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AirIndia0001 · Member Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 391

Itinerary:
1: DEL-IXJ-DEL on Spicejet (SG)
2: Katra-Sanjichhat-Katra on PHL and DAV respectively
3: Patnitop

1) DEL-IXJ

It had been raining in Delhi for the past few days and the day of our departure was no different. It was raining cats and dogs when our Radio Cab arrived at half past six in the morning. We were on our way to the airport in another five minutes.

Despite the light traffic, the rain ensured that our drive to the airport would take more than thirty minutes. We were more than glad to enter the cool confines of T-1D. The morning rush of passengers was slowly picking up, but this being a wednesday there was probably lesser crowd than would be on other days.

SG check-in counters are located in check-in row B, of the terminal.

As we approached the SG counters, we were greeted to the sight of one harried westerner shouting at a hapless young thing manning one of the counters … Not sure, but maybe results of one long overnight transit wait!
Check in formalities was done with pretty quickly and the polite agent informed us that the load for today’s flight was around 75%. In no time we were past security and into the secure zone of the terminal. Our flight was on time and boarding was scheduled from Gate 7.

FIDS

As I was feeling hungry, I decided to grab a bite and so proceeded to the food court located on the upper level. After having my meal at the KFC outlet, I passed time, watching and clicking the action on the airside. This prompted a few other passengers to take out their cameras and join the fun! Smile

The weather was dark and murky, but, what I saw next, more than made up for all the gloom – Parked wing-to-wing, at the Cargo Terminal was a Global Supply Systems 74F, World Cargo M1F, Deccan360 31F, China Airlines 74F and ... the Volga Dnepr An-124 ‘Ruslan’ Very Happy

In the foreground we could see frenetic activity towards resurfacing Delhi’s main runway 10-28.

Sector: DEL – IXJ
Flight No: SG851
Aircraft: Boeing 737-86N
Aircraft Reg.: VT-SPE *Ginger*
ETD: 08:50 ATD: 08:50
ETA: 10:00 ATA: 09:55
Seat: 20F

Boarding was announced at 08:10 sharp and thereafter we boarded our bus which was to take us to our aircraft, parked at a very remote gate Wink

Thankfully, the rain had subsided enough for us to board without the use of umbrellas. We boarded using the front door. A t the door we were warmly greeted by the F/A’s. The Cabin crew was 50-50 in terms of sex-ratio. I handed over my flight log to one of the male F/A’s, requesting him to get it signed from the Captain and F/O.

The rain had picked up again and from my vantage point I could see our next door neighbour, an IT A320, ‘KFG’ parked with its Windshield, NLG and engines in the process of being covered-up… was it a case of another IT bird biting the dust in the short term!?!

Ginger sported a well maintained look. We started our taxi roll at 08:45am sharp and proceeded towards runway 27.
Speedbird 256 on a 772 with “Keep the flag flying” decals kept us company during the roll and followed us to the runway.

The Palam Technical area was agog with activity with what looked like a ‘guard-of-honour’ contingent waiting patiently in the rain.

The engines came to life and after racing down the length of runway 27 we made a smooth lift off and sailed over Dwarka’s skyline. Delhi wore a clean, green look thanks to all the rain it has been receiving this year. Hopefully, we poor Delhi souls will get to live a bit longer! Wink

Soon enough we lifted over the clouds and into bright sunshine.

We were cruising to our destination at FL310. The F/A’s commenced the meal service, first to those who had pre-booked, followed by on-board sales.
With no IFE to look at, I whiled away my time looking down at mother earth, looking resplendent in all her green finery.

Twenty minutes prior to touchdown, the Captain came on the address system and informed us that we will be experiencing some turbulence the rest of the way. I spied a few passengers hurrying through their morsels as the aircraft shook and rattled while it commenced its descent.

