The day before, I sent my father off to the Budget Terminal, and yesterday, I went back again to fetch him back. You might be wondering why he's only going for a day. Well, the fact is that all he needed to do was just to fly over, meet his person-of-contact over at Hatyai airport, pay him the money and collect his medicine, and that's it! So in fact, my father could jolly well go and return on the same day, and he'd be more than glad to do so. Too bad Tiger Airways only has one flight daily to and fro Hatyai, and the timings simply do not match.
Anyway, back to the Budget Terminal, I arrived at the departure hall at 12.05am with my mother, 10 minutes before the scheduled landing time of my father's flight. However, I realised that the flight had actually touched down at midnight. Lucky for us, none of the passengers were out yet, as I had not told my father that we'll be picking him up. While waiting, I surveyed around the arrival hall. This hall looked much smaller than the departure hall, and there isn't any eatery outlets at all, only some snacks and drinks vending machines at a corner. I wonder what can one do, when the flight of the person he's picking up has been rescheduled or delayed at the very last minute!
My father came out soon after along with other passengers of the same flight. He was full of complaints the moment he saw us. Not because of the plane, but the design of the arrival hall. In Terminal 1 and 2, there're conveyor belts and escalators for people to use, but in this Budget Terminal, there's none of these, and everyone had to walk all the way from the moment they get out of the plane. And it wasn't a short distance too! Many other passengers, mainly the elderly, were complaining about this problem, and some had to stop for a few times along the way to rest their feet.
So it seems, while the Budget Terminal is trying to provide only the basic facilities so as to reduce cost of operations which in turn will be beared by the passenger, they should still take into considerations of people with disabilities. What I could not understand is, while they have got facilities outside the terminal for the disabled, there seemed to be little of such within the terminal. Something for the authorities to think about!
Anyway, back to the Budget Terminal, I arrived at the departure hall at 12.05am with my mother, 10 minutes before the scheduled landing time of my father's flight. However, I realised that the flight had actually touched down at midnight. Lucky for us, none of the passengers were out yet, as I had not told my father that we'll be picking him up. While waiting, I surveyed around the arrival hall. This hall looked much smaller than the departure hall, and there isn't any eatery outlets at all, only some snacks and drinks vending machines at a corner. I wonder what can one do, when the flight of the person he's picking up has been rescheduled or delayed at the very last minute!
My father came out soon after along with other passengers of the same flight. He was full of complaints the moment he saw us. Not because of the plane, but the design of the arrival hall. In Terminal 1 and 2, there're conveyor belts and escalators for people to use, but in this Budget Terminal, there's none of these, and everyone had to walk all the way from the moment they get out of the plane. And it wasn't a short distance too! Many other passengers, mainly the elderly, were complaining about this problem, and some had to stop for a few times along the way to rest their feet.
So it seems, while the Budget Terminal is trying to provide only the basic facilities so as to reduce cost of operations which in turn will be beared by the passenger, they should still take into considerations of people with disabilities. What I could not understand is, while they have got facilities outside the terminal for the disabled, there seemed to be little of such within the terminal. Something for the authorities to think about!
4 comments:
i think they could provide bus tranfer from plane to terminal if distance say more than 100m..but then again the fare will also go up abit
i think they expect budget travellers to be younger people..
i wonder if they have done any survey abt what services and facilities people want to be included and whether they are willing to pay the corresponding increase in fare
I don't know how the system works in the terminal, but I believe my father's referring to the walk from the entrance of the terminal (plane alighting side) all the way out to the gates of arrival hall. Anyway, you've used the arrival hall right? Was the journey out long?
But anyway, I feel that facilities for disabled/ eldery people should have been thought of, since we're now moving into a more "disabled-friendly" society isn't it?
I depatred by Tiger, I returned by Jetstar.
Right, both disabled-friendly and elderly-friendly.. likely they will provide the facilities in the near future.
Yah they should provide bus services and I cannot imagine myself carrying heavy luggage and walking across the runway under the hot sun.
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