Comments on: Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences

By: AB

AB — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 20:09:14 +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 ). 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.

By: Attila

Attila — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:26:54 +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.

By: Attila

Attila — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:26:54 +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.

By: Climb to the Stars (Stephanie Booth) » November 2007 Recap

Climb to the Stars (Stephanie Booth) » November 2007 Recap — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:13:47 +0000

[...] My departure from Berlin had been quite hectic (wrong airport!) and I was provided with the most scary landing experience in my life, courtesy of JAT airways, when we arrived in Belgrade. Leaving through Belgrade airport to go to Paris was not exactly a fun experience, either. I tell it all in Berlin, Belgrade: Two Contrasting Airport Experiences. [...]

By: Jeff D

Jeff D — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 20:37:33 +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.

By: Jeff D

Jeff D — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:37:33 +0000

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

By: Shooky

Shooky — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 06:00:10 +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.

By: Shooky

Shooky — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 01:00:10 +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.

By: vm

vm — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 18:18:20 +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.

By: vm

vm — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 13:18:20 +0000

airport security is annoying for both you and the employees.

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.