A Visit to the Airport

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Last night I went to the Mumbai International Airport to pick Zhichao up. I must say the condition of the Domestic Airport is much better and newer than the International Airport.

On arrival at the Airport:

1. There are no signs to indicate that there are different terminals.
2. There are also no signs to indicate that there are different terminals for different airlines.
3. There are no signs to indicate which airline lands at which terminal.
4. There are no signs to indicate where each terminal is.

Then at the arrival hall of Terminal 2C, there is a signboard indicating the status of planes due in the airport. I always thought that planes were either delayed, confirmed or landed. Apparently, there are more statuses of planes especially of a particular airline.

Of the 5 landings of the airline that night, none had the same status.

The first was Indefinite.
What happened to the plane? Did it get lost or vanished over the bermuda triangle?

The second was Provisional.
Was the plane provisional or the pilot had a provisional pilot license or they would wait till the plane was filled before taking off?

The third was Tomorrow.
In other words, Delayed.

The fourth was Scheduled.
If the flight wasn't scheduled, how would people know to buy tickets for this flight or how would their friends and relatives know to go to the airport to pick them up?

The fifth was Arrived.
Finally! One plane that reached the airport. Then again, this plane could have been scheduled to arrive the day before.