International Airport

Flights to Azerbaijan's capital city are serviced by Heydar Aliyev International Airport. As with many things in Baku, there are several frustrating aspects to flying with Azeris.

Upon landing, our fellow passengers often break into applause, which is always unsettling, because I don't clap for the taxi driver who gets me home safely. Should we clap for the pilot who did his job and landed without crashing? Then, as soon as all of the wheels are on the runway, people start unbuckling their seatbelts and standing up to get their plethora of duty-free bags from the overhead compartment, which only forces the "keep your seatbelt fastened until the airplane has completed taxing" announcement. It's to no avail, as they then rush to the front of the plane to be the first ones off. The joke is usually on them however, since we must all exit down a steep and unsteady stairway to pack onto a waiting bus to transport us the 200 yards to the terminal. At which time, everyone beelines to the ONE door into the terminal. Like cows narrowing into the shoot, people are pushing and elbowing the whole way.

Once inside the terminal, you must wait in line for passport/visa check, prompting people to cut and re-cut each other in the lines. This is the point when my blood pressure is at its highest. Type A people should be advised that waiting in line and being cut in said line is a health hazard.

Baggage claim is at the only carousel in the airport and takes an absurd amount of time. And once you have all of your belongings, a random airport employee will invariably ask to see your baggage receipts, which of course, are always shoved down into some obscure pocket. Once the tags are found, the employee will add the tags to his large stack and never even give a courtesy glance to make sure that the tags match up.

And finally, all luggage passes through an x-ray machine to clear customs, even though no one is actually monitoring the screen. We have been pleasantly surprised our past 2 times entering Baku, as the official has asked us which country we are coming from and when we have replied the USA, we have been allowed to walk right through. I think it's the only time being an American has paid off here.