One easily builds an impression about a country within the first few minutes of landing. Unfortunately for India, that impression is likely to be very bad at best. Take Bangalore (or whatever it is called today). For an IT capital and a city ranked among the fastest growing in Asia, the airport (not to mention the connectivity) is a shame.
Now, in under three months, the airport (though not the connectivity) part is set to be fixed. A brand new international airport will open in March/April. For those interested in more details, here is the official website. This airport happened in spite of the state government. That shows the level of genuine concern for the state, its people and development. Like all projects in India, this has taken way too long to go from an idea to completion. In the process, it has left a few more heartbroken. I do hope the Bangalore Airport CEO, Albert Brunner, writes a book revealing all the villains in the play, and the hurdles they placed.
The connectivity to the airport though is still being worked on, and has barely moved beyond the drawing board. Some foresight & planning!
Around the same time as the new Bangalore airport opening, the new Hyderabad Airport will also open. See more at their website. While bigger & seemingly better than the Bangalore Airport, it also has the same connectivity problems. The only difference being, unlike at Bangalore, active road-building is in progress to solve it.
These two have the potential to alter the first impression of visitors to India. That may sound superficial, but it has the potential to do a lot of things. Most importantly, to show that the country means business, finally.
What is needed now is much more - a massive fast-paced program to build new & efficient airports throughout the country.
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