DigiYatra and a compact hall help; one runway plus festival banks still need real buffers.

DigiYatra can shrink domestic entry / CISF / boarding for enrolled Indian nationals when e-gates are staffed (first-wave launch 1 Dec 2022 with DEL and BLR; AAI). VNS remains a single-runway field with IndiGo-heavy banks, winter fog on the Gangetic plain, and sharp pilgrimage / festival peaks — domestic ~2 hours early is the sane default, longer when the city is in festival mode. Take Off’s Priority Pass / LoungeKey window publishes 05:00–21:00 (Visa PDF 06:00–21:00) — useless for a red-eye that only goes airside after 21:00.

Single passenger hall today; CGIs are not boarding gates.

Screenshot VNS ≠ LKO ≠ AYJ ≠ GOP ≠ DBR before the car leaves Cantonment / Lanka / Sigra. All scheduled passengers still clear the live integrated terminal (AERA 24,000 m² / 21 desks / 4 aerobridges). The Oct 2024–founded new terminal / runway package was still under construction at an AAI chairman inspection on 14 Oct 2026. Live card-network pin: Take Off Bar and Lounge after domestic security near Gate 2. Follow boarding-pass / FIDS / domestic vs international CIQ signs, not a dual-terminal blog map drawn from the CGI.

One live PP / LoungeKey restaurant pin; landside bottles still beat airside pricing.

Live Priority Pass / LoungeKey product is Take Off Bar and Lounge (domestic airside near Gate 2; 05:00–21:00 on those pages). Soft drinks and à la carte are extra; the restaurant may refuse when full. Without entitlement, buy sealed water at the landside check-in convenience store (AAI listing) — shelf price unpublished. Ignore aggregator Plaza Premium inventions — live PP directory = Take Off only.

Longish road hop into Kashi; metro is not at the kerb.

Use the U.P. Traffic Police prepaid booth in arrivals or signed Ola pickup (AAI lists both). AIP: 18 km to Varanasi Railway Station; ghats often 45–75 minutes. AAI Route 101 e-bus toward Cantt Railway Station publishes airport departures 08:20–21:00 — not a late-night oversized-luggage guarantee. Old-city barricades can force a final walk or e-rickshaw handoff. Do not invent an in-terminal metro platform.