After clearing immigration and security, I came to the gates in Sal Salvador airport. I was checking out the various duty free stores. And I wanted to check something else out that had struck me when I had come into the airport on Saturday.

Look at the picture. What is amiss in this?

Here is a hint… I originally had the doubt standing at this exact point when I came into the airport on Saturday

See the answer only after you have given it some thought.

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Come on… give it some thought… there is a visual clue….

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Well, notice the sign for “Immigration” (Migracion). Remember, I am an outbound passenger and I had already cleared immigration. So what was that sign doing there?

As I mentioned in my hint, I was actually standing there when I came in too. I needed that sign to figure out which way to go for immigration. Which means incoming international passengers and outgoing international passengers actually can mingle. Happened with the incoming Delta flight today too – saw all the passengers alight and go past me – just like in a domestic flight.

This is what had struck me when I came into the country. Why was I going past all the duty free shops and restaurants and bars before I could even get to the immigration counter?

Have not seen this in any other country.

Coming to think of it, I cannot see any possibility of security breach. All passengers – incoming and outgoing – had to clear security to get to that point. One interesting side effect though is that if you are connecting to another flight to a different country (e.g. Miami to San Salvador to San Juan in Costa Rica), you do not have to get an immigration stamp on your passport !!

Have any one of you seen this anywhere?