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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Inter-metro Shuttling on AI: DEL-BOM on AI810, BOM-DEL on AI888

This Trip Report is available at the following URL:
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11449.html

Ah - another official Mumbai trip. Well, what was to be new about
this one? Not much, actually. This was to be my first one with
both legs on the all-new AI codes, having travelled the last time
(also to Mumbai), on an IC code, and come back on an AI code
(26-27 Feb, 2011). Well, what welcome would Mumabi have in store
for me? For starters, here is the Chhatrapati Shivaji
International Airport (CSIA) welcoming me right in
Delhi itself:

The logo of the airport is a stylised peacock feather!

The above picture is at the official facebook page of the CSIA.
The three of us were travelling in our case when The Wife (`TW')
noticed this incredible dance display to our left. Junior (`Jr')
watched it as if in a trance. Interestingly, it was at the CSIA
Mumbai that Jr first closely observed planes taking off from the
main runway, 27-09, and landing on it, as mentioned in a previous
trip report:
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10986.html

My itinerary was as follows:

Set out 02 Mar (Wed) for Mumbai from New Delhi
AI 810: Air India (A321) [Seat: 08F; PNR: Y630L]
New Delhi (DEL) - Mumbai (BOM)
[06:00 pm - 08:10 pm]

Set out 03 Mar (Thu) for New Delhi from Mumbai
AI 888: Air India (A319) [Seat: 03F; PNR: Y631P]
Mumbai (BOM) - New Delhi (DEL)
[07:00 pm - 09:00 pm]

I did a web check-in on 01 Mar (Tue) for the onward flight, and
02 Mar (Wed) for the return, on the new Air India web check-in
system. The latter looks and feels quite nice, and efficient.
Interestingly, while tele check-in is possible only 24 hours
before a flight, in this case, one can even web check-in nearly
48 hours before a flight. For a flight at 11:59 pm, one can do a
web check-in at 12:00 am on the day prior to that. That is nice!
This time for the onward trip, I found myself with row 8
available - both A and F. This was the one available as far up
front as possible. On boarding, I was to discover that it was the
exit row. Another first for me! I have never been on an exit row,
and that too, on a window seat. The leg room was incredible. Just
incredible. Boarding was announced a bit late, but we reached
Mumbai almost on time. But hold on - what happened at the
check-in counter at IGI T3?

I arrived at my favourite terminal, IGI T3, with two colleagues.
There was quite some crowd at the AI 810 line (which also meant
good loads, the plane was about 75% full in Y, and 5 seats in J
were occupied). We were motioned over to the AI 801 line (AI 801
is the DEL-MAA flight, and the check-in counter was closing
down), which was just beside the AI 810 line. Incredibly, a
gentleman (who was `suited-booted', as they say in Delhi) came up
to us and asked, ``is this the line for the Hydra-bad flight?''
We were to board from Gate 29A, and got ourselves seated
comfortably. We had arrived at 4:30pm, so went off to work on our
laptops, using the free Aircel WiFi.

VT-PPJ was to be our ride for the day, with Captain Vipin K
Bhalla in command. Apall-ogies for the apalling image quality:

While I was excited at the incredible amount
of leg room on offer (for the first time, I would be able to work
on my laptop without being in perennial fear of the person in
front deciding to relax), I could not coax the foldable PTV to
work. Here are two views of the crew seat near the emergency
exit:

A close-up of the emergency exit:

From the exit row, looking leftwards:

A 320 in the classic Indian Airlines livery, was being pushed
back. A somewhat drab and boring livery in my opinion, except the
intersting stylised `IA' on the tail:

The food! There seems to be some pattern here, for DEL-BOM
flights around this time (ditto for BOM-DEL). The menu was the
same. No, I am not complaining - it was a nice chewy veg patty,
and chicken tikka. All this accompanied by a sachet of tomato
sauce, and a nice virdian green coriander chutney with mayonnaise.
The dessert was a moist chocolate brownie - even describing it
send my tongue into salivation (and mind into salvation). Air
India meals always get lots of brownie points from passengers -
literally, as well as figuratively! The coffee was not hot (both
literally as well as figuratively), and quite passable.

