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

I was to attend a mediation camp in south India (Rameshwaram) so the nearest direct airport from Singpaore was Trichy (Tiruchirapali).

Date of Departure & Time: June 24th 2014
Flight No – IX 681 ETD : 10:50
Aircraft – Boeing 737-800
Flying time : 4:00 hours
Class: Economy
Singapore - Trichy

Since I was flying with my kids, I opted to search only for direct flights. My choice was a day flight on Air India Express or a night flight on Tiger Airways. The day I was flying was Tuesday, and Tiger Airways although has two daily flights they do not fly the second one on Tuesday. Other one stop options included Air Asia and Malindo via Kula Lumpur. Since the best option was Air India Express I settled taking that one. The interesting thing about this flight is that it actually goes to Chennai but via Trichy. I used the web site to make reservations. Although booking the tickets was a breeze, the website looks dated and needs urgent updating.

Reached two hours prior to departure and since the crowd had not built up yet, check in was fast. The only issue was that since the website did not allow us to select seats during my reservations it took some time for the agent to allocate seats. Although we were seated together in a single row, I needed two window and two middle seats as it is convenient to keep the kids near the window so that they don’t disturb other passengers.

Check In:

Flight Information Trichy:

At Changi airport, just like any other international airport, passengers and non travelling members can come up to the check in desks. In a rare departure, for all Air India flights, non travelling members are not allowed near the check in desks and are stopped a few meters away. I am guessing that when it comes to Indians, for every one passenger travelling there would be ten people coming to send off the traveler - hence this measure.

Security cordon before the check in desk:

Cleared immigration and reached air side, and Changi was all dressed up to celebrate the festive season of Id.

Newly renovated Koi fish pond

It was soon boarding time so arrived at the gate to clear security and I saw the plane was already docked at the aerobridge. It was a VT-AXU, with a motif of traditional Indian women on the tail that would take my family and I to Trichy.

Soon boarding was to commence and one of the agents saw that since we were with kids she advised us to wait right at the front so that we could get in first. The moment boarding was announced though, it was free for all and row numbers was not being called which was a bit of surprise to me in otherwise disciplined Singapore.

No welcome was given during the boarding stage - the two flight attendants stationed at the door were in the middle of a chat. Having boarded the aircraft I was greeted with magneta red leather seats, with the head seat cover missing. There was nothing luxurious about the seats and in fact the inner padding had become so old that the cushioning had become flat and it was not comfortable.

Bulkhead Wall Motif

The leg room was tight as you can see in the photograph, and the seat pockets only contained the evacuation safety card and air sickness bag. The armrest had volume control and channel button, but we were not provided with the ear plugs nor was any music streaming to those controls so not sure the purpose of having those. IFE screens were absent, but there was a small holder to hold personal items in that space.

Mandatory Knee shot:

Arm Rest Photo:

The aircraft was 80% full – with some vacant middle seats. The load factor was not bad specially keeping in mind it was a Tuesday afternoon departure and was not a peak period. The passenger profile almost 80% constituted of working class going back home and the rest were families living in Trichy or nearby towns. All passengers were Indian citizens or of Indian origin.

Safety demonstration was carried out manually and seat belt secure check on all passengers was done by the crew. Soon push back commenced and we quickly entered the active runway and were on our way to be airborne. No announcement was ever made from the flight deck with regard to flight time and route so it was just a guessing game by looking out of the window.

The seatbelt signs were still on, with the pilot probably deciding to switch it off only after we attained cruising altitude, but some passengers were impatient to use the bathroom. Then the flight attendants started yelling,“Please sit down”, “Baitho, utho math”. This shouting continued for a while, by which time the seat belt signs were switched off and the passengers made a rush to the bathroom. I guess this is a common occurrence on Air India flights - disciplining travelers.

