Watch what happens the instant the seatbelt sign goes dark. Especially if you’re in economy but not reserved to the cattle class, the Indian passengers will spring from their seats and surge towards the exit with a collective determination that suggests someone left a pot on the stove at home.
There is, in fact, reason to this random behaviour — international carriers tend to land in the dead of night, and arrivals get clumped together like rush-hour commuters on the Tube. Immigration queues can stretch like taffy.
The good news: Delhi airport now has a dedicated line for foreign passport holders. As you descend the first set of escalators into the immigration hall, the foreign-nationals queue should be on your right, while the Indianpassport holders funnel to the left. Get into the correct lane early and you’ll save yourself a fair amount of shuffling.
If you were given an immigration form to fill on the airplane, and you did, good on you. Proceed to the immigration queue. Just in case you slept through and got off the plane without one, don’t fret - before you get to the escalators, you should see these long desks with the forms wedged in the middle. Grab one, fill it, get moving.
