The previsit is almost at its end as I am writing this in Paris, waiting for the connecting flight to Helsinki. It has been quite a week and I must admit it is a kind of a relief to return to Europe. The security checks may not be any more efficient than in India, but at least they have left out the hordes of people who just stand there watching your every move. There’s a sense of personal freedom in the air when everyone around you has something proper to do.
I thought the process of getting in a plane in Finland is overcomplicated, but it’s actually the opposite. In Oulu you check in with one person, go through the security check with at most two persons, and show your boarding pass to one person just before entering the plane.
India is… a bit different.
When you arrive at Bangalore airport, there’s a guard on the door verifying that you have tickets to a plane that leaves within some hours or so. Before the check-in queue there’s a person who hands you a departure card you’re supposed to fill before passport control. When you get to the front of the queue, another person tells you which desk you should go to, and only after that you can do the actual check-in.
Skip forward a couple of minutes to the passport queue. If it so happens that you didn’t get the departure card before, there’s someone to give you a new one. After filling in the details you wait in the line and finally get to a desk where one person checks your passport, visa and departure card. If all goes well, you get a new stamp in your passport and proceed to the next guard – about five meters after the desks – and he verifies that your passport and boarding pass have correct stamps in them.
Before you get to the security check, there’s an officer who gives you a tag for each piece of cabin luggage you are carrying (includes handbags and such). The tag must be filled in with passenger name, nationality, destination and other such details before it is attached to the bag. The security check itself is quite similar to the Finnish one, but every single passenger is scanned with a handheld metal detector, even if the walk-through one doesn’t detect anything. After scanning you and your luggage the guard stamps your boarding pass and all the tags in your bags. Before you get to the secured area, a separate guard – again about five meters later – checks the stamps in your boarding pass and luggage. If for some reason the stamps are not there, you have to go back and get them.
We’re finally through to the gate, but the fun is far from over.
The boarding process starts with a person checking your passport and boarding pass, followed by a check that all your luggage tags have security stamps in them. Half-way down the tube there is a table for random security checks as well as a person who separates the boarding pass from the ticket. Shortly after him there is a guard who checks your boarding pass for security stamps, and you finally get to step on board. Of course the flight attendants want to see your pass once more in order to guide you to the correct aisle. The you just sit down and enjoy the flight as usual.
Overpopulation, anyone?
Tags: flying, people in india, practical stuff, previsit, traffic, ways of working, what is different, work