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justbala · Member Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1898 Location: Bangalore

A very close friend of mine was getting married last weekend. Marriages in North India are generally an all night affair, so I thought of flying up to DEL , attend the wedding and fly back straight to BLR

Immediately went out to all the travel sites to look for a good deal. Return from DEL to BLR the best i was getting was 6E (around 4200 INR) , followed by SG and DN. Onward IC offered an excellent fare at 3500 INR followed by S2 , SG , 6E , 9W and then DN!! That was surprising .. DN (Low cost/ no frills) being costlier than the full fare airlines!!

the total came to around 7.7k INR .. which my frens from DEL told me was ok, but cud be lower. So I went around hunting the airline websites and to my surprise found a web special check fare from 9W on the return leg at 2.6k almost 40% less that i had earlier!! Promptly went ahead and booked that.. (Well its a diff story tht I messed up the date while booking and had to pay 500 extra to correct it, but it was still way cheaper than the rest!!)

So here I was all set to fly w/o any luggage of any sorts for the first time!! Smile

My flight plan was ..

21 APR BLR DEL IC 505 0930 DEP 1200 ARR
22 APR DEL BLR 9W 801 0630 DEP 0900 ARR

Initially I thot of parking my car overnite at the BLR airport and driving it back next day, but Nimish, HAWK21M and HamiltonAir advised me against it. Security is not guaranteed at BLR airport parking (In india we dont hv a concept of long term parking at airports!!). . so decided to take a cab up n down (well atleast tht was the plan!!)

21 APR 07
Sector: BLR - DEL
Flight: IC 505
A/C : A -319-112
Reg: VT-SCB
Load : 99%
STD : 0930
ATD: 1008
STA : 1200
ATA :1225

I had set my alarm for 0700 in order to check in at the airport by 0830, but as things wud hv it i managed to get up 2 0840 for a 0930 flight!! And I hadnt even booked my cab!!

Woke up my flatmate from sleep, got ready in a jiffy and by 9, I was out in my car to the airport.. drove like a mad man.. luckily the roads were empty n i was able to keep 90+ km/h for most parts.. reached airport in under 15 mins!!

Got my flatmate to drive my car back home.. i rushed thru to the check in counter (no baggage so tht was a blessing) .. the "only hand baggage" check in counter was closed .. luckily the Executive Class counter was open for DEL pax also. So checked in there.

IC Check in counters at BLR

i asked the "uncle" at the counter is there was any chance of a window/aisle seat and he gives me a "yeah right" look!! No luck there n I end up with 10B. 3 hrs in a middle seat not a good proposition!!

BLR was as usual all crowded and dirty. Not much activity on the tarmac. Only our flight at the bridge and a 9W 737 parked afar. There was a 15 minutes delay announced for our flight

At 0950 an IC Uncle walked around announcing tht DEL flight wud be boarding from Gate 3 thru the jetbridge. I was the 3rd in line there and found the gate locked. The IC Uncle finally managed to find a CISF security guy who came n opened the gates and checked our security stampings.

Waiting for the gate to open

Upto the two aerobridges @ BLR

Down the aerobridge

VT-AIH Tungabhadra A310-300 at the adjacent bridge. Delayed AI flight to DXB

There was no one to welcome us onboard and one IC Aunty was busy setting up the galley. I walked in to the IC A319 (my first time on an IC A319 with the new Indian livery) and realized that 10B was in the row just before the exit row!! Lesser leg room with no recline.. Oh boy!!

Seat pitch in row 10B Sad

Cabin while boarding

i asked another IC aunty(well this time it was almost a grandma!!) if there were any free seats in any other rows.. n she said we it was full load!!

But as luck would have it, the seat belt in my seat wud not go in!!! ..i tried with all my might (well its not rocket science n hv done it innumerable times!!) .. my co-pax also tried n didnt work. Then I realized tht the male part of the seat belt was different from tht of my co pax!! The mntc staff probably messed tht up!!

The seat belt just wud not go in!!

Called Granny again, n showed her the problem. She said lets c what can be done. She was from the north east n was very diff from the usual Aunties on board i.e. she smiled rather than frowning!! She came back n informed me tht smone wud be cmng up to fix it or I cud move to 16E , again a middle, but with more leg space. I opted to shift.

The flight was all full except for 10B , and we took at 1028 hrs. The climb was a lightly turbulent due to the loud cover, but we were at cruising altitude in abt 15 mins.

The inflight service started and the crew comprised of 1 Granny, 1 Uncle, 2 Aunties and 1 Aunty wannabe!! The Uncle hardly moved a finger during the entire flight, all he did was serve tea to the first 4 rows and clear plates from the first one and flirt with the "Aunty Wannabe"!!

Snax on board

The snax consisted of Chicken with herbs, veg patties, cheese sandwiches, aloo-tikki (which i gobbled up b4 i clicked the pic), gajar ka halwa n apple juice. Tasted good. Whtever be IC 's shortcomings, the food onboard is always good with very generous portions.

The a/c registration number clearly visible frm my seat

Co-incidentally my new seatmate was also travelling to DEL to attend a fren's wedding and was also flying back by the early morning 9W flight. same as mine!! Chatted up for a while abt the heat in DEL and our jobs back in BLR

The landing was decent and we parked quite close to the terminal

Deboarding from the rear

Our bird from BLR VT-SCB

9W 737 parked adjacent

Since I had absolutely no baggage with em, just walked str8 out , where my friend had come to pick me up.

