Businessman Rajesh Bajaj realised while waiting to board an IndiGo flight to Bangkok last month that even a cup of coffee is not easy to find in the international section of Calcutta airport.

"I had reached the airport with my family around 7am and we wanted to eat something after clearing immigration and security. There was a coffee shop nearby but when I went there, the person at the counter said they were serving only cold beverages," recounted Bajaj. "Sandwiches weren't available either."

When Bajaj enquired where he would get coffee, he was asked to go to the other end of the security hold, far from his boarding gate. "In the domestic section, you have many food kiosks and the choice is varied too," he said.

Indeed, Calcutta airport has few international flights and even fewer food options for the outbound traveller wanting to grab a bite before boarding.

The domestic section of the integrated terminal has 25 F&B counters but the international wing has only seven. The company running the facilities cites low international air traffic to and from the city for the disparity.

For passengers, this means lack of choices while buying food before boarding a low-cost international flight where a snack or a meal doesn't come free with the ticket.

At Delhi airport, the distribution of restaurants and food counters is equal, although domestic passengers far outnumber international travellers.

The skewed ratio in Calcutta isn't just affecting passengers, even airlines are complaining. "If a flight gets delayed by more than three hours, we are required to provide refreshments to passengers. That becomes a problem for us because the F&B facilities in the international section are inadequate," said an official of an international airline.

Travel Food Services, the concessionaire managing F&B services at the airport, said it was considering the option of opening "pop-up counters" that would operate before the departure or arrival of a flight. "We are in talks with the airport authorities on opening pop-up counters in the international area. The commercial viability of the option needs to be worked out," Gaurav Dewan, CEO of Travel Food Services, told Metro.

Another official said keeping a food counter open without enough prospective customers around would be a waste of manpower. "Since the international section in Calcutta has no flight for most of the day, it makes sense to operate a food counter only when flights are due to depart or arrive."

Calcutta airport receives around 25,000 domestic and 5,000 international passengers a day, which works out to a ratio of 83:17. Mumbai and Delhi have a 70:30 ratio for domestic and international passengers.

Airport sources said food counters in the international section of the integrated terminal do business for not more than four hours a day. "This is why the concessionaire is reluctant to add to the F&B services in the international area," said an airport official.

The current arrangement includes three coffee shops - one each in the departure and arrival lounges and the security hold - a bar, a couple of food counters and a Flurys outlet. The domestic section has a food court, restaurants and momo, biryani and roll counters, apart from a bar and several coffee shops.

"We advise international passengers to book meals on low-cost flights because the options in the terminal are limited," said Anil Punjabi, chairman (east) of the Travel Agents' Federation of India.