DESTINATION: THE AIRPORT TERMINAL

Quiet zones, secure check-in, 'boarding bites', global retail and dining options, AI-aided navigation, a range of entertainment options, massages-Indian airports are upping the game to offer better airport experiences.

- SUMAN TARAFDAR

As you step past the security check in at Delhi airport's newly refurbished T1, you would be forgiven for thinking you had stepped into an upscale mall. Or at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport T2, you could excuse yourself for thinking you had absentmindedly strayed into a forest-or a really fancy food court. Its concept of 'a terminal in a garden' catapults it into the few new-age airport terminals category in the country, complete with enviable green credentials. India's airports are upscaling, and how.

For long, Indian travellers to Singapore have budgeted extra time for Changi. Repeatedly voted the world's best airport in recent years, Changi with its butterfly garden, cinema halls, waterfalls, gardens galore, numerous activity/ nap time areas, a plethora of lounges and, of course, world class retail, and quite often, free shopping vouchers for those transiting through the airport, is the benchmark airports around the world seek to emulate.

Indian airports have not quite had the same reputation in the past. Perhaps even now. Notably however, the airport experience for Indian traveller is improving fast as operators realise that not just passengers want better services, there is a considerable pot of gold for those getting it right. Skytrax, a UK-based consultancy that runs an airline and airport review website, has rated five Indian airports in its list of 100 best world airports: Delhi (at 32); Bengaluru (at 48); Hyderabad (at 56); Mumbai (at 73) and MOPA Goa (at 80), indicating the transformation of Indian airports from drab to glamorous.

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