We again landed on runway 27-09, and got an aerobridge this time.
Air India seems to be explicitly enforcing the cellphones-on till
the active runway, and cellphones on after exiting the active
runway - quite seriously. this is a marked change from the
earlier standard announcement of `cellphones to be switched off
after all passenger doors have been closed'. I have also found
much more tolerance to the photography rules among the crew -
senior and fresh, alike. Good going, Air India!

The return trip had us scramming towards T1A in a cool cab. I had
web checked-in before, and was looking forward to my seat. 03F.
Wow! This would be my first experience on a bulkhead seat on a
319. I was looking forward to the legroom, to work on my laptop
during the flight. I use a laptop cooling pad, which also takes
space, but gets one a very nice angle to work. A laptop is a pain
to use on a foldable tray on an exit row or a bulkhead seat, but
is absolute bliss when put on the lap! Ah - why do I use a laptop
cooling pad? I have an old Dell Vostro 1500. Buying this laptop
burns a hole in one's pockets. It also burns a hole in one's lap
if you use it for some time - it really heats up!
Coming back to the 03F seat again. Well, we would have a new
A319, not the old VT-SCD which often did the DEL-BOM-IXB and the
return runs. We wandered around T1C and T1A for some time.

A beautiful A319 in the new Air India colours had just come in.

A westerly take-off, as viewed from the windows of T1C:

I met an old acquaintance in T1C, who was going to Aurangabad! This was
on a Kingfisher flight, and he was to go by car from there to
Nanded, on some official work. This transported me back to 2007,
when I had taken this very route. The road route to Nanded from
Aurangabad used to be quite torturous - the one via Parbhani and
Jalna. The 250-odd kilometres should take around 5-6 hours - it
took 8 for me that time. My next trip to Nanded was via Hyderabad
- the road distance is a wee bit longer, but the roads are much
better. This takes about the same time - I had done this route in
2010 (during the Telangana agitation!), before finally flying in
and out of Nanded - something I have covered in one of my
previous trip reports.

When the plane came in, I saw it was VT-SCW.

I saw an almost full flight come in - a huge number of passengers
disembarked. Yes, this included a very large number of tourists,
Aurangabad being a very popular tourist destination. The
proximity to Ajanta (AjinTHaa), Ellora (VeruL) and Daulatabad was
the huge contributing factor, in addition to attractions such as
Bibi-ka-Makbara, Aurangazeb's final resting place, and the
panchakki - the water-wheel. The Wife (`TW') and I have been to
Aurangabad in 2006, albeit on the Tapovan Express - an extremely
enjoyable trip. Ah, there I go dreaming again. Back to this
journey! The announcement said that the flight would be delayed a
bit, and we finally pushed back around 7:20pm. The leg room was a
dream. The load factor was quite high, and all four business (J)
class seats were taken. Captain Deepankar Gupta was in command.

Here is a view of the bulkhead seat: the rightmost window seat:

As expected, the legroom was fantastic:

The programs on the video channels I had seen on previous
flights, so I listened to the audio channels instead. Air India
has a fairly good selection, and I enjoyed listening to the audio
while working.
I had started (this was just after the seat belt sign went off),
and soon after, wonderful aromas filled the cabin. Dinner! I was
half expecting the usual snack which I have written about on this
trip, as well as the previous one. Yes, this was to be a dinner
flight. There was green salad with a slice of lemon. The main
course had medium-grained aromatic rice in a very tasty pulao,
liberally garnished with cashews and raisins. The curry to the
left had carrots and capsicum, in a very tasty tomato gravy. The
right side had chicken in a green spinach puree base. The latter
was very nicely done, and I picked the box clean. I was feeling a
bit full, having had tid-bits in the afternoon during my meeting.
The dessert was a delicious Rasgulla. This had a filling inside,
and had some cream and dry fruit garnishing on the top.
Yes, what about it? So what if the tummy was full?
The Rasgulla is the king of sweets.
When the king comes in, the proletariat moves aside, giving way.
That is exactly what happened.
The Rasgulla (or Rosogolla, as the Bongs call it), has an
interesting history. Legend credits its invention to one Nobin Das,
an ancestor of the famous K.C. Das sweets of Calcutta
(and later, Bangalore). (Or Kolkata and Bengaluru, if you please.)
If my memory serves me right, this was sometime in the 1800s.
He observed a cottage cheese ball roll off into a vat of
syrup. Horrified, he picked it up, and acting on the spur of the
moment, put it in his mouth. The rest, they say, is history.
Actually, this has been a traditional Utkaliya/Odissi delicacy
for quite some time, and the above K.C. Das story may be
folklore.
The meal was rounded off with some very ordinary coffee.
Captain Gupta made a very smooth landing on the new runway 29-11.
This concluded a somewhat hurried Mumbai trip!
And if you are in a hurry on the roads, here was something
displayed at the exit part of DEL T3 Domestic, which could help.

