Leaving Singapore

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

As the plane lifts off from the runway, you’re reminded of how tiny Singapore is: the entire country fits in your aircraft window. No wonder it’s so well managed.

In the picture here are Sentosa, Singapore’s official recreational getaway island; the harbour; and part of downtown Singapore, literally “down”, for the central business district is at the southern end of the island. The strip of land you see at top left is Indonesia.

Changi airport was the first I’ve been where they do not x-ray baggage prior to check-in. Must be done after. The airport’s pretty nice, but I much prefer Bangalore’s: it’s just a little building with an aeroplane on one side and a taxi on the other. No endless miles of dragging your luggage past duty free shops that you don’t want to give your money to; no gate after gate leading to planes not waiting for you; no queuing up at position #8 on the runway, sitting there hot and sweaty, waiting for takeoff, when the air conditioning will finally kick in and overpower your neighbour’s armpits.

Bangalore’s is a no frills airport that specialises in the business of getting people in and out of the city. There’s only one gate and miraculously it’s always the one where your flight is waiting. Okay, there are two, but they barely count as distinct gates.

I like small airports for the sheer quickness of passing through them. I will miss Bangalore’s when the forces of metropolisation finally take it down.

First impression on arriving in Bangalore: “My god, what have they done to the roads?” Then I realised they had done nothing at all, the roads were just like when I had left. What’s changed are my expectations of them.

themadman — Dec 27, 2005 1:04:48 PM — # ↩

Goodness, I love Changi!
- ashwinb — Dec 27, 2005 3:12:04 PM — # ↩
  
  Strongly agree.
noelladsa — Dec 27, 2005 1:44:42 PM — # ↩

Hehe...interesting perspective on the aiport :)...well I for one would like a more comfortable international aiport in bangalore.That just means cleaner floors ,bathrooms ,better intercoms and polite staff.For a really nice/high utility/convenience airport you have to check the mumbai domestic .
- tsk1979 — Dec 27, 2005 2:11:42 PM — # ↩
  
  Come to delhi, the international airport here will put any stinking Bus Stand to shame in terms of crowd/chaos/Dirtyness
- sriniram — Dec 27, 2005 2:23:54 PM — # ↩
  
  I can't say I enjoy any Indian airport in particular. In my opinion, Mumbai doesn't rate very high. There is one exception however, the Cochin Airport is privately managed, and very well kept.
  - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 27, 2005 2:28:40 PM — # ↩
    
    *cough*
    Kerala and private. You sure?
    - madhav — Dec 27, 2005 2:50:01 PM — # ↩
      
      Sure.
    - sajith — Dec 27, 2005 2:56:33 PM — # ↩
      
      It indeed is. It is a state government sponsored project with public participation, public being mostly NRIs and businessmen. The project did face its share of opposition during the early faces, mostly about land aquisition.
      
      http://www.cochin-airport.com/
      - sajith — Dec 27, 2005 2:57:58 PM — # ↩
        
        Err. Early "phases", I meant.
    - sriniram — Dec 27, 2005 3:06:55 PM — # ↩
      
      They still have to grow a whole lot; their website for example could use some professional help, and a spell checker. Don't get me wrong, it's probably better than the rest of the Indian airports, but it is no Changi.
      
      The airport restaurant run by IIRC the Oberoi is very well managed and efficient. They have ample car parking, a first for an Indian airport. The airport building is pleasantly pleasing to the eye, and manages to marry the traditional tiled roof and modern amenities.
      
      However, I think they massively over estimated the amount of traffic the airport was going to see, despite the "GULF" traffic. I don't think they are making a profit anytime soon.
      - sajith — Dec 27, 2005 6:31:56 PM — # ↩
        
        "Gelf", you mean? ;)
        
        One of the reasons could be the airfare between Middle East and India. A very large number of folks simply can't afford to come home probably more than once an year. Government of Kerala was planning this project to start an airline company to serve this particular segment in the similar fashion as the airport. Apparently it has to pass a number of hurdles.
      - kingsly — Dec 28, 2005 3:15:18 AM — # ↩
        
        The gulf traffic is high enough to ensure profitability, the problem is that we don't have an open-skies policy with the countries there and IA/AI keep the plum routes for themselves and don't even allow the other countries carriers decent flight times.
mona1610 — Dec 27, 2005 4:03:21 PM — # ↩

Sentosa, Singapore’s official recreational getaway island

official... hehee. Boy! you learnt the important words real fast, didn't you! :P
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 28, 2005 12:22:45 AM — # ↩
  
  It tickled me silly to discover that the government had decide to develop Sentosa as a way of keeping the public entertained.
  