Very soon I could smell the aroma of the food being heated and within no time the meal was served. It basically constituted a lunch box that contained a cup for tea, bottle of water, pickle, some sweet and fork/spoons. Besides the box we were also handed a small aluminum container that had the pulao rice with a vegetable gravy and two pieces of Indian bread “naan”. The quality of food was nowhere Singapore Airlines or Cathay but it was just OK if you wanted to eat something and fill your tummy.
The food tasted like it has been packed from one of the Indian chains like Nirula’s as there was no airline catering logo on the box. Also since all the stuff in the box was sourced from India I suspect the food for Singapore-India leg was lifted from India as well.

I may sound picky on the quality of the food, but for the majority travelers this was bliss as I could see them completely relishing every single piece of morsel.

Once the meal service was cleared Tea/Coffee was served, post which the trash was collected. Customs forms were distributed after which the flight attendants went back into their living quarters and I did not see them until we were about to land. No extra water run was given and passengers who wanted water were going up to the galley to request for it. Since my seat was right ahead near the galley I could hear the flight attendants conversations about all their shopping sojourns and other gossip.

I had a few passengers who requested me to complete their customs forms. I think this kind of request for free service in form completion is quite common on Air India. I actually ticked “No” for everything but only God knows if they were carrying any items which could attract duty.

The rest of the flight was smooth with occasional turbulence.

Soon I could see the coast of Tamil Nadu via the real moving map out of the window hence decided to make a quick rush to the bathroom. To my surprise the bathroom was not dirty, but was completely wet and that included the tissue roll.

Very soon descent started and the crew went about asking passengers to open window shades and fasten seatbelts but this time the checking was not done seriously. In fact the seat next to me was empty and I had kept the tray down with the food box which no one cleared even after we landed.

We landed on time at Trichy airport and docked at one of the aerobridges. I was expecting that we might be bused to the terminal, but it was good to know that we could disembark more comfortably. About 70% of the passengers disembarked at Trichy the rest stayed on for their flight to Chennai. At Trichy I saw a handful of passengers awaiting to board this flight to Chennai.

The airport itself was not bad considering it is a small town airport but resembled a bit like an indoor stadium and facilities wise it was far better than the wretched Chennai airport. The airport and the toilets were clean and plenty of trolleys were available. There were three luggage conveyor belts, but the luggage took some while to come on the belt.

The loaders also made sure that all the fragile/oversized checked baggage were not dumped on the conveyor belt but were being handed to the passengers separately. I saw about 10 to 15, LED television set’s being kept aside and handed over to passengers.

I also found that in Trichy airport all passengers’ hand baggage were being screened which I have not seen happening at other airports. I am guessing this probably has to do with the fact that with a large working class the chances of bringing in dutiable items like gold etc is rampant in these airports hence the secondary screening.

Some shots of Trichy Airport:

Verdict:

If you are looking value for money Air India Express ticks the box as you get free food and 20KG’s of free check in luggage (from Middle East it is 30KG) which is chargeable on other airlines. Everything else from customer service, quality of food, to hard product can be given a miss as there is nothing home to write about.

Look forward to your feedback.

Sri_Bom

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

Srinivas, thanks for a lovely trip report!
This is perhaps the first TR on an AIX flight (apart from Capt Raj's, from the front office), and the first covering Trichy!
AIX looks completely dis-oriented in terms of customer service. It is rare to get free food (and that too, a hot meal: IX have ovens on board) on an LCC. The food looks oily and unappetising. However, low cost need not imply low quality in terms of service. The lackadaisical attitude of the cabin crew was not nice. The plane looks rather tired from the inside - although, AIX is strikingly impressive from the outside, with its asymmetrically patterned tails. The dance picturised on your plane is the traditional Assamese Bihu dance, celebrating the harvest. AIX has its negative points, but is a relatively well-organised small unit, and would have perhaps done much better if it had more aircraft in its fleet. It was created to cater to a niche segment, and it does exactly what it is supposed to. Yes, the website is quite dated. When it had been created, to have a neat and functional website was something nice, but times have gone well ahead, and this needs a spruce-up.

