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TurboProp'd: BLR-COK-BLR on 9W

 
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binaiks
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:29 pm    Post subject: TurboProp'd: BLR-COK-BLR on 9W Reply with quote

Little bit of background: I had a three day conference to attend in a place called Thiruvalla, some 100+ kms from Kochi in Kerala. Thiruvalla happens to be near by mom's native place, and hence that was an incentive to attend the conference. I had to get approvals from my college to attend the conference - that took some time to come. As soon as I had preliminary approvals in place, I got about the job of booking tickets. The program was on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

I first booked my return ticket - since I had to travel on a Sunday, I had to hurry a bit and confirm a ticket first. I wanted to fly during the day, preferably post lunch - and hence my options were limited to Indigo and Jet Airways.

BLR-COK is off-late a very busy sector - there are 86 services per week either ways, deploying about 10283 seats each way. Indigo is the leader with 3600 seats on offer per week, while Jet Airways leads the frequency game with 5 flights on most days of the week (except Tuesday, when its only 4), deploying about 2312 seats! Air India deploys the least amount of seats - 528 (11 services per week). I am personally a fan of the noisy and slow ATRs - and hence, I opted for Jet Airways.

After booking the return seats, I went about booking the outbound ticket . I opted to fly on Wednesday afternoon - since the conference begins on Thursday morning, and I wanted to be there the previous night itself. I booked on a Wednesday late afternoon flight of Jet Airways. So my trip was as below:

AUG 05, 2015: 9W2655 BLR COK 1545 1700
AUG 09, 2015: 9W2661 COK BLR 1605 1725

Outbound trip: August 05, 2015:
9W2655 was once a very conveniently timed flight for me - it used to depart at 1705hrs from BLR. The fight was recently rescheduled to 1545hrs. I reached the airport by 1400hrs for this flight - check-in was a breeze (I had previously web checked-in). It took hardly two minutes to get my boarding pass and get baggage checked in. I was in the security hold in about 9 minutes of reaching the airport! Since there was over an hour to go for my flight, I remained near Gate #1 watching the inbound birds.




I was continuously tracking my flight on FR24 for almost a week, and daily tracked the rotation to find what all flights would be bird work before working #2655. Based on my constant trackings, I narrowed down the bird to VT-JDC. Sometime around 1500hrs, VT-JDC arrived in Bangalore - I was sure this would be my flight. I headed to the gate after VT-JDC came.

Boarding commenced at 1513hrs (a good 32 minutes before STD). I was inside the aircraft by 1518hrs, and boarding was completed by 1530hrs. Doors were armed at 1533hrs and we were pushed back at 1535hrs. We took off from Rwy27 at 1545hrs - a nice takeoff to the West, followed by a nice banking to the left, and finally flying in the South West direction. Capt Suresh and Capt Radhika were in the deck, while Puneeth and Angeline took care of us in the cabin. Seatbelt sign was turned off by 1553hrs, and the food service began. Within minutes one trolley rushed to the front (I was in #15A), while the second trolley crawled from the back. As the clock ticked by, closer came the calls "Veg or Chicken".. Jet services only sandwiches on its ATR flights, and most often there are only two options - a repetitive Vegetable sandwich and a Chicken Sandwich.

The Veg option had a sweet-corn sandwich, a choco-chip muffin and tamarind candy. The box came along with a bottle of water. The sandwich tasted good - was soft, and the filling was great. The muffin was soft and tasty. I only wish Jet changes the catering a bit, and makes it let repetitive. The flight was largely eventless, except the announcement from the Pilot just before descend - he said we would be flying into a very cloudy Kochi, and mild showers were likely as well. He added that we were expected to have a bumpy landing - not a great thing to say.

While we were flying over Kochi, I had this marvellous sight of seeing two aircrafts on their finals. The first was a Jet Airways 738, and the second was an Indigo 320. If only I had a clean window, I could've taken same good pics. We finally touched down at 1655hrs on Rwy27 of Kochi. I had the smoothest landing I've ever experienced - quite contrary to what the pilot had warned us! We were in the terminal in no time, but the baggage took a looonnngggg time to come. It took a good 20 minutes for my bags to come. By now, I was running a very high fever - and I had the fear this could throw a spanner into my conference ambitions!

Outbound trip: August 09, 2015:

I was at the airport at 1400hrs for a 1605hrs flight. I took my lunch after getting to the airport - from the food cafe at the airport. A good kerala meal for a very cheap price.

Check in was messy - it was very crowded. Check-in was in progress for two Indigo Flights and two Jet Airways flights! Kochi Domestic Terminal is really small - an advertised capacity of just 400! Two A320s, 1 ATR-72 and 1 B738 checking in means the number of passengers exceeding the capacity of the terminal. Thankfully, the first IndiGo would depart very soon.

