On Land, In Air
Now flight delays, long layovers and erratic flight schedules related to Delhi’s International Airport have got a new connotation. The long wait has been converted into an interesting hospitality proposition through India’s first airport transit hotel – Eaton Smart – at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The hotel is successfully establishing a new relationship between the capital city and her passengers on air transit.
Eaton Smart at the Delhi International Airport, commonly known as T3, has a distinction of having the fifth airport transit hotel of the world. The first airport transit hotel came in Changi International Airport (Singapore) followed by Schipol (Amsterdam), Heathrow (London) and Dubai International Airport, tells Raju Shahani, Executive Consultant – Development & Operations (India & Sri Lanka), Langham Hospitality Group. The Delhi property is positioned as a midscale accommodation. It is Langham’s first project in India on a management basis and has a unique distinction. It is group’s first airport transit hotel marking its entry in this market that it has been eyeing for many years. He says, “We are selective and distinguish ourselves in defining simplicity in our services. The services should touch the customers who come and stay with us. This is a new concept not only for us but also for many Indians, and therefore, we have picked up confidence in servicing them slowly once they got used to this transit hotel concept. After all, it is an unknown concept in the Indian hospitality trade.”
International & Domestic
The hotel has been divided into two wings, i.e., international and domestic. Here, international refers to the air side of the airport and domestic signifies the land. The international wing of the hotel (having 57 rooms) opened in June last year and just three months back, the domestic wing (having 36 rooms) was made operational. “We have realised within these three
months that the potential of the domestic wing, which is crossing over 100 per cent occupancy in comparison to around 55-60 per cent of that of international wing, is tremendous,” informs Shahani.
The hotel primarily gets its customers as walkins, which comprise of 30-35 per cent of the total occupancy. Twenty five to thirty per cent bookings are made through GDS, website, travel agents, etc. “We have been active in social media marketing and promoting to those travelling to SAARC countries with connecting flights from New Delhi. We need to market to domestic feeder market like Lucknow, Raipur, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Chennai, etc. Internationally, we are looking at the US and UK market,” informs Shahani.
A Challenging Proposition
Though the initial results may sound all rosy, but there are some issues that limit the hotel’s scope for potential optimum growth. For example, the stay option is limited to a maximum of 24 hours. Since it is primarily meant for air passengers, a day has been divided into five hours of slots for four times a day, which means the scope for customers get curtailed. Shahani tells, “Restrictions are many for this hotel. Stay at the international wing is only allowed if a passenger is coming from an international destination and going to another one where Delhi happens to be a changeover point.”
In this context, the hotel is seeking if the time schedule to enter the airport could be relaxed for passengers in certain cases. “People who are taking international flights from Delhi can’t avail this stay option, as the boarding pass is given only three hours in advance. It is not that important for Delhi-based traffic but it surely is for those coming from other cities by different mode of transport finding it difficult to lodge them,” Shahani explains. He is, in fact, taking a few suggestions forward with the authority for due consideration.
Passengers would be able to use this airport facility only if boarding passes could be issued 6-7 hours before an international flight takes off. Usually no one prefers to come to the airport before time and only those who wish to reach and relax would eventually use this proposition. This, in all propositions, would not hurt the airport authorities about the concern of security. “Also, if domestic passengers are allowed to enter the airport from the existing 6 hours to 12 hours before the flight, they would be able to use the domestic wing services we offer, as many business travellers coming from smaller cities to Delhi at awkward hours find it difficult due to the existing norms. Also, one can use the domestic wing of the hotel before the security checks,” he explains.
Extending Comfort
Though it may sound simple, the fact that the hotel is right at the heart of the airport, the security issue will always remain a critical one. At every possible point, travellers are frisked to ensure that safety is at its peak. Shahani says, “In order to ensure that travellers – who are anyway hassled by long flights – don’t face any trouble to check into the hotel, we have positioned ourselves through counters and help desk at various areas of both the sides of the immigration, at arrival as well as departure zones. Guests are personally escorted from a particular point and it is ensured that they smoothly pass through the entire tedious security checks. It is completely a ‘Meet & Greet’ service that we offer.”
Further, restrictions also take staff into its scope of scrutiny. A three month pass by the FRRO authority is issued to the hotel staff and a new one is issued after its expiry. He argues, “At times, it becomes difficult for them to work with so much of frisking but considering the issue of security, we go by the rulebook.” Not only the guests, even the staff of the hotel are frisked consistently by the airport authorities while their entry and exit making it a cumbersome process for all involved. “While we extend comfort to our customers, we hope to get a comfort zone as well to operate it even more easily. We can’t blame authorities as this is a new concept for all, be it us, airports or the security agencies involved. We are at the initial stage of this concept and hopefully, everything will fall into place in due course of time,” expects Shahani.
The hotel, nonetheless, is extending its unique services to add a comforting touch to the airport giving it a dimension to be proud about. It has been priced nominally to suit the requirements of all sorts of passengers where they pay for what they avail. Hospitality concept in India is surely getting redefined with new products like this one.