Airliners-India.com

PAL@YWG

Link to Part 1:
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=11477
Link to Part2:
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=11480

July 9
Route: KBP- TAS
Flight#: VV 483
Aircraft: A320
Departure: 10:25PM
Arrival: 05:10AM+1

Rain god finally relented and I wasted no more time to get in to the nearest Metro station. After few anxious moments, Airport Shuttle bus finally arrived outside Kharkivskaya metro station. When I reached KBP, I still had about 2 hours in hand.

Aerosvit counters were open for Tashkent and there were long lines. Expatriate Uzbeks working in Ukraine were going back home. The bags they were trying to convince the check in agents as hand baggage, no one in the western hemisphere will ever dare to consider that as an option! Anyway when my turn came, I requested an aisle seat and I got one. “Is it going to be an A320?” I asked the agent. “Yes” came the reply. I am relieved.

When I bought the ticket for this sector, the aircraft was supposed to be a Boeing 737-300. I guessed it must be 25+ years old and was little anxious about it’s well being in the hands of the Aerosvit’s technicians who most of their lives looked after TU5, IL6, Yak 42s and others Soviet aircrafts. Then the Southwest airlines “caved in roof” incident happened in one of their older 733’s, that made me more curious about VV’s 733. I discovered they have only one 733. That’s not a good scenario. About a month before my flight, I started following the flight on flightstats.net. About 2 weeks before my flight, to my relief I found they have started deploying A320 on this route. Good Lord!

VV had simultaneous departures to Tashkent, Almaty, Astana, Bucharest and many Russian cities that night. Boryspil (KBP) airport was recently modernized and had added Terminal F but Aerosvit uses Terminal B that until recently was infamous for slow moving lines in front of Immigration Control.

KBP terminal B departure area

We were bussed to the Aircraft and offloaded in front of a VV airbus 320 with totally different colour scheme! Once I settled down in seat 7F, the mystery of VV’s new colour scheme unfolded as I grabbed the Inflight Magazine found in the seat pocket. Well, it’s not their inflight magazine (that I flipped thru during WAW- KBP ride), it’s the inflight shopping catalogue of Bahrain Air! VV didn’t even bother to remove them.

The load was 100%. I am sure there are enough passengers to sustain these routes but looking at the passenger profile, not sure about the yield though. HY and VV both operate 2 flights each, HY brings in 320 & 767.

Flight was uneventful and I slept most of the time, I guess finally the fatigue were setting in but who cares I am just two more flights away from the land of Hilsa fish & Rosgullah!

This aircraft brought us to TAS

Antique IL-86, Uzbek air website has put these up for sale

Tashkent this time of the year is very hot but early mornings are still pleasant. Once we landed, we deplaned and I had a good look at my aircraft. TAS has few aerobridges and they were lying idle but all arriving aircrafts were parked far away. Once the bus reached the arrival hall door, people ran as quickly as they can to be in the front of the immigration line. Here you are in for a painful wait, for some passengers it can take up to 15 minutes before the Immigration guy will raise his head to have a look at the passenger. Those 15 minutes he will be sniffing thru his passport!

Anyway, I am here for 3 nights. Tashkent is like any other former USSR cities with wide roads, rows of similar apartment buildings and lots of greenery. After independence, Tashkent went thru few rounds of facelift and that gave a distinct Uzbek character to city’s architecture.

Amir Timur is the national hero of Uzbekistan whom the rest of the world knows as Tamerlane, the bandit. Al Beruni and Al Khorezm (they guy who invented Algebra, they claim) are other notable Uzbeks who could have contended to be the national hero once Uzbeks gained independence in 1991.

After having my fair share of tasty Uzbeks fruits (watermelons, Plums & Pears in particular) and Pilov (Pilau as we know in India), it’s time to say goodbye to friends!

July 13
Route: TAS- DEL
Flight#: HY 423
Aircraft: A310-300
Departure: 18:50PM
Arrival: 21:50PM

Friends in Tashkent were telling me that Indians have started coming in droves as tourist in recent days. They are coming in big groups where they spent few days in Tashkent (exploring the abundant night club scene the city has to offer) and then move on to Samarkand, Bukhara & Khiva. Generally speaking, the survival of Uzbek airways depends to some extent on Indian folks whether they are from Punjab, Delhi or Birmingham. Indian community in Tashkent is relatively small and HY doesn’t have 10 weekly flights to India to cater to them. So when I found huge number Indians are checking in at Tashkent airport, I remembered my friend’s words.
After you check in and before you clear immigration, there are those customs guys who will randomly select passengers and take them to a closed room. This time it was my turn. Once I entered and door closed behind me, the guy in green uniform asked me:
- How much USD you are carrying with you?
- XX amount, I replied.
- Can you show me your purse? What are these?
- Canadian dollars.
- Did you declare while entering Uzbekistan?
- Yes.

The guy made me take out all my stuff from my backpack in search of undeclared green buck. When the search ended, the guy didn’t have the courtesy to say sorry for the trouble. Old habits die hard!

At the departure area I did some plane spotting.

TAS airport from inside

IL-114 & IL-76D, both made in Uzbekistan

We were again bussed to our aircraft, an old 310-300 greeted us. I guess this aircraft was part of the first batch of western aircrafts HY bought soon after independence.
My seat # is 14D. The overhead TV’s were lowered for the safety demonstration and once that was done, TVs went back in place. It’s 2.5 hours of flight and on a clear day you can see the whole Hindu Kush mountain range before entering Pakistani airspace. It’s quite a sight.

