Landing at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport

What CCU is like

People arrive in Kolkata for very different reasons: work, family visits, and trips that start here before heading up to Darjeeling or across to the north-eastern states. The terminal is a single high-ceilinged building that is straightforward to walk, which means anyone connecting to a domestic flight does not change buildings. The city itself still lives on its streets, and flagging something down is normal here, so the map app becomes your main tool from the first hour. Knowing where you actually are matters more than speed.

On arrival

Switch the line on at touchdown and let it register as you walk; the route from aircraft to immigration is not especially long and stays mostly on one level, so service usually arrives before you reach the queue. Past the desks and the belts, the exit brings you to a concourse where a marshalled taxi queue and app pick-ups both operate. Signage is reasonably clear, but app pick-up points move around from time to time, so read the signs rather than trusting last year's memory. If you are connecting to a domestic flight you stay in the same building, which makes a connection here noticeably less stressful than elsewhere.

How far the airport Wi-Fi gets you

There is airport Wi-Fi and it is usually less contended than at the bigger hubs, but you still go through a registration page and the session has a clock on it. When two or three international arrivals land together the speed dips noticeably. The real limit shows up when you walk out of the building, which is the exact moment you need to arrange a ride. Rather than standing there with a phone that cannot reach anything, having the line live from the aircraft is the simpler answer.

Getting into town

You get into town by road, either the marshalled taxi rank or a car from an app. The distance to the central districts is not great, but the timing depends on junctions and bridges along the way that back up quickly. Once you are checked in, the north-south metro is a genuinely useful way to move around the city. On the ride in you will have the map open throughout and may find yourself explaining the destination twice, because a lot of addresses here are given by landmark rather than by number. Budget roughly 200 to 400MB for that first leg, and a bit more if you end up calling the guesthouse.

What people ask about this airport

• Addresses given by landmark — Many places describe themselves by a nearby landmark, so save a map pin in advance that you can send straight to a driver.
• Connections stay in one building — A domestic connection here does not involve changing terminals, which makes a short layover genuinely workable.
• Metro after you drop the bags — The north-south metro line suits moving around the city far better than hauling a big suitcase from the airport.