Passengers at Bengaluru airport have a comfortable wait

BENGALURU: In the past couple of days during the Bharat Bandh, Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) made a thoughtful gesture to provide mass seating arrangements at the airport. Bangalore International Airport Ltd (BIAL) hired 1,000 chairs for the sake of passengers in case they had to wait outside the airport if buses or cabs were not available.

Passengers went to the airport hours earlier than required, to avoid missing flights and found plastic chairs waiting for them in front of Departure Gates 1 to 4 and the Assembly area. 

To avoid congestion, passengers are generally not permitted inside the airport four hours before the departure of the flight.  Senior citizen couple Shantilal Jain and Vimalaben, heading to Ahmedabad, were seated in front of the departure gates. Vimala was using another chair as a table to have her lunch. Jain, a businessman in the city, said, “We chose to come early. I thought it was a great amenity to spread chairs for us like this!”

Retired BEML employee VM Thippeswamy, on his way to Dubai, said, “If the seating near some eateries are not available, you have to hang around before you are let inside. Thankfully, someone has thought of us.”