Thursday, August 30, 2007

The Dubai Airport

The first taste of middle-east was given in the form of Dubai. Our flight from Kolkata, scheduled to land at 1.15 p.m. (Dubai time) landed at 12.40, well ahead of the scheduled time. We were brought by a bus to the Transfer Terminal (supposed to be for passengers who have an onward journey only. In the flight itself I had been informed through the in-flight TV that my flight to Frankfurt EK - 047 will be leaving by Gate No. 22. I thought that must be one of the last Gates in Dubai. When I got in.... Ooh, in spite of a sea of passengers, the security was quite tight, my Passport and Visa were scrutinized thoroughly--much more than at Kolkata, and then when I looked for Gate No. 22, I was shown a long street of shops, almost like the Burrabazaar of Kolkata, of course, much decent, clean and straight. And much more, I found that there are 50 Gates for boarding ! My goodness! When I think of six gates in Kolkata, where, still they keep shifting your Boarding Gate abruptly, I just can't imagine how they manage 50 gates. Well, I saw the staff to be prompt, cold without feelings, strict, and from all over the world. And of course, even my Boarding Pass went through a Swipe Machine to create records for on-flight details. And now, I wait at the 22nd Gate working on a free Wireless Internet connection provided on the laptops. That's a new world.

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