Jet Airways had a dedicated counter for the Bangalore flight - afterall, it as just 68 passenger at the most - and we did not have a full flight either! Since Check-in was messy, I did not expect security to be easy - and I wasn't wrong. Only two scanners were functional, and there were just three frisking booths (2 for Gents and 1 Women).

While waiting in the queue to leave my bag for scanning, I noticed that there were a very large number of foreigners - all of them were flying a Jet Airways flight to Mumbai (which would leave after my flight) - so that was a large number of connecting passengers.

The aircraft came in at 1518hrs. The Runway at COK remains closed between 1415hrs and 1515hrs on all days for runway maintenance. My bird was the first to land after the runway opened, while an IndiGo flight to Bangalore/Pune was the first to leave. The bird for me was VT-JCM (my second flight on the same bird). Boarding started at 1532hrs, and was completed at 1547, doors armed at 1549hrs and pushed back at 1551hrs - 14 minutes before scheduled departure.


Capt Joshua and Capt Nikhil were in the deck, while Dimpi and Sindhuja took care of the cabin. We started our long journey to the runway at 1554hrs, and reached the holding point of Rwy27 at 1559hrs. We waited for an IndiGo A320 to land, and finally took off at 1602hrs. We took off towards the west, then turned around and finally headed North East. I always love takeoffs from Rwy27 in COK - the aircraft actually flies around the airport after takeoff, and gives a great view of the airport. The seatbelt sign went off at 1610, and the trolleys came out soon after.


This time the snack box contained a veg coleslaw sandwich, a KitKat Chocolate and the Imli candy. Very unusually, they gave a different sandwich - and it was great! I loved every bit of the sandwich - but felt let down about the muffin being replaced by KitKat. As usual, the windows were dirty, and I had nothing to do but read JetWings! Landing was announced at 1644hrs. By now the cloud cover outside got denser - really dense. There were dark clouds looming low - and I could see it was raining everywhere! I expected the rains to play some spoilsport and make for a bumpy touchdown - but thankfully, it didn't happen, and we had a smooth touchdown at 1700hrs on Rwy27. It was a largely uneventful flight.


Bags took a long time to come this time as well - my bag came at 1725hrs. In fact, mine was the first bag to come!! I was out of the airport a minute later, and got in a bus bound to the city in another three minutes - a few seconds after I got into the bus, a very heavy downpour started! I felt blessed to have missed the rain by a narrow margin!

To conclude: Both the aircrafts were clean - and both the aircrafts had dirty windows. While JDC had new Recaro Slimline seats, with greatly comfortable seats, JCM had the old seats, which were poorly kept as well. The seat pockets were torn as well. Food was tasty and good in both the sectors - but I feel the menu is getting too repetitive. Crew were great in both sectors - they responded very quickly to calls and served pax with a nice smile. In both the sectors, the attendants welcomed passengers with a smile, and were at the door to thank the passengers getting off the plane as well.

Overall - great flights. And I always love the ATRs, and will always look forward to fly them more and more Smile

For those interested - the detailed versions of the reports are available on my blog: Outbound | Return

Last but not the least.. the Imli candy which used to rule the skies onces - I remember getting them on Sahara & IC in the old days - now is a standard on Niner Whiskey...


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Binai
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Optimus.Prime
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR Binai . I'm glad you enjoyed the ATR trip with 9W.
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sri_bom
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR Binai, I have never flown an ATR so hoping I get the opportunity one day.

Since these planes don’t carry ovens I guess the choice gets limited as they have to serve sandwiches. Also most Indian snacks like Samosa, vada if served cold will not taste good so I guess they are ruled out as well.

I remember they have plans to expand the Cochin terminals so hope they do that soon to reduce the congestions.
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binaiks
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sri_bom wrote:

I remember they have plans to expand the Cochin terminals so hope they do that soon to reduce the congestions.


Expansion would not be the right word here. They are building a new International Terminal Building at COK. The new terminal will have about 15 Lakh Sq.Ft area. The old International terminal will be handed over for domestic operations. That has about 5 Lakh Sq.Ft area. So, in effect, domestic will get a fairly nice terminal soon after the new terminal is opened


A model of the proposed New International Terminal Building.
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 2:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's some massive expansion - from 5L sft (total) today to 20L sft (total) after the expansion. 4X increase - did I understand it right? Is that much of an expansion justified?
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

