Bangalore Airport

All very nice and modern. However the security guard at the outer entrance seemed unable to read (latin letters). Instead he stared at each document for at least one minute causing a heavy queue. He accepted my e-ticket without even turning it to the front side where the crucial information about name and flight was printed. Business lounge is before the inner security check. After the experience with the outer security checks I guess everybody skips the visit there.

Now that it's more than a year since the new airport opened the operations have been streamlined a bit. Luggage arrives in the belt almost by the time one reaches the baggage collection area. Check-in fast and efficient. For transport to and from the city the BMTC Vayu Vajra buses are the best bet. Meru Cabs offers a very decent taxi service. Now for the bad part - immigration lines can be really long between 1 and 3 am. The terminal though large seems quite empty. Those spaces have to be filled with chairs for people to sit. There are hardly enough places to sit. There aren't enough food counters. The current food counters are way too expensive. It can cost up to Rs.300 to 500 for a decent breakfast. I think that's atrocious.

Now that it's more than a year since the new airport opened the operations have been streamlined a bit. Luggage arrives in the belt almost by the time one reaches the baggage collection area. Check-in fast and efficient. For transport to and from the city the BMTC Vayu Vajra buses are the best bet. Meru Cabs offers a very decent taxi service. Now for the bad part - immigration lines can be really long between 1 and 3 am. The terminal though large seems quite empty. Those spaces have to be filled with chairs for people to sit. There are hardly enough places to sit. There aren't enough food counters. The current food counters are way too expensive. It can cost up to Rs.300 to 500 for a decent breakfast. I think that's atrocious.

On the face of it the airport terminal appears to be small but is adequate for the current traffic. There is a quiet small European airport like functional efficiency in the current airport that somehow masks the attendant Indian chaos. Road infrastructure to and from the city vastly improved. The airport will stand tested when traffic volumes rise.

Used the BLR airport 4 times in the last 3 weeks - arriving on Lufthansa flying to Delhi and back on Indigo and flying to Mumbai on Kingfisher. Overall experience has been as good or better than when I last used the airport in mid 2009. The relatively compact size of the terminal sometimes makes it appear inadequate but didn't actually encounter a situation of overcrowding - either in the waiting area or elsewhere. Don't think the use of buses for embarking/disembarking is always directly related to any lack of availability of overbridges. Low cost airlines avoid airbridges to save on their usage charges. Airbridges were used on Lufthansa and Kingfisher but not Indigo. Immigration baggage and customs on arrival were very quick. Security lines were on the longer side but not a cause for concern if you arrive about 75 minutes prior to domestic departure. In general baggage handling appears to be pretty efficient. Porter service continues to be helpful and useful. There seem to be more food options within the terminal and outside in the waiting/parking area. Public transportation to the airport seems better and the time taken to city centre in peak traffic seems to average about 90 minutes.

While a big improvement over the old airport for a new 21st century airport it is quite bad. There should have 10 times as many gates - most domestic flights still require a bus to get to the aircraft. The business class lounge for international i always full between 1-3 AM when most international flights leave. Why did they build such a small lounge for a new airport? If you are flying business class check in an hour before your flight and board the flight - forget the awful lounges. Immigration lines in arrival can be very long - again pathetic for a new airport.

BLR is very modern clean and efficient - quite unusual for Indian Airports. Facilities are great and for the most part the staff are helpful and friendly. I'd definitely recommend it.

Arrived from DEL at 2030. Aerobridge for getting off not the usual ladder and bus. Terminal very spacious airy and clean. About 5 min walk to the baggage carousel. Bags were out shortly after reaching the carousel. Baggage carts were available in plenty. Less than 5 min walk to the taxi stand. Departure to DEL at 0615. Since early morning flight check-in and security took only 15 min. Toilets were clean. However the number of seats at the Gate are very limited. One would not be able to get a seat if two international flights are departing at around the same time. Short bus ride from the Gate to the aircraft. Overall a vast improvement from the previous HAL airport.

First time flying though the new Bangalore airport and I have to say it's not bad. Baggage service was remarkably quick - bags had started appearing on the belts less than two minutes after we walked into the terminal. Much better than the airport in HYD which was built by the same company. On departure there's not much to write home about outside of security. All I could find was a Cafe Coffee Day which served their products at double the price you can get elsewhere in the city. Also beware that you now have to pay a departure fee of Rs. 285 per person which isn't automatically included in the cost of most tickets. Security is efficient and there's a large number of shops up at gate level. The inline security system is also nice as you don't have to put your checked bags through an X-ray machine before going to the counter. Biggest problem with the new airport as is the case with most new "greenfield" airports in India is distance to the city center. It's almost 40 km which can mean up to a 2 1/2 hour drive in rush hour traffic.

Flew in and out of BLR on domestic and international sectors in the last month. Was very impressed with immigration and baggage service. Was out of the airport within 1/2 hour each time. A vast improvement over the old HAL airport.