In Transit

The Airport Experience

While nearly all major airports offer facilities for the passenger in transit, not all are created equal. feBusiness Traveller takes a look at some of the world's best airports and what makes them so

The business traveller's ultimate nightmare is getting caught up in transit. And if it happens to be an Indian airport, the experience may not be very pleasant. While a typical US airport occupies its own particular circle of hell, Indian airports are not just chaotic. They are also an inherently boring prospect for a passenger with several hours to kill (notwithstanding ongoing restorations and fresh bids for the Mumbai and Delhi airport upgradation). Many international airports on the other hand have actually made for some of the highlights of a business and leisure traveller's trip, offering up a slew of activities to fill their time.

New Age Airports

What was once a zone of shorn-sleep on uncomfortable couches in public lounges thick with the sound of grating baggage trolleys and screaming children have today metamorphosed to destinations in themselves. Five-star style lounges, state-of-the-art business centres, multiplexes, shopping malls, spas, health clubs, fine dining restaurants, entertainment and much more, these new age airports often billed as mini-cities go a long way in easing travelling blues.

While the above scenario is increasingly becoming a norm rather than exception in airports of the major cities around the world, India will catch on soon. Any international airport worth its salt today has fine dining, al fresco, top-end brand label shopping, basic duty-free, diverse entertainment, meditation and therapy sessions. These are worlds unto themselves, giant, integrated leisure and business complexes, destinations in their own right.

While You Are Waiting

Airports now also serve as self-contained elite business and conference centres offering value-added facilities: easy Internet access, good infrastructure, and security. They also save time and money making long transfers and hotels stays obsolete. Airport lounges, especially those that cater to business and first class passengers, are fast becoming the USP of airlines and they are getting plusher by the day. Relaxing and peaceful environment, gourmet cuisine, entertainment, business facilities like fax machines, computers with complimentary Internet access, service bars etc are the usual features of these lounges. Computer reservations assistance is also at hand in case you wish to change your on-board seat assignment.

Multimedia information booths, LED screens, dedicated 24-hour help lines, multi-media centres, wireless broadband services, cyber break cafes, and PowerPhones with Internet access have made these lounges, probably the most convenient, integrated business centres. There's also VIP service (on payment) that organises events, press conferences, fashion shows and banquets. Some airports even boast of convention centres which feature conference, seminar and meeting rooms, accommodating from two to 120 persons, equipped with flip-charts, beamers, LCD players, e-mail, wireless LAN, telephone/videoconferencing.

Apart from business one can also indulge in some serious relaxation as most large airports have yoga and meditation centres along with special prayer rooms. If stress is your problem, just hop on to the massage chairs or get a massage from skilled personnel at hand. For a business traveller airports are no longer a dreaded ordeal and one necessarily doesn't have to take a day off to recover from a long haul flight with an equally long stop over. feBusiness Traveller features some of the biggest and busiest airports around the world and what makes them so:

Hong Kong International Airport

Bustling, prosperous, Hong Kong is a city, where trade and commerce are the driving force creating an affinity to affluence. So it makes sense that in its hometown, Cathay Pacific at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) would have lounges where you can take a bubble bath while a chef prepares Cantonese meals to your specifications.

Zen is the word at this 43,000-square-foot, wood-and-granite, open-air facility overlooking the terminal. Spread out at the 80-foot, aptly named Long Bar, passengers can dine at one of the four restaurants, including the Haven (strictly for first-class passengers) and a Japanese noodle bar. The Spa offers a complete line of services, but nothing tops the private cabanas, complete with personal showers, beds and oversized tubs.

True road warriors, however, can spend their time on the wireless Web from anywhere in The Wing. This lounge offers first-class travellers private cabanas with showers and chaise lounges. This massive complex houses 98 lifts, 70 escalators, 9,900 luggage trolleys, 15,000 seats, and over 3.5-kilometer of walkways or travelators strategically placed inside the terminal building. An Automated People Mover electric train located at the basement travels the length of the 750-metre Central Concourse in 70 seconds.

Dining options are plentiful from casual to elegant terminal layouts and signage, which make perfect sense, and the multilingual staff is both friendly and helpful.

