Climb to the Stars - Latest Comments in Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

Re: Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

AB — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 10:09:14 -0000

You had to take your shoes off?
They don't make you do that at Belgrade Airport.
You pass through first security, than passport control, security two (sterile area :P). That is that.
Before you enter the plane, usually two employees look at your passport to see if you have the visa (if it's needed), and check your boarding pass.

Re: Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

Attila — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:26:54 -0000

I just read the comments about the Belgrade Airport.I have been traveling to Belgrade
since 2002 regularly. I like it and I have to say they have made great progress.Sure it still
needs much work but it is 100 % better comparred to when I first started.They just renovated it and we can't and should not travel to a foreign country and expect the same thing as at home.Different Country Differrent Mentality.Belgrade is the Capital of the Balkans after all...this is where East and West Collide,the people there are much more laid back we could use a little of that.

Re: Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

Jeff D — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:37:33 -0000

Speaking anecdotally, you could say that your experiences here quite solidly reflect the German way of doing things (extremely efficient) and the ex-Communist-bloc way of doing things though I'm sure that many of the Eastern European countries are doing their best to raise service levels.

Fifty years of having no reason to care is a lot to overcome.

Re: Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

Shooky — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:00:10 -0000

I too found the experince of landing and taking off from Berlin airports pretty pleasent. I preffer Tegel (TXL) which is somewhat more homey, and it's pretty sad that they are going to close it. Never been to Belgrad, though.

Re: Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

vm — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 08:18:20 -0000

airport security is annoying for both you and the employees.

They deal with passengers who really would rather not be searched, xrayed, poked, prodded, wanded, and are generally aggravated by the whole process. They also know that passengers haven't changed their expectations for how long to arrive before a flight, so they're aggravated that they must actually bother with security.

At the same time, you have to remember that the people hired for security are working what amounts to a menial job with a salary that gives little hope for becoming independently wealthy. So of course there are two checks, because the chance of slipping past one checkpoint is higher than slipping past two checkpoints.

Also, this same group of annoyed passengers that all know that they as individuals are not terrorists will not tolerate a real terrorist slipping through. No one's going to say after some terrible event takes place, "well, we did want an easier time through the airport." It just won't happen amidst the outrage.

It is possible to debate whether or not there are more appropriate security measures, but some of those come down to profiling and the same annoyed passengers who normally have no principles at all suddenly grow principles and oppose this part of the debate. Same is true for armed pilots and armed air marhsals. Or the pilot having the power to kick people off his flight before takeoff for making other passengers uncomfortable. Or any number of other means that might or might not be more effective.

Basically, the message is, keep everyone 100% safe with no inconvenience at all, and do it with people being paid a minimum salary.
Three things: 100% safe, convenience, cheap. Pick two.

Ultimately, airports are an extension of government, and people have the misguided notion that governments can protect them.

Re: Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

ben — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 02:22:25 -0000

Meanwhile, here in the States it's damned near impossible for me to find an Internet connection for the cost of buying an item from the bill of fare... at least on long stretches of the West Coast. I have many choice words to share about the unholy alliance between T-Mobile and Starbucks.

And what occasions this?

I just got home tonight from my fourth trip out of town this year, eight segments that have taken me to five different airports (and through security at three of them).

This morning, I was asked to put my shoes through the machine separately from the rest of my gear... and apparently, in all of this other travel, I'd not been asked previously to do so, which according to the TSA staff was an egregious violation of official policy.

Between that and the Global War on Moisture... yeah. I heart flying anymore.