Lousy food that is associated with HY

We landed in Delhi.
Since the new terminal (T3) opened, a number of fellow AI-netters from this forum wrote rave reviews and posted crisp pictures here, now it is my turn to have a close look and feel proud that India has finally got a world class airport. I don’t recall but I think we did use an aerobridge to reach the huge area where I got first glimpse of T3. Wow! It’s going to be a long walk with the help of walkalators. While walking I noticed washrooms at convenient distances with drinking water fountains placed nearby. Then came the much photographed area of those “finger formations” and then the passport control. Wow again! The whole area has metamorphosed! The immigration guys have smiles under their moustaches now, a brief flipping of pages of Passport, a friendly touch of the stamp on a blank page and here is your passport back to you! What a transformation! My chest is getting pumped up in pride!

I did some quick duty free shopping. Can’t forget a pack of Rothmans for my Dad, a gift I always brought for him for last 20 years or so. Once shopping was done, I wanted to change some money. Old DEL airport had some nationalized bank counters who offered better rates. This time couldn’t find them, only one where everyone is changing is Thomas Cook. Looking at their rate, I changed only USD20, got a meagre sum after all their charges deducted! What a rip-off! Thank god I found some nationalized bank counters upstairs (departure area) offering decent rates.
Continued to look around T3, found a place forgot the name but it is based on the concept of hourly rated bed, spa & massage for passengers who can spare few hours in between flights. The receptionist told me all the beds were occupied.

Just opposite to it found a desi eatery called “The food Street”. All the items looked so delicious (especially after spending more than a week on the road), a fellow travelled were relishing on his egg curry, I found his eggs were so inviting that I settled for “Egg curry with plain Parantha” and a drink. The cashier told me “Have a seat Sir, it will take few minutes to prepare your paranthas” The paranthas were fried with butter on a pan in front of my hungry eyes. Once served, I wasted no time to let my fingers dive into the thick gravy and do justice to my hunger pure Indian way! Once finished, the boy brought a form and politely requested me in English, “Sir, would you mind to participate in a quick survey about the quality of our food?” “Sure, I will gladly do”. God bless you boy, you are the face of new India and CCU desperately needs some guys like you.

To connect to my CCU flight I had to briefly go out of the airport to get back in for domestic departure but no hassles, all directions are clearly marked. A lift ride at the end of a hallway brought me to the departure area. And another round of superb planning and attention to details. The WH Smith book store for example, the collection of books are so varied and in every section the works of the Indian writers are clearly visible. Found the history of Delhi Cloth Mills (DCM) not very far from an English translation of Bhagavad Gita.

Somewhere I read that a nation’s character is reflected in the way the washrooms are maintained in public places. T3 washrooms will pass the test with flying colours, they are absolutely world class!

Well now it’s time to board the plane. Quite a long walk, just like any big airport but T3 has focused on passenger’s amenities at every step. My gate was #55, once arrived I settled down on a cushy chair and saw some guys are dozing off on lay flat chairs available at each gate, I suppose. Keep it up T3!

July 14
Route: DEL- CCU
Flight#: 9W 7095
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Departure: 06:50AM
Arrival: 08:50AM

Initially this flight was to be operated by JetConnect by I got an email and it gave a new departure time and to be operated by JetLite. Whatever happened, I didn’t get my miles on my Flying Blue account. Not a big deal, in fact I didn’t collect any miles on any of the flights I have taken in this trip.

The load was about 75% and being JetLite only thing offered free was water and a pack of cookies (if I am not mistaken). One original Air Sahara feature that they are still continuing is the inflight bidding for products (though the format has changed).

Without much incident we landed in Calcutta airport. Looking out of the window, I could only spot an Emirates and a Jet Airways aircraft on the international side of the airport. What a contrast! A different world just 1000kms north-west (I mean DEL).

Again a bus brought us to the arrival gate and unmistakeably you are welcomed by a musty smell of urinal suppressed by bleach and add to that the heavy air from overworked air conditioners. Baggage arrived at leisurely pace, no wonder a group of Jet airways uniformed workers were just chatting away being oblivious to their duties. I wanted to take a picture but on a second thought I resisted myself, my body needs a soft bed at my parent’s place not a rusty bed in a hospital! And I need a happy ending! Well, at the pre-paid taxi counter, I came to know that taxis are observing a flash strike today just like those Jet Airways outsourced workers. I called home and Dad came to pick me up after a long wait at the crowded bazaar also known as the Domestic arrival area of CCU airport.

Finally I have reached my destination. It was a heck of a journey involving eight countries, eight flights, six airlines, 10 airports and one aviation enthusiast( and with one credit card in wallet)!

Thanks for reading! Thanks for leaving your comments!
_________________
Tally Sheet:
41 Countries ||55 Aircraft types ||60 Airlines ||75 Airports

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

Mr. Pal, thanks for yet another installment with nice pictures. I am glad you split your report into three parts - doing justice to the entire trip, which a one-part report just would not be able to. It increased the reader's sense of eager anticipation for the next part! Do you plan to pen down your return trip to Winnipeg also - even if it was a more conventional one as compared to this fascinatingly exotic one? Jetlite: I too have had the experience of having zero miles put into my account. After a lot of enquiries, and proof sent by email (tickets, scans of boarding passes), I got a mail (after quite some time), saying that my JP account would not be disturbed by the journey (obviously, not in these words!).
Cheers, Sumantra.

PAL@YWG · Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2011 5:23 am Post subject: