The “sanitized” part of the airport is between the security checkpoint and the gate. It’s where everyone there not working for the airport or security is assumed to have a boarding pass and has been cleared to be getting on a plane.
Some airports, such as Chicago-O’Hare, have the grand majority of their cafés, shops, and restaurants inside the sanitized area, as does Berlin-Tegel, SeaTac, and others.
Other airports, such as O’Hare’s Terminal 5 and Vienna’s airport, do not.
When transferring between flights, it is helpful to take a look at what’s going on before going through security into the sanitized area. For example, I’m in hour 2 of a 3 and a half hour long layover in Vienna. To make sure we didn’t miss our connecting flight, we went directly to the gate. Doing so meant we went through passport control and security into the sanitized area. Behind two layers of bullet-proof glass lie several interesting cafés, bars, and bistros, with plenty of fun-looking window shopping. In here, my food choices are currently extremely overpriced (€2) small bottles of water, or duty-free sized bottles of whiskey.
I think I can finish a bottle or two of the vodka before boarding, what does anyone else think?
Post a Comment