Duty Free Shopping at Abu Dhabi International Airport
This day is probably the culmination of what is probably the most stressful period in my life. I was leaving Singapore and I had to take care of a lot of stuff before I left. At the same time, I was able to meet up with friends who I will not be seeing for a while. I was lucky I have these friends during this period and I was a bit reluctant to go. After a week of pigging out with friends, it was time to go. I boarded an Etihad Airways plane and left Singapore’s Changi Airport Terminal 2. Despite being one of the top airlines in the world, I didn’t particularly like their planes. It was probably one of their older models and it was very cramped. I didn’t like sitting for very long periods of time and this was quite bad. I got seated in the middle seat and it was a pain to keep bothering someone to get up to make way for you. I haven’t been on flights as a long as these in ages so I was still getting used to it.
Waiting for the Departure Gates to Open at the Abu Dhabi International Airport
The plane at least the Singapore – Abu Dhabi leg of the flight had an in flight entertainment system which was painfully slow. The one I used in Singapore Airlines years back was way better. At least when I got the movie up and running it proceeded smoothly. After what seemed to be seven hours of flying we finally arrived in Etihad’s hub of Abu Dhabi. I have heard of the ambitions of Abu Dhabi in trying to upstage its more well known neighbor, Dubai, and I guess it is still in the process of doing so. The airport was not as impressive as I thought it would be. It was much smaller than I expected but it is not crappy by any means. It seems that the airport is reaching its capacity with Etihad flying to different parts of the world. I needed to change planes and there was this small area where everyone was queueing up for bag inspection again. I was surprised to see this since I thought we already passed through this back in Singapore. Anyway, there was mayhem there as there were a lot of people in who needed to pass through this area. I only had two hours in between flights and I hope I don’t miss the flight because of the long queue.
The departure area was small as well, with people just sitting on the floor waiting for the departure gate to open. However, the departure gate area much better as it had ample seating. While the experience wasn’t entirely awful, I think things could have been done better. Perhaps the next time I pass through Abu Dhabi, the new airport would have already been completed. With the soaring ambitions of the capital of the United Arab Emirates, I won’t be surprised to see something truly outstanding.
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