...and this time, I am glad that I read the two separate trip
reports on your website before this precis, else I may have
actually missed some parts that interest me: some details, and of
course, the wit and humour. For one, I would have missed the cab
confusion, and your drive to a place close to the airport.
If I may ask, where is this joint where you can leave a car in a
long-term parking, and yet get a cab easily from, to Devanahalli?
Once again, thank you for some superb pictures.
I would have also missed the nice part about the tete-a-tat with
Captain Anup Ghosh. It is really nice to have Capt Ghosh reading
posts on your website. Is Capt Ghosh also on our forum?
He would be a welcome addition, here!
Further, do you maintain an actual log book, or do you have this
online on your laptop, or mobile device?
The clean plane, but scratched windows, the latter would have
been a certain disappointment. Yes, Jet's food quality has been
on the rise, which is a big positive. However, menus remaining
constant is something that has been in place (constant) since a
very long time. IC and AI in those days, used to have frequent
revamps, often while keeping one favourite item in place e.g.,
the cheTTinAD(u) item on the sappAD(u) flight, IC
802 MAA-DEL, which I discovered, I was not the only one who took
the flight specifically for this slightly delicately spiced
version of the cheTTinAD(u) item.
On the other hand, even though we have had the tamarind candy on
IC and S2, it was Jet Airways who popularised this commodity, and
one ha to give credit to them, for this. I always look forward to
having this candy on board all my Jet flights, but have been
rather diappointed, but then, I haven't flown the
all-full-service Jet till now, so I knwo I can expect some fond
memories when I take my next Jet flight.
Passneger clamouring for chicken? And why not? A flight to
Kochi, and not enough kozhi sandiwches loaded?

As for the return flight, again, had I not read the longer trip
report on your website, I would have missed some really juicy
details. After the discussion between you and TKMCE on this
forum, I have really got interested in public transportation for
Nedumbassery, even though I have never even got close to the
airport, ever. I would have missed some lovely pictures of the
airport terminal. Most TRs on this forum have focussed on the
inside of the terminal, thank you for lovely pictures of the
outside part! ver since Nedumbassery became India's first
A380-compatible airport, I have been longing for some official
work to take me there. Unfortunately, I have not been lucky enough.
We have seen a bit of the city, and The Wife and I have lovely
memories of Allapuzha, but we have never been to the Kochi airport itself.
The pillars and the woodwork design have a magical charm about
them, influenced by the wooden palaces of the Travancore rulers.
The architecture is nothing short of magical. I have also liked
the insides, with the square patterned ceiling lights, simple but
stylish sofas, and clean environs.
The new terminal building looks a bit bland, in
comparison. I guess Kochi needs it badly, owing to the current
and projected traffic.

The sandwich looks as awesome as the Kitkat looks...a complete
let-down, as you aptly describe it.

sri_bom wrote:
Since these planes don’t carry ovens

Srinivas, Jet's AT7s do have ovens. I have had hot BoB
food on Jet's AT7s during the Konnect days, when one could
actually order a hot meal, rather than a packaged cold box.

Thank you for a wonderful TR
Binai: it took me quite a while to read all three reports in
great detail, but it was well worth the wait, and the time!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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binaiks
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 21, 2015 8:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nimish wrote:
That's some massive expansion - from 5L sft (total) today to 20L sft (total) after the expansion. 4X increase - did I understand it right? Is that much of an expansion justified?


Its about 6.5~7L Sq.Ft now, and will go up to somewhere around 21sq.ft. It is not clear if they will totally decommission present Domestic terminal or if that would be annexed to the present International terminal, and convert it fully to domestic.

And it is justified. CIAL handled 2641 International Movements and 2086 Domestic Movements in June 2015. The airport handled 363349 International Passengers in June 2015 (4th Position in India) and 232743 Domestic Passengers (10th position, if i am not mistaken). It is a fast growing airport, and hence certainly deserves the expansion.

sumantra wrote:
...and this time, I am glad that I read the two separate trip


Thanks for you comments Sumantraji. Running out of Chicken sandwiches for a Kerala route is preposterous. People on this route wouldn't mind not having Veg (I'd certainly have a problem).

It was a great moment meeting Capt. Anup Ghosh. I maintain all my flight logs on my phone, using the Google Keep App - Not just flight logs, all my travels.

Public transportation to Nedumbassery is not at all great - its a headache dealing with the heavily overpriced taxi mafia. I always try my best to get a bus out of the airport.

The new airport building looks a bit bland, as you rightly pointed. They have not gone with the ACP+Glass treatment that is the norm for airports across the country now - they've used the normal brick-and-mortar structure, with Kerala's design elements instead. But the interiors is no less to any airport in India, going by the renders posted on another forum.
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ameya
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice TR Binai

I like the ATR a lot too and would choose it over A320/737 at similar cost

Food is a area of improvement for 9W. My take is that they are giving the BoB level quality of LCCs for free and not much of a meal
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sri_bom
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 2:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Srinivas, Jet's AT7s do have ovens. I have had hot BoB
food on Jet's AT7s during the Konnect days, when one could
actually order a hot meal, rather than a packaged cold box.


Thanks Sumantra your insights on ovens and food is quite amazing.
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sri_bom wrote:
Thanks Sumantra your insights on ovens and food
He he...as the self-annointed glutton on this forum, ...thank you Very Happy
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Binai!
Another great trip report from you, we're never short of South India and turbo prop reports since you've got them all covered!

The ex-IT bird looks good, as well.

Excellent photographs, if I may add!

Regards
Jish
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