I enjoyed passing through the tiny Andal airport

I’d totally forgotten that there existed a tiny airport serving Durgapur.

I had a family wedding to attend in Durgapur, which is a three hour drive northwest from Kolkata, and a dear friend’s wedding the following day in Delhi. I had initially planned to return to Kolkata and take a flight from there in the late afternoon. But then my mother reminded me of the Andal airport.

Located at Andal, Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport serves Durgapur and Asansol. As of December 2019, the only two airlines serving it are Air India and Spicejet. While India’s flag carrier flies from here to Delhi and Hyderabad, Spicejet connects to Chennai and Mumbai.

I left my hotel at Durgapur at 0530 on a chilly December morning and reached the airport in less than 30 minutes. You basically leave the highway and drive on bad roads through the middle of nowhere for around 10 minutes to reach the airport, which is the size of a medium-sized bus terminus.

A security guard at the gate checked my ticket and ID and let me in. (West Bengal Police manages security at this airport). There were two other passengers and a second guard sleeping on chairs pulled together. The man at the gate went in and woke the sleeping man up. Lights and air-conditioning at the airport were still turned off. The first flight of the day — the Air India one I was flying to Delhi — was still 2.5 hours away.

Gradually, more passengers arrived and they turned the lights and air-conditioning on before opening the check-in counters.

My luggage was a business overnighter because I only wanted carry-on luggage to save time. My bag was a little over the 8kg carry-on that Air India allows but since I didn’t have any other bags, I was confident they wouldn’t have a problem with letting me carry it with me. But the man at the counter looked at my bag and gave me a disapproving look.

“It’s 8.6kg. You can only carry 8kg,” he said.
“Well, if you cannot allow it, perhaps I can take some clothes out and wear them so that it’s lighter?”
“Also, the bag is too big for carry-on.”
“But this bag is specifically made for carry-on luggage. I have taken it along with me on many flights,” I argued.
“Because every other person has committed the mistake of allowing this bag in the cabin doesn’t mean I will.” He knew best.

I couldn’t believe this was coming from someone whose job is to check bags in! But I didn’t want a fight. I hadn’t had enough sleep and trudged along to the bag scanning machine. Afterwards, I returned to the check-in counter but went to a different guy to give it another try.

“My bag is a little overweight and I’ve had it scanned. Do you think I could take it as a carry-on?”
“Do you have other luggage?” he asked.
“No. That’s my only bag,” I replied.
“Very well,” he said. “But if someone asks at the Delhi airport, tell them it weighed 8kg.”

I almost laughed out loud! He almost sounded like his teacher would scold him if she found out his mischief! Whoever asked that question at your destination airport! But it was kind of cute.

After that I breezed through security, where the West Bengal Police personnel were more patient with passengers than you’d generally find at bigger airports. Everyone was on time and our aircraft — to which we walked from the gate — left before time.

I landed in smoggy Delhi 40 minutes ahead of schedule.