Cheers, Sumantra.
---
Links to my previous TRs, in reverse chronological order:

7. On the cusp: DEL-BOM on IC863, BOM-DEL on AI660
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11160.html

6. DEL-BOM on IT308, BOM-DEL on IC166
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10986.html

5. DEL-MAA on IC439, MAA-DEL on IC802
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10809.html

4. DEL-PNQ on IC849, PNQ-DEL on IC850
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10510.html

3. DEL-MAA on IC429 (A321), MAA-DEL on IC7602 (CRJ7)
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10401.html

2. DEL-NAG-NDC, NDC-BOM-DEL on G8
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10169.html

1. IGI T3, AI 314 DEL-HKG and AI 311 HKG-DEL
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10018.html

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 6:46 pm Post subject:

Nice TR. I love the A319. Very pleasant aircraft to fly on, strangely better than the A320 and the A321. Because it's not too crowded I suppose. Smile

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Yeah.

Nimish · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2011 11:15 pm Post subject:

Nice TR - thanks for posting. AI have definitely got a very capable a/c in the 319 - and considering how much it used to be deployed on the international sectors as well - I assume it's the perfect match to their expected loads.
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We miss you Nalini!

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Thanks for the appreciation, Varun and Nimish! It is ironical that my report on the first round-trip with the new AI code should be followed by AI's *A debacle.
Cheers, Sumantra.

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Nice TR! Thanks a lot for posting!
_________________
Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

- Greg House

PAL@YWG · Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:50 am Post subject:

Nice TR Sumantra! I like the way you narrate a situation. As far as stuffed Rosogolla is concerned, I can only say that it's just about a week ago I was in Calcutta and I ate my heartful.
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GuyFromBOM · Member Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 544 Location: VABB

Fantastic TR, Sumantra..!
I must say that I am little surprised that Jr was only mentioned in the 'credits' and did not play an active role this time..! Laughing

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The more I fly 9W, the more I prefer AI | FlightDiary: 59 Boeing + 30 Airbus + 9 ATR + 1 Embraer

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Thanks for your very kind words, Rishul, PAL@WYG, and Hiren! Thanks for taking the time to go through it. PAL@WYG: on the other hand, I love your compelling narrations! I am just back from Calcutta, and unfortunately, did not get to partake of even a single Rasgulla. But I have some positive things about the otherwise run-down old terminal building - I will describe this in a trip report I have started writing.
Hiren: no TW and Jr with me this time - I hope to take them along on at least one more trip this year, possibly to an exotic place!
Thanks, Sumantra.

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

Nice one
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eP007

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Thanks, Captain! Good to see you back on the forum after a very long time.
-Sumantra.

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

A very "tasty" TR! An inflight product like this in the US or Europe would be unheard of, even in so-called First or Business Class on US domestic or Intra-EU flights for most of the part.

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Thanks a lot, Sanjay - yes, every time I fly domestic in India on a full-service carrier, I thank my stars that in spite of the recession-induced quantity decline, there are some culinary delights to look forward to!
Cheers, Sumantra.

tanvibk · Member Joined: 05 Dec 2012 Posts: 1

CAN ANYONE SAY DOES 10F SEAT IN AIR INDIA COMES UNDER EMERGENCY EXIT IN AIR INDIA ?

IS THAT SEAT RECLINABLE ? LET ME KNOW

THANKS & REGARDS
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NOBODY IS PERFECT !

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

sabya99 · Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 5:02 am Post subject:

The story of Rosogolla and Nobin Das is correct. This accident happened in 1750s in the town of Krishnanagar. Very Happy

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Sabya99

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

ameya · Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2013 11:16 am Post subject:

Like an idiot, I did not look into the dates and read the TR as if it is new. . . posted something only to realize its old and delete