Sleeping in airports

LONDON – Dreary, rainy weather greeted me upon my arrival in this city the other day. The line to immigration at Heathrow snaked six deep, almost like in Manila.

The flight from Manila to Kuala Lumpur was three hours and a half; from KL to London it was 13 and a half hours, even on the double-deck super jumbo Airbus 380, whose morning daily flights Malaysia Airlines launched last Saturday. Size doesn’t matter in flying time, airline personnel told me; the world’s biggest commercial plane follows the same flying times as its smaller cousins.

The long flight at least wasn’t too grueling for me because it was broken by a long layover in Malaysia, during which I checked into a transit hotel right inside Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The first time I slept in an airport was in southern China some years ago, when I took a connecting flight from a remote destination to a big city on my way back to Manila. The small hotel, booked by the airline, was actually outside the airport complex, and it was full.

Getting room assignments was chaotic. There were no private bedrooms; I had to share a room with an elderly Chinese woman who spoke no English, so we communicated by facial and hand gestures.

The room had a shower and toilet amenities for each person. The walls were so flimsy I could hear all the noise in the hallway, but at least both my roommate and I wanted to sleep with all the lights out. We both clung to our bags under the blankets as we slept.

It was still the lap of luxury compared with what I would have had to endure at the airport: filthy toilets with no toilet paper, no shower, no bed, no (semi) private room.

At daybreak I got my wakeup call. My roommate was awakened when the air conditioning went out as I pulled my key from the slot. I told her, by hand gesture, that she needed to use her own key.

At the lobby, hotel staff handed out breakfast packs as we waited for shuttles back to the airport. The food packs are still common in China: a small carton of milk, sweet bread, vacuum-packed ready-to-eat sausage, fresh fruit, a piece of preserved plum, and a bottle of water.

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I remembered that transit hotel when I was billeted Friday night at the Airside Transit Hotel in KL International Airport. There was a 12-hour layover for the inaugural morning flight. Some travelers may prefer the night flight on the A380, with a layover of only about an hour. What you get on the morning schedule is a full night’s rest after the flight from Manila, in a regular bed in a private room with a bath, Internet access, TV, phone, and limited toilet amenities.

You don’t get that kind of rest even in the business class lounge or on the A380. All planes are alike regardless of size: you feel relatively comfortable on first and business class, and you are cramped on coach.

The TV fare at the transit hotel was limited to five channels: CNBC, a Western sports channel (a soccer game was on), Cinemax, National Geographic, and Disney Channel featuring a Muslim animation series called Upin-Ipin. At the lobby, an electronic board displayed flight schedules.

Coffee, tea and bottled water are free. Breakfast does not come in a pack; you get your own from several popular fast food chains around the hotel.

We have a Manila Airport Hotel with better facilities and more room options (including a suite), but it’s outside the NAIA 1 terminal building.

KLIA is competing with several other international airports in Asia to be the best in the region. Singapore’s Changi, with its own hotel, free wi-fi for all and numerous activities, is still No. 1 on my list, with South Korea’s Incheon International a close second. The two airports are tied in efficiency of check-in and immigration procedures.

China is rushing to compete, developing world-class international gateways and constructing more secondary airports especially in its popular tourist destinations.

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Transit facilities should be of special interest to Pinoy travelers, now that we no longer have direct flights to Europe and our direct flights to the United States are limited to Hawaii and California.

Not too long ago, there were direct flights between Manila and all the major European and North American capitals. Now all flights have to stop over in other Asian hubs or in the Arab world.

Layovers are a hassle, and it’s worse in airports with inadequate facilities for relaxing.

The Philippines is used as a transit point between Northeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand, and between South and Southeast Asia and Hawaii and North America. Our neighbors are competing aggressively to get a chunk of that business.

Transit passengers spend on food, shopping, communication, spas – anything that airports can offer.

For travelers, the quality of transit facilities can be among the deciding factors in picking a destination to visit.

Backpackers – a huge market in the international travel industry – consider the quality of seats. No curved plastic, no matter how ergonomic; flat seats with fabric covers and no armrests are preferred, for stretching out and sleeping. Wi-fi access is important; clean water and toilet facilities even more so. Such comforts should not be exclusive to high-value travelers.

If another airport official says airports aren’t meant for sleeping anyway, President Aquino should fire him ASAP – although having traveled extensively only when he became chief executive, P-Noy may not have a good grasp of the problem.

There’s no hope of setting up a transit hotel at the NAIA Terminal 1, but the facility can be made more comfortable. There have been some improvements in the toilets in the transit areas, but so far that’s all I have noted.

Seemingly trivial details, when put together, can be a deterrent to tourists who like to hop from one Southeast Asian country to another in one vacation. We’re isolated from the main Southeast Asian grouping so we need to give travelers additional incentives to also consider at least a brief look at the Philippines.

In that brief look, the first and last impressions are formed at the airport. Even when a traveler falls asleep.