There are nine check-in islands with 228 desks in the Departures Hall. In the Restricted Area, a novel Cyber Zone combines entertainment and retailing with free Internet access, while the multimedia lounges have additional workstations that provide up-to-the-minute world news. Apart from over 200 retail outlets that offer unlimited duty-free shopping, a wireless service for personal laptops equipped with LAN keeps you in touch with your business while two children's play areas keep tiny travellers amused.

Not bad, is it? HKIA is representative, give or take a few degrees of scale, of the trend in most developed countries. The airport also has The Pier comprising of six individual Day-Break Rooms for first-class passengers offering absolute privacy. Video and audio entertainment at one's fingertips and touch screen controls that activate lighting, air conditioning and blinds are also part of this set up.

Singapore Changi Airport

At Singapore's Changi Airport, the first impression is one of relaxation, rather than stress. This is partly owing to the fact that there's a sense of space, and partly because of the Oriental decor in the dining and shopping areas.

It does an excellent job of promoting the values of their country of efficiency, cleanliness and sophistication. It is also a great place to shop. For a business traveller, a lot depends whether you have access to the business lounge or not. Only Changi goes out of the way to ensure that all travellers have access to shower facilities, health club and swimming pool and the Internet. Besides, there is a lot to see and do - they even have a mini science museum and Orchid Park inside the airport.

Service-conscious Singapore Airlines' 30,000-square-foot lounge accommodates 200 first-class and 450 business-class passengers. Tropical plants and aquariums abound; walls are covered with works by local artists, and 42-inch plasma screens show news and sports continuously. It is also the venue for activities such as the pseudo-Olympics that was held there during the Olympics. Duty-free shopping has always been a given factor - what has metamorphosed is the scale.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) has a serene environment thanks to installation of greenery along with artistic exhibitions, which are a regular feature. KLIA is the second airport in the world, after Munich, to have a special chamber to defuse explosives as part of its sophisticated fire-fighting systems. Duty-free shops, international fashion houses, traditional handicrafts, KLIA has it all. It is also the only airport in the world with a glass-enclosed rain forest. Malaysian Airlines lounge has a literal river running through it, along with a gym, bedrooms, a computer-games corner and a nursery with babysitting services.

Frankfurt Airport

The EyeTicket Corps' newly developed system at this airport claims it can eliminate tangible airline tickets and long check-in counter queues. EyeTicket's iris recognition technology is expected to allow travellers to check themselves in and board aircraft with no form of identification other than their eyes. Eventually, if airlines adopt this type of identification system, passengers and airline employees will store digital images of their irises on a database. The future looks like an era of seamless movement. It also enjoys high-speed Internet access.

Shopping at Frankfurt Airport is a sheer delight with opportunity to stock up liquor and cigarettes at extremely competitive prices. Frankfurt Airport's international Shopping Centre, which has everything from haute couture to business suits and fashion for the young and restless is a good place to shop or spend time. The airport also offers an assortment of gastronomic delicacies - be it international cuisine, Asian delicacies or typical Mediterranean food. A must visit are the Chinese and steak joints. While there's a choice from fast food to international cuisine, the traditional Viennese dishes are worth a dig. The only cuisine to be named after a city, Viennese cuisine includes specialties originating from all countries of the former monarchy: Hungary, Bohema, and Italy. Apart from all this travellers can also try their luck at slot machines.

Dubai International Airport

As everything in UAE, the Dubai International Airport also has a look that spells out modernity. The structure in itself is remarkable and the services and facilities that it offers adds to the impressiveness. The airport is sensitive towards passengers with 'special needs' - they are met at the gate with a wheelchair and taken to the Special handling lounge, and collected before their flight. The special lounge is quiet and relaxing with free tea and coffee - bit like a business lounge without the alcohol and Internet connections. The airport also has dedicated desks for these passengers and offers electric carts for transporting them to and from the new Concourse (or the Shiekh Rashid Terminal Services) where one will find the main Dubai Duty Free, foodcourt, banking, Internet services, entertainment, business facilities, airport hotel, lounges, and other services.