Soon enough we were on short finals for runway 36

The landing was bumpy to say the least and full reverse thrust was applied in order for us to stop in time.
Jammu or VIJU/IXJ, like Srinagar, is a defense aerodrome and photography is a strict no-no. There are no parallel taxiways so all arriving aircraft have to execute a full 180° turn and taxi back to the ramp-exit which lies next to the piano-keys at 36-end.

With our flight’s arrival the day’s airside action commenced at Jammu. The stairs were attached and people made a beeline towards the two exit doors. With no other aircraft on the ramp I decided it best to put away my camera. The lead F/A while handing back my flight log appreciated my home-made effort and commented that it was similar to what he had to fill up each time he flew Smile

. I learnt from him that the Captain and F/O were attending to some technical issue and would not be able to meet me. I appreciated his thoughtfulness as I had not requested for a meet. I thanked the crew and disembarked. We walked across the tarmac to the arrival section of the airport which is modeled like a Hindu temple – Jammu is after all, known as a ‘City of Temples’.

While we waited to collect our bags from the lone belt, it became clear that all passengers had had to disembark at Jammu itself as our aircraft had gone tech!
The thirty odd passengers who were bound for SXR were then escorted to the departure hall through a doorway connecting the two sections.

RATINGS:
Ground Handling: 4/5
Punctuality: 5/5
Aircraft: 4/5
Cabin Crew: 5/5
Food: -/5
IFE: -/5
Overall: 18/20 = 5* (except Food/IFE)

2) Katra-Sanjichhat-Katra

On way to the Vaishno Devi shrine, we opted to fly this stretch on the Bell Helicopters operated by Pawan Hans (outbound) and Deccan Charters (return) respectively. One gets a complimentary ‘Darshan’ pass with each one-way ticket booked from Katra to Sanjichhat.
The distance is covered in around 7-8 minutes with each flight ferrying up to 6 passengers (5 in main cabin + 1 in cockpit).

Photography, again is prohibited Mad

but I took my chances Smile

Ticketing offices at Katra Helipad

Hanger at Katra Helipad

Equipment Flown: Katra-Sanjichhat
Pawan Hans
VT-PHA
Bell 206 – Long Ranger 4
Reg. # 2535
Mfg: 1993

Equipment Flown: Sanjichhat-Katra
Deccan Charters
VT-DAL
Bell 206 – Long Ranger 3
Reg. # 2920/4
Mfg: 1998

On the return leg, I flew in the cockpit and had an interesting conversation with the pilot Smile

3) IXJ-DEL

Due to the terror threat to Jammu Airport, all departing passengers are made to disembark at a gated facility next to the main terminal building.
At this drop-off point, the J&K police personnel, who man all airports in the state (instead of the regular CISF), checked our tickets, id’s and did a round of body frisking. Following this, we proceeded along a connecting pathway to the outside of the main terminal building. At the entry to the terminal, our entire luggage was screened through an x-ray machine and we went through another round of frisking. Once inside the terminal, we proceeded to the SG counter to check-in for our flight. Since we had arrived well in advance, we avoided standing in a queue. The agent informed me that the flight was going full today. The only flights which Jammu sees are those bound for SXR and DEL with an odd one to BOM.
Check-in formalities completed, we proceeded for the security check. This time the frisking was much more elaborate, first, a close frisk by hand followed by a metal-detector. They even ran the detector on the shoe soles, made us drink our bottled water and insisted that we check-in the umbrella we were carrying. After complying with all such demands, our cabin luggage tags were stamped and we took our seats in the nondescript waiting area. Later, all passengers with checked in luggage were asked to identify their bags.
There were three gates in total of which two were in alternating use.
Airside action witnessed - Go Air’s VT-WAH and WAE, 6E A320, IT A320 and an ATR72.
Our incoming flight from SXR was delayed by about 20 minutes. The aircraft we were flying today was VT-SGF *Vanilla* a brand new bird, which has joined the SG fleet in only March this year.

