New Bangalalore Airport facilities

cdevi9

I'm from the US, and coming back to southern India with a small group of fellow travelers in a few weeks.

What can anyone tell me about the new Bangalore airport food service, restaurants, cafes, etc. Are they open? Are the foreign exchange counters in service yet?

We'll be coming in at 1:30 a.m. and will have a few hours to spend before we take our prearranged taxi to our next leg of the journey.

If we're at the airport for a few hours, will we be able to hang around in a lounge somewhere ...? How ready is this new airport? I've been reading some not very encouraging articles about the problems they've had since it opened.

Any info would be a great help, thanks.

brownboy66

There's a fairly long discussion about the airport here, including a few personal accounts as well. Might give you a bit of an indication of how well or badly the airport is servicing passengers.

Was reading the article the other day saying the biggest problem is not the airport itself, but the time it takes to travel to and from the airport to Bangalore.

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brishti

cdevi9:

i have heard, the airport itself is good, not great - but good.
yup, there are cafeterias etc in there, but are they open 24/7? i wouldnt know. the toilets are clean too

i concur with BB, the problems arise when you step out of BIAL.

so you're safe please let us know more of the indoor airport facilities after. thanks.



:brishti

cdevi9

Brishti: thanks, that's encouraging to hear. I read in the longer discussion about BIAL that the restrooms were badly designed or something, but if they're clean, that helps! I'll post again when I've seen what it's like there at the new BIAL.

We're hoping there's some place to sit comfortably for 8 (or more) of us after flying 14 hrs from San Francisco to Hong Kong. Although we'll shower at Hong Kong's super flier-friendly airport during our 4 hour stopover there, we've got another 4 or 5 hour wait at BIAL for our taxi, which will carry our travel-weary bodies another 2 hours or so to our destination in Andrah Pradesh.

We thought about going to Bangalore for a few hours ... to a hotel around MG Rd, but would be not so good if traffic is as bad as reported (even at 2 a.m.???) So, if there's no place to eat ... maybe we go to Bangalore for a few hours ...as painful as it sounds. Don't know ...

brishti

at 2 am, it aint the traffic thats going to be the problem cdevi9.
everything will be shut down and out in the city.
options for restaurants will be limited to 24hr coffee shops in 5* hotels.

IMO - stick to the airport... you really dont want to enter the city
like i said - trouble begins outside BIAL!!!!!!!!!!



:brishti

pquekel

Brishti, is "sticking to BIAL" true for someone who wants to visit the Nandi Hills between two flights as well?

siri_uk

If it was me i'd stick around BIAL get some rest before the onward journey. There's little to do in Bangalore around that time and to be wandering around at 2am aint a good idea. Been to BIAL a few times, it's ok, as u leave the terminal building there's subway and a couple of other food places, latest i've been there is 1am and they've still been open, so I guess they open through the night. also don't forget to get to MG Road it's around a 40 km drive at that time it should take around 45 mins but u never know with Bangalore! Also the baggage can sometimes take around 1-2 hours to come through from the aircraft! Good luck with your journey

cdevi9

Siri_uk:

thx, feedback helpful. I emailed BIAL asking for info about facilities at that time of night, but no response so far (2 days).

Since many international flights come in late at night, I would think the Foreign Exchange Service counters would be open ... that was my other concern.

siri_uk

there are foreign exchanges thomas cook and tt forex, they open 24 hours (or so the lady said when I just called BIAL!!!). There are ATM machines also to get, outside of the terminal only vijay bank and SBI machines are installed presently, SBI machine is usually pretty good, they accept most cards from worldwide locations.

cdevi9

Ohhh....hey-y-y-y thx so much ....you called BIAL!
'k then, shouldn't be a problem.

brishti

depends on the time you have between the 2 flights.
keep in mind - the road that leads from the airport to Nandi Hills/Town is NH4 - national highway 4
frankly - i dont know about the traffic load between BIAL and Nandi Hills... but it should be substantially lower than what follows after Nandi Hills.
you will have to take a cab to Nandi Hills and keep him waiting - there is no mode of transport available at Nandi Hills, other than your own vehicle.
just make sure you have plenty of time on your hands pquekel - and then some.



:brishti
if you take a wrong turn from the airport - you will head for hyderabad!!!!! NH4 leads to HYD!