Within the Concourse there are special lounges for these passengers and unaccompanied minors. Special personalised services are also available on request. The airport itself is spotless, well-laid out with plenty of seating. The E-card gate is great with friendly immigration staff. The airport has its share of lounges as well. A dedicated lounge for unaccompanied minors and passengers with special needs is located in the Arrivals Hall. It has 22 check-in counters incorporating state-of-the-art-processing facilities, 1,300 square metres of Dubai Duty Free, Special bulk purchasing desk at the duty free, Banking facilities, ATM machines and restaurants. All passengers irrespective of their class of travel can use the Department of Civil Aviation Lounges. The DCA Business Class lounge offers rooms by the hour with shower facilities. It also offers five workstations with computer and Internet connections, a separate family room and a separate room for smokers. Air France, Gulf Air, Emirates, British Airways, KLM and Star Alliance have their own dedicated lounges.

For business travellers, it offers five meeting rooms, one conference room and state-of-the-art communication systems, eight work stations and full secretarial and office services support facilities. Passengers can also use the swimming pool, Jacuzzi and gymnasium and massage services. For those wishing to take a quick nap, two quiet lounges with special reclining chairs are available on either side of the Sheikh Rashid Terminal for free. Four special rooms have also been dedicated for offering prayers. If you are seeking total peace, there are designated areas where there's zero noise pollution. Dubai International Airport, for instance, has a large silent room where you can rest, sleep or read without any disturbance.

Heathrow Airport London

Handling over 60 million passengers each year, it is indeed one of the world's busiest international airports. Heathrow has four consecutively numbered terminals (a fifth is on the drawing boards) serving more than 90 airlines. You'll find both sit-down and fast food restaurants in each terminal, along with plenty of good coffee shops and snack bars. For 'real meals' in Terminal 1, visit Garfunkel's Restaurant; in Terminal 2, try the pub food offered by the Shakespeare AleHouse and Wetherspoons. The Food Village in Terminal 3 has a salad bar and a highly rated Indian restaurant called Noon. Terminal 4 has a good selection of coffee bars.

Virgin Atlantic's 'upper class' arrivals lounge at Heathrow features a beauty salon. While you're getting primped before heading into London, Virgin's staff will also press your clothes and shine your shoes. The 'airside' of the departure lounges has comfortable seating and features sleeper chairs for the weary. It also has a Beauty Centre where several types of facials and manicures are complimentary with the purchase of varying amounts of cosmetic and body-care products. Free shower facilities are available in Terminals 1, 3 and 4.

You can shop for everything from jams and jellies to fine jewelry at Heathrow. And don't worry if one of the duty-free shops you want to visit isn't in the terminal you'll be using: Heathrow has a free 'personal shopping service', with escorts to take you between terminals so you can shop in whichever store strikes your fancy.

Golfers rejoice! At the Golf Studio in Terminal 1 (past security) you can play virtual golf, enter the weekly competition for the longest drive, or get a lesson from the on-duty golf professional. Heathrow is surely one of the world's premier aviation hubs. No time for down time? London's Heathrow opened the 'Island', a pay-as-you-go airport lounge in Terminal 3 with access to showers, steam cleaning and shoe shining, satellite television, and Internet connections.

JFK International Airport New York

JFK is New York's busiest airport, handling over 30 million passengers each year through nine terminals. Dubbed "an air travel environment for the 21st century", British Airways' lounge - Terraces - is indeed more backyard than board room, with trickling water fountains, the sounds of birds chirping, fully reclining lounge chairs under white umbrellas, and - jokes apart - the subtle scent of cut grass. A Molton Brown Travel Spa has hydrotherapy showers, reflexology treatments and specially designed pre- and post-flight massages.

There are hundreds of places to eat, shop and do business at JFK. Chances are you will find what you want in the terminal you are using. If you don't, you can take the AirTrain to other terminals that connects terminals 1 through 9. During peak hours, a trip between all terminals takes about eight minutes, so be certain you have sufficient time before your flight. There is a cellular phone rental facility in the arrival area apart from the usual services. The airport underwent a multi-million dollar development programme, including a major redevelopment of International Terminal 4 and a new road and light rail system. The airport has special facilities for the disabled - every bank of phones at the airport includes one amplified phone for the hearing impaired, each terminal features at least one wheelchair accessible restroom etc.