Sector: IXJ – DEL
Flight No: SG852
Aircraft: Boeing 737-8GJ
Aircraft Reg.: VT-SGF *Vanilla*
ETD: 12:55 ATD: 13:15
ETA: 14:05 ATA: 14:20
Seat: 10A

Once the boarding call was announced we proceeded to our aircraft through gate 1. Our tags were checked at the gate and we then walked through a hut-like structure, for one last round of frisking and boarding pass stamping (by the airline in question). This done, we finally boarded our plane. Post greetings at the door, I handed my flight log to the smiling F/A requesting her to get it signed from the Captain and F/O.
The aircraft was brand new and it showed.

Jammu Airport

We settled in our seats and soon enough we were taxing towards the runway. The aircraft’s engines spooled up and we were airborne in no time. The flight path headed north across the Tawi river and we soon banked left and made a u-turn and headed south over the city.

Below, one can clearly see the outlines of Jammu Tawi Railway Station.

Soon our aircraft reached a cruising altitude of FL330 and cruising speed of 260KTS. The rest of the flight was uneventful. There was bright sunshine across the northern plains and we encountered thick cloud cover only over the NCR region.

We experienced mild turbulence during the descent over Delhi. As we descended below the clouds we were almost over the Vasant Kunj area and aligned for short finals for runway 29. Touchdown was smooth and we taxied past the gleaming new Terminal 3, which had only a handful of planes being serviced at the time. We taxied past the now empty International Remote bays and the cargo terminal. Parked there, was a BD 75F (VT-BDJ) and her little sister the 73F. Also spotted were two Hercules C-130’s, besides, a regular visitor, the JATE 767.

We were docked at the remote bay 136. The flight was heading onwards to BOM but almost everyone deplaned at DEL. We were inside the arrival hall within no time and post collecting our bags, walked out to our waiting cab and home sweet home. Thus ended our short trip.

RATINGS:
Ground Handling: 3/5
Punctuality: 4/5
Aircraft: 4/5
Cabin Crew: 3/5
Food: -/5
IFE: -/5
Overall: 14/20 = 3* (except Food/IFE)
Jammu Airport: 3/5 (1/5, if not for all the security considerations!)

I conclude this short trip report with some images taken at Patnitop, a beautiful hill station, approx 110kms outside of Jammu. Hope you liked it.

Dew drops

Thanks for taking the time in going through this TR.
Cheers!
AI1

yash777 · Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 3:41 am Post subject:

Very nice! Didn't you take out your camera while on the Chopper?

Try converting the 3rd last picture to b/w. I think it would look brilliant!

Yash
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vivekman · Member Joined: 26 Dec 2006 Posts: 1897 Location: BOM

Nice TR!

Was your return flight to DEL on Sat or Sun (28/29 Aug) by any chance?

- Vivek
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AirIndia0001 · Member Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 391

Nimish · Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:56 pm Post subject:

Lovely TR - and must have been a great experience on the choppers, and the darshan of course...
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me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Brilliant TR Sankalp! Very Happy

Loved the pics!
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himmat01 · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 1392 Location: DEL

Nice TR. Beautiful pictures, especially the ones from Patnitop.
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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 12:28 pm Post subject:

Superb TR and great pics too. Thanks for sharing. Interesting to note that Ginger doesn't have any winglets.

Varun
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Yeah.

AirIndia0001 · Member Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 391

Thanks Nimish, Rishul, Himmat, Varun and everyone else for the encouragement. Very Happy

RKRamesh · Member Joined: 20 Feb 2010 Posts: 165

Thanks for the report AI1. I must say that you have a flair for photography. They do speak a thousand words and more. Like the first one where wipers half across the windscreen clearly indicate the weather.

SG certainly impresses with their no nonsense efficiency. A snack box would be welcome but well one pays for what one gets I guess...

Loved the pic compositon and... Aye I second the brilliance of your picture perfect Patnitop portraits. Very Happy

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Nice TR. The hill station looks very inviting.