Less than two weeks after I finished my Mumbai trip, I embarked on yet another journey. This one… it’s a very special and quite significant trip. I was going to the island of Bahrain in the Middle East… after 23 years! Bahrain is where me and my brothers grew up, and finished our schooling. My father worked there until 2006 and then again briefly in 2016.
On the night of Feb 2, my older brother dropped me off at Bengaluru airport’s new Terminal 2 — a visual stunner!
BLR terminal 2 is easily the most beautiful airport I have ever seen!
To get to the bus bay and the counters for Uber and Ola, take this lift downstairs
The interiors are absolutely STUNNING!
I arrived early simply to spend some time admiring the beauty of BLR Terminal 2. Designed by renowned architecture giant Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM), Bengaluru’s new airport terminal is now used primarily for international flights — but do note — Air India uses T2 for both its domestic and international flights.
A signature design element of T2 are these hanging garden structures
My flight was Etihad — an airline I had never flown before
I highly recommend arriving early just to appreciate the design of BLR T2
One thing that hasn’t changed was the slow process of security checks. Having to take out all my electronics and re-pack… so irritating! Come on CISF, technology has fixed this problem already!
Once I cleared immigration, I walked through the Duty Free
See the video below for more footage from the Duty Free but nothing special — it’s big on liquor, and I just made a note of prices.
Many of the chocolates were cheaper to buy from supermarkets in Bahrain.
You have Starbucks and a bunch of branded stores past the Duty Free
When you enter the concourse, the impressive interiors continue
Look at the lines outside the Zero Eight Zero Lounge! I had Priority Pass but I didn’t wish to waste time waiting in line.
Apart from lounges, you have even more food options here
Cross-laid engineered bamboo is a distinctive material used across Terminal 2
I walked to my gates
Quite a lot of gates!
I sat near my gate, in front of the art installations, of which there are many across T2
Although the Etihad flight was delayed, I was still very excited
I got an aisle seat right at the very front.. and fortunately, had nobody next to me. So I switched to the window seat as I had the entire row to myself.
A new trend among airlines? I noticed there were no in-flight entertainment screens behind every seat. Turns out Etihad had them removed on Airbus A320 and 321 planes to “save weight”. Truth is, it’s cost-cutting measure, plain and simple. Just one less feature to spend on and maintain. And I thought Etihad was on par with Emirates and Qatar Airways.
For in-flight entertainment, passengers have to scan this QR code to get a website to load and watch content on our phone or tablet — but it did not work for me
Give the timing of my flight, meal service was breakfast and it was just average. Chicken sausage, plain omelette in a tomato sauce, fruits, yogurt, and a bread roll.
I tried to sleep but couldn’t because it wasn’t too long before the sun came up.
3.5 hours later, I could see the desert sands of Abu Dhabi — the largest emirate in the UAE.
I get nostalgic whenever I fly to the Gulf — any GCC country — because they all have more or less the same vibe.
No shortage of space in Abu Dhabi
We were about to land
One of the main reasons for flying Etihad was to see the new Zayed International Airport
The new airport’s inauguration was delayed due to COVID-19
The last time I visited Abu Dhabi was in 2010, when my father worked here. The old airport had given away to a multi-billion dollar new airport designed by the same architecture firm behind BLR T2.
I had some time between my connecting flight to Bahrain
Not just the exteriors but even the interiors are futuristic in design
Even though the architects were SOM, the design gives off Zaha Hadid’s signature design cues
I exchanged some AED my younger brother had since COVID-19, and then just walked around the shops
Check out the video at the end of this blog post for footage I recorded at both airports
After I had seen enough, I went to my gate
My Bahrain flight was delayed slightly so I used the time to finish some work
An aerial view of the Yas Marina race circuit
Given the flight was only an hour long, the in-flight meal was just a small cheese sandwich, some nuts, and a KitKat
I bid adieu to Abu Dhabi and the UAE. My arrival at Bahrain International Airport will be the next post because I took even more photos on just day 1. If you want a preview though… just watch the vlog below.