  Now I know why it's called a nanny state.
thejaszalcatraz — Dec 27, 2005 6:20:21 PM — # ↩

Great picture.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 28, 2005 12:24:12 AM — # ↩
  
  Thanks, dude.
rohandsa — Dec 27, 2005 6:48:08 PM — # ↩

One may call the Bangalore Airport 'functional'. But seriously, I was cringing when my boss said that he might have to fly there. After all the I.T hype in Bangalore, the airport leaves a far less than desired first impression for any foreign visitor!
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 28, 2005 12:21:28 AM — # ↩
  
  The airport's nothing. Wait till you see the road outside!
  - ashwinb — Dec 29, 2005 9:19:15 AM — # ↩
    
    Uh uh... what road?
    - Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 29, 2005 9:57:03 AM — # ↩
      
      Airport road, followed by Inner Ring road.
      
      Uh… yeah, what road?
dhempe — Dec 27, 2005 7:52:11 PM — # ↩

Actually they dont screen the baggage even in US. Must be done afterwards.
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 28, 2005 12:15:49 AM — # ↩
  
  They screened mine anyway, but the TSA may have changed the rules since. The TSA also opened one of my bags and left a note inside saying they had done so.
  
  Samsonite now sells TSA approved combination locks that have a backdoor for the TSA to open them, regardless of what your combination is. No kidding.
  - sriramb — Dec 28, 2005 3:52:33 AM — # ↩
    
    every bah gets screened. some ask you to take it to TSA screening after they issue the boarding pass, while others do it for you.
    Samsonite now sells TSA approved combination locks that have a backdoor for the TSA to open them, regardless of what your combination is. No kidding.
    
    they work like a charm. makes life easier for me and the TSA. i swear by them.
  - dhempe — Dec 28, 2005 12:20:45 PM — # ↩
    
    heh that's interesting :) someone should sue them for that ! ;)
joshmachine — Dec 28, 2005 1:13:49 AM — # ↩

nice pic.. do you have color pic..the clouds far way looks great..where u heading next??
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Dec 28, 2005 8:03:34 AM — # ↩
  
  It's blue all over. Looks unnatural. I'm home and staying put for the foreseeable future.
kingsly — Dec 28, 2005 3:22:01 AM — # ↩

The only "little building with an aeroplane on one side and a taxi on the other" I've seen was at Vijayawada(Gannavaram).

Bangalore airport is way too small for the amount of traffic it handles.

I've seen the security check line for gate-2 stretch outside the building.

And a week or two ago my flight was "queued at position #3" on the runway, and I'm sure your flight at #8 must have managed to take off faster than my flight did from #3.
purplehazerads — Dec 28, 2005 7:31:19 AM — # ↩

The airport at Ahmedabad is really nice. No crowds, no mess, and it's very clean. And, just one security check, and one or two gates. Screening of baggage is done after checking in, if you have only hand baggage.
shortindiangirl — Dec 28, 2005 10:31:11 AM — # ↩

Welcome back.
wishiwerealive — Jan 1, 2006 11:31:42 PM — # ↩

actually even Lisboa and of all places Capetown, does the screening after boarding passes have been issued.
sunildhummi — Feb 26, 2006 10:13:34 AM — # ↩

Amazing pic
Hey Jace,

Amazing pic!

What time of the day it was?
- Kiran Jonnalagadda — Feb 26, 2006 11:24:11 AM — # ↩
  
  Re: Amazing pic
  Thank you. Was taken at 3.30 PM.