Terminal 1B departure, from whr I wud catch my return flight in another 18hrs

DEL was hot at 38 deg celsius.. but i was expecting 40+!! Lotsa construction happening in and around DEL airport for the 2010 Commonwealth games,

On our way out of the airport found this street sign.. didnt realize we had a road leading to Mongolia!! Smile

Went around Gurgaon's malls, India gate and rajpath, CP and took a ride on one of delhi's latest attractions - The Metro. They have just sanctioned a metro line to DEL and tht shud help pax a lot. They are also planning check in at Delhi city itself a la KL Sentraal and VIE CAT!!

Anyways after a gr8 time at a Big Fat Indian wedding, I was ready to take my return flight back to BLR.

Reached DEL terminal 1B at 0445 itself to avoid a near fiasco like the day before.

22 APR 07
Sector: DEL - BLR
Flight: 9W 801
A/C : B 737-76N/W
Reg: VT-JGL
Load : 100%
STD : 0630
ATD: 0700
STA : 0900
ATA :0910

The 9W check in counters were all very crowded as they had flight to JAI, UDR , AMD , IXL , CCU, BLR , BDQ leaving within an hrs span.

9W check in counters

Luckily 9W has introduced Kiosk Check In at DEL, BOM, BLR and a few other airports. Nobody was at the Kiosk check in and since I had no luggage on me decided to try tht out.

9W kiosk check in

used my Citibank-Jetairways credit card for ID and managed to check in on my second attempt. Chose seat 24F and got a boarding card printed. Neat affair. Plus u earn 250 additional JP miles if u do a kiosk check in!!

Called up my new found friend frm the previous flight and asked him to do the same!!

Had a cuppa coffee frm the landside and then moved airside after clearing security. in DEL IC , CD , IT and G8 use terminal 1A while the rest use 1B. 1B itself is divided into 2 sections - S2 and 9W operating out of one set of gates and the rest - DN , SG , 6E and regional players liek Indus Air (are they still flying) , Jagsons , MDLR operating in the other. These two sections are physically separated unlike in BLR whr they combine after security. Thx to tht there were enuff seats in the waiting area.

Boarding was announced at 0600 thru gate 2. We were to be bussed to the a/c

Some shots of the tarmac

IC birds in the new Indian livery

Our 9W a/c to BLR VT-JGL

Pic from the ladder

A friendly FA welcomed us onboard . The flight did not hv the usual 9W blue seat covers, instead a greyish blue leather seats (Is this their new livery?!!!) welcomed us and no IFE .. ouch!!

Cabin pics

I settled into my window seat.

There was another 9W 737 getting ready adjacent

32" seat pitch

Baggage being loaded

The a/c was completey full except for the middle seat next to me and the one behind mine. Looking Good!! But just b4 the doors closed the last 2 pax boarded. A honeymooning couple.. the lady still had henna on her hands and a forearm full of bangles - a sure sign of newly married northies!!

Turns out they got split up across two middle seats n they wanted to travel 2gether!! The F/A tells them the flight is full so they wud hv to request their neighbours after we reach cruising altitude!! Uh oh!!

BZ 757 behind us..

We were on FL390 tht day and even b4 we reached there Mrs.Newly Married told me tht she was on her honeymoon and this was her first ever flight and wanted to be with her hubby and if i wud switch seats with him. Well well i am not the one to disappoint a damsel in distress n agreed to move to 25E.

My co-pax here was a guy in his early 30s n was constantly on me while sleeping Sad

reminded me of this VS ad ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy-unA-yUmQ

(How do i embed Youtube viewer here?!!)

Drinks service included OJ and freshlime. Breakfast followed.. I opted for non veg which consisted of an amlet, sausages, baked potatoes, fruits n bread. Was good

F/A s were pretty good, well groomed as per 9W standards. The ladies were mostly from the North East.

Breakfast on 9W

As I clicked the last snap, one of the male F/As informed me that I shud switch of my mobile (I use a Nokia N70 to take pics). I told him it was in Flight Mode. Then he gave the this shocking news that if i am using it for GPRS i cud continue using it, but i cannot use it as a music player or camera as it was not compatible with this type of a/c!! Anybody got a clue on wht he meant?!!

Anyways people were waiting for their b/f and i was holding it up, so I switched off my phone and dozed off for rest of the flight.

Overall if i compare 9W and IC head on head, with no surprise 9W comes way ahead for the following reasons

>Consistent standards a la SQ
>Clean a/c. The IC 319 is one of their new a/cs but was filthy!!
>Staff grooming both on the ground and inflight
>Inflight service
>Superior facilities on the ground
>Their newly revamped website is amazing. Chk out www.jetairways.com

VABBy · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 823 Location: DEL

LOL VS ad ws classy everyone even my bro cudnt stop laughing.A bit off topic bt r they showin this one in india or nt
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HAWK21M · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:25 pm Post subject:

Nice TR.
Excellent Pics.esp the B752SF.
regds
MEL
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malQ · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:26 pm Post subject:

Good report and photos thanks.

VT-JGL is a one of its sort kind of 737-700/winglets with 9W, and I find it a very comfortable aircrat, if you look up the fleet specs on the 9W website, you can see that it has fewer seats.

Best of luck with more flying.

the_380 · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 1:11 am Post subject:

Great report and pics also...!!!
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