Passengers tired of long delays in flights or looking to relax as they wait for their transit flights now have help at hand.
The newly-evolved concept of transit hotels has marked its entry into the Indian air space. The Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi is the first in India to have a ?transit hotel?. The hotel, in Terminal 3, is run by the Langham Hospitality Group under their brand ?Eaton Smart?.
Many such transit hotels are expected to come up, with airports in the country getting ready to provide world-class experience to passengers. Among those eyeing the opportunity are global and domestic brands like Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI), Best Western International, Peppermint Hotels run by Arjun Baljee and Check-Inn Hotels.
?As a category, transit hotels are new to India and its development forms part of an initiative by the Delhi International Airport (DIAL) to further improve the infrastructure as an international and regional hub for airlines. The success of transit hotels in India depends on the airlines that fly in and out,? said Josef Kufer, regional vice-president ? Asia, Langham Hospitality Group. Langham, however, said it is not in discussions with any other airports in the country to develop or manage transit hotels at the moment.
?There are at least 1,500 transit passengers a day in Delhi airport. The hub effect of passengers connecting for other flights creates transit time which at New Delhi can be as long as nine hours, allowing a transit hotel service such as Eaton Smart to flourish,? Kufer adds.
A transit hotel is located inside the customs control areas (or security check in case of domestic flights) and a rare breed with less than a dozen around the world. They only exist if there are significant numbers of transit passengers. ?The success of transit hotels depends upon on how busy the airport is and number of transit passengers it gets on a daily basis. One can find them typically on all the international transit hubs,? said PR Srinivas, leader ?travel, hospitality and tourism, Deloitte India. He added typically mid-market brands find their way as transit hotels around the world.
Furthermore, the rooms at transit hotels are given out on hourly basis and passengers would require to cross stipulated security checks.
?We have expertise in running transit hotels and would be keen in running in the Indian market as well,? said Chris Cahill, chief operation officer, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FHRI) and president, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. He added that the company has Fairmont as well as Swissotel brands as transit hotels abroad.
Eaton Smart at T3 has a total of 93 rooms in two wings ?domestic and international. The rooms will be sold for a minimum slot of five hours at R3,000. The domestic wing has 36 rooms and 57 rooms in the international wing. The rooms at the international terminal are reserved for passengers who have cleared customs, while passengers travelling within India who present a valid ticket can access one of the 36 rooms in the domestic wing. A spokesperson from DIAL said, ?A win-win deal has been worked out with the concessionaire by DIAL. DIAL has taken several measures to provide comfort to transit passengers.
Check-in is conveniently accepted anytime during the day. In addition, passengers are also able to reserve the ?Aqua Pods? to freshen up, which also allows access to the hotel?s other services and facilities. A high quality all-day caf? dining restaurant serving freshly-prepared international comfort foods and local culinary favourites is another facility being made available at the hotel.? He added that DIAL will not be tying up with any other brand for transit hotel.
Asked about transit hotel at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), a spokesperson from Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) said, ?We are planning a transit hotel at the new integrated terminal being built at Sahar (international terminal). This is still at a planning stage. Hence we won’t be able to share anything specific at this stage. A key element of the real estate development at CSIA will be hospitality which includes hotels across a wide range from premium, luxury to budget hotels. We are currently awaiting regulatory approvals from local authorities for this project.?
Bangalore International Airport (BIA) too has plans for transit hotels in its masterplan. When contacted, its spokerperson said it is too early to comment.