went bak to Pak after 4 years. the transormation strikes you at least wen u enter the airport. it was soo clean! people were a bit better behaved than 4 yeaars ago. once you come out of the airport u see a massive TV screen!! that is taraqi like!
Also the first celebrity face u see is of Shaan advertising for moblikink. and once outside in the massive carpark u look bak at the airport building and your heart warms up seeing your local airport look soo nice!!
on my way bak flight was delayed 2hrs and i did run out of things to do as there were only 3 shops in the duty free! they need to open more shops like DVD stores!
I agree I went baq in the summer of 04 and the winter of 05 and I luved the airport!. its kinda looks muhgal like. its soo pretty! they do need more shops in there
yup went back in feb. and the airport is amazing. no more tootay phootay farsh. and don't have to walk outside to get inside the terminal anymore :D and the baggage claim area is cool. kinda awkward, but cool. more maadern. and good thing...flat rate for the porters :D
on the way back my flight was at night, so i was asked by this guy walking around in the waiting area if i wanted a coffee, tea or something else. interesting to see that. though i didn't walk around.
it is more organized now. not as much, but such a huge difference from 4 years ago. though, it is in the middle of nowhere. so much so that after the longest time i saw a gadha gari on the way to it :D
i was down there past summer, though i don't recall how the old airport looked like but this renovated one is fine. it's more of an open wide space now but there isn't good enuff arrangement for seating. When i went there i saw families sitting on floor and having gupshup:) but that big screen thing is kinda kool.i remember karachi airport well and i think it's really nice
I was there from May-August, 2005 as well as from November-December, 2005 and will be there again inshaAllah in the next 2-3 months. I think it was nice. It was clean, the shops were good, and best of all, it actually looks like an airport now. :D
I've travelled to Lahore a couple of time since it has a new airport and the first time I landed there, I was like "WOW". The old airport was more of a "bus station", but this one is really nice now. They still need to improve on a couple of things, but compared to what they had earlier it's a huge step forward.
I have been travelling through Lahore & Karachi airports since childhood. We used to take flights Lahore to karachi & then to abroad, direct flights were extremely limited from Lahore when I was a child. Flying by Boeing 707 to Karachi when PIA used to give a lot of kiddies gifts .. it was an enjoying journey.
The people who used to come to see passenger off could stand like 20 feet from the aircraft and say bye while one was entering the actual aircraft.
In early / mid 80s the new building was built with more security in mind & an international arrival/departure.
I first saw the latest building when I went back to Lahore from Canada in 2005, looked more like Karachi airport. Since then i have travelled for about 4 times through that airport. Things have of course improved in last 30 years. Airport is still small as compared to Karachi but its nice, clean & looked near to international standard (I haven't travelled through domestic lounge of Lahore airport). It still needs some improvement, but again there is always room for improvement.
But on topic of Lahore airport the thing I would like to pin-point here is, Pakistani Government strategy, they are closing all airlines so that PIA can carry as much as pessengers it can, dropping many international connections & making life difficult for many. Beautiful airports are useless if there no flights in them. We need more international airlines going to Lahore & karachi not only beautifully silent airports. Pakistani Goverment stupidity that Dubai international took the business from Karachi. In 1979 I remember the queue of aircraft ready to land. Karachi was asian hub not Dubai (I remember dubai airport in 1979, small ugly light brown building with nothing in it) Pakistanis lost so much money only because they didn't want to give services like Dubai gave (easy trasits, alchohol in Duty free etc).
Of all the airports I’ve visited i have never found Karachi and Lahore’s airports to be so similar. The lounge, while beautiful, is small.They look too much like over sized party halls that happen to have gates. It’s one thing to admire the airport for its fresh coat of paint, it is another to analyze the level of service provided across the board.
I found myself spending Eid/New Years at the airport. For 14 hours. Granted it wasnt their fault flights were cancelled, their handling of the situation created a truly Pakistani atmosphere at the airport. What I mean to say, is, these people have absolutely no idea how to manage an airport or handle passengers. An airport is only as good as the people that work at it. Lahore airport as dysfunctional as Karachi, I can only imagine how Islamabad’s hangar of an airport is nowadays.
^ They're actually a little bit more than that. A 7 series, Land Cruiser/LX470 and S class. They're pretty common now. Gone are the days of double checking if you saw a bmw.
The lane they're in isn't for typical travelers. You need particular permission to get there :-)
The airport is nice but about the waiters/food/service then you must be kidding. They charged like 5 pounds for 2 kitkats and a mouldy sandwich. They think that people from western countries are stupid or something and charge uswhatever they like. The waiters come to you all nice and friendly taking the order,they even throw in a free sandwich and cake but its not free ( they dont tell you its not free and you only find out when the bill comes). Well i was having none of it and demanded a refund. Its not to do so much with the money but its the lies and deception.
My advice is dont get ripped off,dont order anything when you are at lahore airport.
