On my last trip out of Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Sivaji International Airport terminal 2 (Going Dutch), I noticed a new thing I hadn’t seen the last time I was there in December 2012. I was going to fly Jet Airways Premiere (Business class) to Brussels, and after clearing Immigration/Passport Control, I headed into what I thought was going to be a long serpentine queue for the security check.

However, I was pleasantly surprised when there was a new signage in the security hall, which said “First Class/Business Class” passengers. To me, this indicated that there was a priority queue put in place for premium travellers and for disabled passengers, which, incidentally was much smaller than regular queue. Your boarding pass had to be inspected before you were allowed in this queue, to prevent everyone from bluffing their way in. Since this was the security area, I did not click any pictures.

However, it did take a while, because it turns out the various airlines are also sending all their crew for security clearance in this queue now. And they turn up by the dozens and try to cut into the queue for the passengers, bringing everything to a standstill for a while.

Luckily, there was a proactive security in charge lurking somewhere, who after five minutes of lurking around, decided to open a new queue for the crews (I think Delta and Cathay Pacific crews were floating around!). Eventually it all worked out, but I guess the airport needs to work some more on this initiative to make sure the premium cabin queue is just that, and not crowded out by all sorts of exceptions (except for whom it is already marked).

Related Post:

• Mumbai airport finally has internet check-in!

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