‘International airport? More like a rly station’

The problems could begin even before your plane lands, when the Air Traffic Control tower asks the pilot to keep hovering till the runway is cleared of stray dogs. Last October, a Saudi Airways plane with more than 160 passengers on board hit a dog on the runway while landing, causing turbulence.

Pray that you don’t have to hover too long because the more you do, the greater the chances of your plane suffering a bird-hit. Between last June and February, airlines reported 14 bird-hits (eight in June alone). The problem arises, pilots say, because the runways and surrounding areas aren’t sprayed with insecticide to prevent organisms that attract birds.

And, as you cruise down to the runway, to left and right, as far as the eye can see, are the endless slums that greet every incoming passenger. Not so long ago, there was a drive to demolish the slums and clear the area; politics stopped the drive midway and the slums have sprouted again.

All this, however, is a stroll in the park compared to what the traveller experiences in the terminal. ‘‘Whenever I travel through Mumbai airport I have only bad experiences’’, says Harsh Goenka, chairman of Rs 3,500-crore RPG group. ‘‘I cannot pinpoint which has been the worst among them.’’

But Goenka can pinpoint the problems. ‘‘First, there are no exit signs. You have to guess whether you need to turn left or right. The long queues at immigration will take up another hour. After this, you have to search for a baggage trolley and then, if you’re lucky, your luggage lands in time and you can go to Customs to have it X-rayed. This entire exercise takes two hours, which is the flying time between Mumbai and Dubai.’’

Baggage trolleys are, indeed, a problem; loaders and trolley-pushers collude to ensure there’s a trolley shortage so that they can make a fast buck. Trolleys are offered at varying rates, obviously foreign tourists being charged the highest rates.

‘‘The time spent in scanning the baggage, with just two to three scanners at any given point of time, and the long queues at the immigration counters have to be dealt with’’, says Foster’s India MD Pradeep Gidwani.

Adman Gerson Da Cunha says: ‘‘It’s a constant sense of humiliation when one returns to Mumbai. Once there was the smell of urine that greeted me… next time it was the anesthetic smell of phenyl. Things have improved, I suppose.’’

‘‘The service part is missing’’, says Goenka. ‘‘No one is bothered whether you’re a guest of this country or a businessmen or just a backpacking student. Few people smile; those who do smile turn out to be touts.’’

There are few facilities for an outbound business traveller or for that matter for the economy passenger.

Says Kanak Rele, Mohiniattam exponent and dance scholar: ‘‘Next week our troupe is going to Mauritius and I’m already feeling apprehensive about the journey. The three hours at the airport will be spent without coffee as the vending machine is usually not working. In the economy lounge, the plaster is peeling and chairs are missing. Compare this to the Charles De Gaulle in Paris where the toilets are in excellent condition. There, one can spend time shopping at the duty-free shops, as against the lone shop at Sahar which is closed at night.’’

Leave alone the frills, even basic amenities like restrooms and chairs aren’t up to scratch. Says a former Air-India managing director, ‘‘Once I saw hundreds of Haj pilgrims sleeping on the airport’s floor and foreign businessmen and tourists asking them to give space to board their aircraft. Nobody can ask the pilgrims to shift as in India every small thing becomes a controversy.’’

Says Uday Kotak, vice-chairman of Mumbai-based finance powerhouse Kotak Mahindra: ‘‘We have a long way to go as far as Mumbai airport is concerned. Just look at Singapore’s Changi or Hong Kong airport and you know where we stand. We should benchmark our airports to those.’’

Can this really be done? Yes, he says. ‘‘If we manage to set up a high-quality management team committed to improving our airports, we can turn them around. Whether the airport is in the private sector or in the public sector management, the emphasis should be on a service-oriented team that delivers.’’

It’s an idea Goenka agrees with. ‘‘I think we need to privatise the airport as soon as possible to stop further corrosion. Just look at what Jet did to air travel in India. The private sector can run an airport far more efficiently than the bureacrats who are only interested in serving their political bosses’’, he says.

(Additional reporting by Renuka Suryanarayanan)