the immigration fish market where people from around the world were to get the clearance.

Reviewing both terminals separately. The smaller T1 serves low-cost domestic airlines. Its functional and efficient with a fair number of food and shopping options. Limited seating. Gates area is a bit cramped and very chaotic at rush hour. Baggage arrivals are quick and smooth. Not a bad airport, but nothing brilliant either.

Reviewing both terminals separately. T3 serves international and a large number of domestic flights. Huge airport with lots of walking, but a simple, straightforward, travelator assisted and well marked layout makes it easy to navigate. Departure concourse has great shopping and food. Huge amount of space, so you never really feel crowded (except maybe at security at times). City connectivity is great with the airport express train, and nearby aerocity has excellent hotel options. By far the best equipped airport in South Asia.