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Watch out flyers! Huge crowds at Bengaluru airport ahead of holiday season
If you are looking to fly from the Bengaluru airport any time soon, you may have to leave home earlier than you originally planned, thanks to huge crowds at the Kempegowda International Airport ahead of the holiday season.
Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) has been witnessing an increased footfall ahead of the holiday season, with several flyers irked over long queues and waiting time, while authorities scrambled to manage traffic.
Customers flooded social media with their grumbles, with a user, Debasis, saying, “@AirAsiaIndia Looks like you guys have compromised customer service and convenience in the name of providing cheaper flights. Not enough check-in/bag drop counters at Bengaluru airport. Long queues. Bad experience.”
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The airline then responded with, “Hi Debasis, this is not the experience we wanted you to have with us. Please accept our sincere apologies. We would request you to get in touch with our ground staff's for any immediate assistance.”
“It is very convenient for you to direct people to ground staff. But when the counters are limited, what will they do? Don’t be so miserly. Spend something for your customers sake,” the flyer replied. He then went on to share a picture of the crowded terminal, where queues went on for several rows as people waited their turn.
Rohit Ahuja, another Twitter user, had a contrasting view. He shared his experience online, saying that using the Digi Yatra app helped him save a lot of time. “Reached #Bengaluruairport at 8:05 for 8:40 flight. Was at the boarding gate by 8:12, thanks to #DigiYatra. The app has some issues but the concept is certainly futuristic!” he wrote.
On the other hand, some did not have a smooth experience with Digi Yatra. “@JM_Scindia Digi Yatra is still not functional in Bengaluru Airport as published long time ago in news. It's extremely disappointing that no one in the Airport are even aware of it except few boards on display,” a social media user tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Airport addressed some media reports which said they blamed the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and officials from immigration team for congestion at the airport. “Some media have reported that BLR Airport officials have blamed the CISF and Immigration Authority for congestion at the airport. These news reports are unsubstantiated. BIAL refutes this and wishes to clarify that such communication has not been made.”
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“We have been witnessing heavy passenger traffic at the airport and our staff have been working hard to make the journey of passengers as easy as possible. We are grateful to CISF and Immigration Authority officials for the incredible support that they have been providing us,” it added.
Customers however circled back to the original issue of congestion. “Disappointing elsewhere, 30 mins of waiting to take-off on 14 Dec 10 pm. 6th in take-off sequence. One operational runway (north). Landing and take-offs from same runway. Code F runway not being used. Why cant we have simultaneous operations ? Infra seemingly available, but not used,” one pointed out.
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“What is being done to fix the problem? Holidays are even not here and wait times have multiplied, no grievances are being heard. This is not the Bengaluru airport I knew,” another said.
