New Delhi Airport Terminal 3 – First Thoughts
Posted on 25. Aug, 2010 by David in Airport, Blog, Delhi, Travel
At the end of July the New Delhi airport opened up the brand new Terminal 3 for international flights. Here are my initial thoughts regarding the new terminal after flying out and back in on a recent trip.
- High ceilings: There’s a wonderful spaciousness about the new terminal and the much higher ceilings, especially in the check-in and baggage claim areas, greatly help this.
- Lots of carpet: The spacious departure and arrival piers have a curious flooring choice – carpet. Not just any carpet, but patterned wall to wall carpet that seems thicker than carpet I’ve seen in airports. A rolling bag didn’t roll as easily on it due to the extra friction from the thickness. I wonder how well the carpet will hold up over time with all the traffic walking on it.
- Long, wide walkways: Departure gates in the previous terminal were all mostly in the same small area. In Terminal 3 the gates are spread out across the super long walkways making up the departure pier. It can be a long walk from the food court in the departure hall to your gate.
- No post office: Unlike the old terminal, Terminal 3 has no post office in the main departure hall before you go through immigration and security. Perhaps there will be one if the future, but for now get your final post cards mailed off before you show up at the airport. (Update: according to the airport’s interactive map a post office is now listed in the T3 Departure Main Hall.)
- Less free wi-fi: Previously the international terminal offered 60 minutes of free wi-fi provided by Airtel. Terminal 3 now offers free wi-fi for up to 20 minutes through Aircel. After 20 minutes it’s available for a fee, but I couldn’t determine how much as the wi-fi wasn’t working the day I flew out.
- Different currency exchange: In the international baggage claim area of Terminal 3 there are two choices for exchanging foreign currency into Indian Rupees – Thomas Cook and Central Bank of India. The latter option is new and seems to replace the State Bank of India which was the recommended place in the previous terminal since it didn’t charge the commission which Thomas Cook did. I wasn’t able to confirm it, but I think the Central Bank of India doesn’t charge a commission either.
- Outside pickup: If you have a taxi waiting to pick you up on arrival, the driver will now be waiting just outside the arrival hall rather than inside the hall like before. That’s no fun for the driver if the weather is hot.
- Rough around the edges: Terminal 3 is a great upgrade over the previous terminal, but there’s still some work needed to complete everything. Not all of the restaurants and shops were open when I flew out, and I couldn’t find any ATMs in the international arrival hall even though they are on the map. I’m assuming all of this plus other little details will be complete by the time the Commonwealth Games come to New Delhi in early October.
Check out the official Delhi airport website for more information on Terminal 3.
Delhi Baggage Claim
Posted on 13. May, 2010 by David in Airport, Blog, Delhi, Travel
This was from the baggage claim area at the New Delhi domestic airport recently. Eventually I was able to get to my bag.
Delhi to Kashmir Road Trip
Posted on 25. Mar, 2010 by David in Blog, Delhi, Kashmir, Things To Do, Travel
Wow, what a road trip! Last Sunday and Monday I traveled by road from Delhi to Srinagar, Kashmir for the first time.
On Sunday our trip took 14 hours to go from Delhi to Jammu. The next day’s journey from Jammu to Srinagar took us about 10 hours. Going faster is possible, but we took our time when stopping to eat or stretch our legs.
Travel by air from Delhi to Srinagar takes only 1 hour and 15 minutes, so a road trip may not be ideal for those tighter schedules or who hate spending so much time in a vehicle. If you have time to spare it certainly makes for a unique way to enter the Valley of Kashmir and then you can always fly out when you leave.
Over the weekend or early next week I’ll post a series of photos highlighting some amusing road signs along the highway. For now here’s a quick teaser of one of them:
Top 6 Things To Do When Delayed At The Delhi Airport
Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by David in Airport, Blog, Delhi, Tips, Travel
January can be a bad month for fog at the New Delhi airport, causing all kinds of flight delays. Last week my family and I ended up being in the international airport from midnight until 9am due to a 7 (!!) hour delay from heavy fog. Ahh, family fun, especially with a 15 month old!
So after that experience, here’s a quick list of the top 6 things you can do to kill time when delayed at the New Delhi international airport:
6. Take advantage of the free wifi to get online and email/blog/tweet/facebook your friends or family to tell them you’ll be late but not to worry because you have this top 6 list.
5. People watch and try to guess what countries all the various people in the airport are from without knowing what flight they’re waiting to get on. See if your guess is right if they approach you to ask why you’re staring at them.
4. Check out the departures screen and see if you can correctly identify the countries for each of the destination cities listed. If you’re a geography expert, then the additional options are guessing the time zone and longitude/latitude of the destination cities.
3. Count how many times an airline announces the “last and final” departure announcement for a flight to see which airline is the biggest offender of this loudspeaker abuse.
2. When an airline repeatedly pages someone’s name to come and board their flight that is departing, try to find that person or try to convince the airline staff to leave without them.
1. When the above options have been exhausted and you’re still waiting, go to Cafe Ritazza in the waiting area and buy yourself one of the jumbo super-sized Toblerone bars they sell. Chocolate makes everything seem better.
New Delhi Airport Post Office
Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by David in Airport, Blog, Delhi, Tips
Recently I was flying out of the New Delhi international airport and saw something I hadn’t noticed before – a post office.
If you still need to mail some postcards or letters out to friends and family, or even if you have extra bags and want to ship them home this little post office can take of that for you. You can call the office on this number, 011 25652323, if you need any further information on their services at the airport.
The post office is somewhat obscure, so to find it head all the way to the left in the area where the various airline check-in counters are. It’s before you go through immigration. There’s a section of shops near the end on the left side, and the post office is at the back of this section.
Update August 2010: With the opening of the new Terminal 3 at the Delhi airport, there no longer appears to be a post office at the international terminal. Will keep you posted here if that changes.
Exchanging Money at the Delhi Airport
Posted on 03. Sep, 2009 by David in Airport, Blog, Delhi, Money, Tips, Travel
(Updated August 2010 to reflect changes after the opening of Delhi’s new international Terminal 3.)
I’m often asked before groups come about how soon they’ll be able to exchange money when they arrive in Delhi or if it’s possible to do it upon arrival at the Delhi international airport.
You can exchange foreign currency for Indian Rupees both before and after customs in the arrival hall of Terminal 3. In the baggage claim area before customs there is a Thomas Cook counter (toward the right) and a Central Bank of India counter (toward the left). I believe the latter does not charge a commission fee for the exchange. Both counters should be open 24 hours, which is helpful since most international flights get into Delhi late at night or after midnight. Outside of customs there are also two more counters, Thomas Cook and Central Bank of India again.
The new Terminal 3 also features ATMs both before and after customs. When I recently passed through the terminal these ATMs weren’t installed yet but they are listed on the map so should be there soon if they aren’t already. The ATM in the old terminal limited transactions to 5000 Rupees (just over $100 USD currently), but I’m not sure yet if a similar limit is one these new ATMs.
The airport website provides this interactive map showing the locations of foreign exchange counters and ATMs.
Changing money at the airport can be helpful in case you need some Rupees before you’re able to go to an ATM or other bank exchange office near whatever place you’re staying at in Delhi. I’ve heard & read that the exchange rates in the airport aren’t always as good as what you get at a bank office in town. However, I haven’t always found this to be true.