Secondary screening of hand baggage: I have seen this at some airports in India occasionally, including Delhi and Mumbai: yes, you got the reason correct. I have seen this in the US as well: and just like in India for instance, they do the screening at random. Tiruchirappally: I have pleasant memories of this airport, albeit only air-side, and the old terminal building, circa Mar'08, when we passed by this airport air-side both ways, and barely contained our excitement at seeing the Great Rock of Trichinopoly from the runway holding area, getting memories of what we read about Tipu Sultan, and the conflict that took place around this place itself.
Thanks for a lovely TR once more, and look forward to many more gems from you!
Cheers, Sumantra.

Nimish · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:01 am Post subject:

Great report on a new route - thanks for sharing.

I agree with Sumantra, the attitude of the crew is pretty shabby and should be fixed ASAP. I presume this was a "dry" flight - no beer/ alcohol offered or available for purchase?

The hand baggage screening is a permanent thing at BLR - only rarely is it not in use. But it's quite a sham, as they don't check you - and if you're smuggling gold, pretty easy for you to stuff it in your pockets!
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ameya · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:29 am Post subject:

Thanks for the TR. It was fun to read !

Trichy has a lot of traffic and I am always amazed to know the connections from there.
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sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

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

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

jbalonso777 · Posted: Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:35 pm Post subject:

This is an amazing TR, thanks for sharing!
I have been looking forward to a TR on AIX from this part of the world: I've read one on the ME-India route, one on the CMB-MAA route, one domestic (Aditya's video), and now, South East Asia-India! Smile

Interesting to say the least...there is not much that one could expect due to the low prices paid, but then again, this probably left you disappointed by the looks of it...not too nice of a crew, eh?

Aircraft as a whole, looked a bit tired! I don't really think AI took good care of the AIX birds, I really hope they do this...soon!

Thanks for solving a mystery, I now know what it is like on AIX, and I look forward to more of your TRs!

Regards
Jish
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Karan69 · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 1334

Hi sri,

Thanks for sharing this , good to read about experiences from carriers less reported about

The food looks too oily as mentioned however i am suprised for a so called lcc they gave such a meal

Sad to see the attitude of the crew, had heard AIX were a bit better than AI

How was the time at the wellness center

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

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

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

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

Hand baggage screening now seems standard procedure in TRV and COK . Last 12 months all the flights I was travelling had this screening.

If you are on a " Bharat Darshan" AI or AIX international flight, hand baggage of everyone will be screened for obvious reasons . For eg your AIX flight SIN TRZ MAA will have a mandatory hand baggage screening at MAA.Same for AIs KWI AMD HYD MAA/KWI GOI MAA/SHJ TRV MAA and MLE TRV BLR MAA. Your checked in baggage will not be screened if you are only travelling on the domestic leg.

Great to see a trip report to TRZ and on AIX.

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:42 am Post subject:

Great report on a backwater carrier and route!

Sad to note that the 738s, while not that old, are already appearing flabby from the inside.
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Yeah.

abhijith16 · Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:27 pm Post subject:

Great TR from you, sir.

Having flown IX countless number of times, I have to say, cleanliness is NOT AI or IX's strength.
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sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Thanks TCKMCE, Spider Guy and abhijith for all your feedback.

Sri_Bom

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

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

Theairplaneguy4ever · Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:28 pm Post subject:

Great TR sir, glad to see you caught an IX flight.

I'm a bit surprised that TR and IX are the only options and Silkair hasn't gone ahead and started SIN-TRZ yet, is there some sort of bilateral restriction?

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

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 12:16 am Post subject:

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

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

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

Excellent TR ... and novel to see a leg such as SIN TRZ being reported. Didn't realize TRZ had a new terminal. The meal was a nice add on as I don't remember AIX serving them to Doha.

Thanks for sharing ....