In Transit

Transit hotels are a boon for fliers facing lengthy layovers or delayed flights. However, managing it, with the numerous stakeholders involved, is quite a challenge

- Vinita Bhatia

Most of us have been there – faced with the prospect of a lengthy layover or a delayed flight, we either made ourselves as comfortable as possible on one of the chairs in the airport waiting area, or prepared to down cups of coffee in the coffee shop to while away the time. The endresult, most often than not, was exhaustion and irritation.

Transit hotels came as a boon in this scenario, especially in busy airports, giving travellers the opportunity to check in, rest, freshen up, grab a meal and even work out – a lot like conventional hotels. And the best part is that they did not even have to leave the airport premises, going through the hassles of immigration if they were in an international airport.

Currently, two of India’s busiest aviation hubs boast of transit hotels; Niranta at the Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport Terminal 2 and Holiday Inn Express at New Delhi International Airport Terminal 3 (HIEX). But as is the case with any transit hotels, there are various internal and external stakeholders involved in its operations.

For HIEX, these include airport authorities who supervise the security and maintenance of the New Delhi T3 terminal as well as hotel staff who are responsible for delivering a top-notch experience that its guests are accustomed to. In fact, for the model of a transit hotel to work, it is important to maintain strong communications with, and actively involve, all these stakeholders to ease the guest journey to the establishment, without interrupting security protocols.