Airliners-India.com

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

Return leg of a MLE COK MLE round trip was on a week day. SG operates a Q 400 on this route and MLE is one of quite a few " one flight wonder" stations in their network

Two weeks before departure got a message flight was rescheduled and will now leave 50 minutes later than the earlier scheduled time. The revised departure time was 1325.

COK airport is horrible in terms of public transport access (not a big issue here I know for most who have their own expensive toys to flaunt), but it meant another auto rickshaw ride down to the airport. Luckily I live quite nearby. COK airport has a lot of ordinary (not hyper rich) people working in the Middle East who each hold a few shares and to acknowledge that, the airport has made their life tough by ensuring there is no auto rickshaw rank at the airport (but allows Autos to drop people off and scoot) or a regular airport bus service although the airport is just off the main NH 47. Anyway this is more of an issue for arrivals than departures but the very environment conscious airport ensured that I had to join almost everyone else in arranging my own transportation. May be it is time for the COK airport management to visit BLR and refresh themselves on how to have a good public transport access.

That said except for the truly outstanding environment consciousness of the COK airport management, the airport is actually one of the more pleasant airports to fly out of in India. COK being one of the most affluent cities in the country , the 5 km approach road to the airport from the main NH 47 sees among others a Courtyard Marriot , a big convention centre owned by the airport and even a golf course also run by the airport, no doubt part of their contribution to the "go green" initiative. Not many know that COK is one of the first major airports to be built on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) long before BLR or HYD. Government of Kerala is the major share holders, a lot of NRIs have the shares, not the tycoons alone, but also quite a few people having the minimum share holding permissible. The airport has an integrated structure, with domestic and international operations in adjacent wings unlike TRV where the two terminals are on opposite sides of the airfield.

Reached at 10 AM. There is a small "pre check in" area which you can enter even before the flight is opened for check in. Check in opened at 1030. Other flights checking in were two SV flights to JED, (one originally a CCJ-JED one), an AIX to CCJ-DOH-BAH and one more AIX to DXB. After the 1340 Departure of AIX to DXB there are no international departures till UL's second departure of the day at 1615.

SG is handled at COK (for international flights at least) by BWFS-Bird Worldwide Flight Services- , an authorised ground handler . They are efficient, the check in staff know their job and since half the flight is mostly connecting passengers , there is hardly any crowd when check in opens.

Immigration was through but professional and CISF in COK has been always efficient and more importantly well mannered .Cleared security and was up at the international departure lounge by 1115 for a 1335 departure.

Just as I reached, Air Asia India's aircraft featuring JRD was pushing off and an Indigo A320 landed soon after.

COK international has six gates, with 5 and 6 being non aerobridge gates. The first Saudia - a 777- had everyone on board through an aerobridge by 1130 but then apparently there was some issue on the LHS engine. Lots of tech guys were fiddling around with it but the glitch seemed to be a major one with the result that when the second flight landed, the first one was still on the ground so the new arrival (an A330) was packed off to another stand. I overheard one of the SV ground crew saying that the pax of the second flight as a result will have to be bussed from gate 6 (one of the non aerobridge gates).

At 1245 , AIX to CCJ /DOH/BAH boarded through Gate 6. My boarding card said SG will also depart from Gate 6 , the incoming Q 400 from MAA also came and parked near Gate 6. but then what happened??? SV's second flight and AIX to DXB both started boarding around 1300 from Gate 6.

At 1310, SG boarding was announced, again through Gate 6 but that was certainly mission impossible as the boarding for AIX and SV was still going on. Soon better sense prevailed and SG switched to Gate 5. Soon after at 1315 the first SV took off, nearly two hours late after their tech problem was rectified.

Although our aircraft was parked very near, we were still bussed out. The crew for the COK MLE flight is a new crew having an overnight lay over at COK. Same for the two SV flights as well. AIX I believe has a crew base at COK.

At the time of boarding the Maldives Immigration forms were handed out which was appreciated as there was time to fill it out before departure itself
Captain announced a ten minute delay to wait for some more passengers - connecting pax as it turned out .. after all SG is a low cost carrier
Smile

We took off 10 minutes delayed with Captain Murali Ramamurthy in command. Captain Ramamurthy was of the communicative kind unlike his counter part captain Karthik Adi on my incoming flight to COK who apparently believed "silence is golden" and left all the talking to his over talkative cabin in charge who wanted to go one step better than Navjot Sidhu (see my other trip report for MLE COK), The two stewardesses this time were really efficient. Announcements were to the point - no demonstrations of anyone's English capabilities - but their service levels were exemplary and nothing was missed out (checking seat belts. window shades/seat position etc). In the row in front of me was a guy travelling with a young kid and the crew were really helpful to him.

Half way through , the captain again made an announcement of the weather at Maldives, reminding everyone to adjust their watches to Maldives time and wishing everyone a nice holiday in Maldives. The last was a little ironical as half the flight was returning back to Maldives for work after a holiday in India Smile

. This was the week after Eid.

I have made more than dozen flights on SG, all on this route and this was definitely one of the top three flights. Full marks to all the crew. The aircraft was "Imli" .I don't loose any sleep over FR 24 or actual aircraft registrations. There was Buy on Board service but I was already missing my staple "Disku -Kulhimas'" so had planned very late lunch at MLE instead.

We landed just five minutes late . QR and UL had already landed some time before and just as the bus (we parked at one of the remoter stands) reached the terminal, EY landed and while I was still at Immigration, EK - the one which goes onward to CMB- landed as well. Despite the multiple flights. immigration was fairly quick and very efficient as always and customs were also working with their typical efficiency. Was out of the airport in about 30 minutes and took a "public transport Very Happy

" to the city center. Incidentally MLE is one of the very few cities where you take a boat to downtown. Choice of the regular "dhoni" ferry at 1 US$ which takes 10 minutes or a Speed Boat which takes 3 minutes but costs 3 times as much as the regular ferry.

Overall a very good flight.

NB : I don't have my own blog to promote- this is the full and complete version Very Happy

One final comment about pricing for this particular flight. Pricing by most Indian carriers is now a days defying all conventional logic. For this particular departure, I was quite surprised to find that SG was having a "sale fare" (the same level as their introductory promotional fare three years back) even when I checked early on the same day of departure. Logically this would mean that the aircraft was not very full. The reality - the aircraft took off almost with full with just 3 or 4 empty seats.... I can understand this sort of pricing in heavily competitive routes like BOM DEL or BLR HYD, but on a route like COK MLE where they are the only one which flies non stop and where the only indirect competition -UL -does not have fares anywhere near SGs' levels and on a relatively peak departure post Eid and also the beginning of the tourist season in Maldives.... well all I can say is hopefully SG knows what they are doing. In my opinion , many of the suitors (including the biggies they are trying to attract) will find it difficult to understand such things....

But then speaking about yield in these forums is not exactly popular... isn't it??? Very Happy

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

Aha...an exotic. TKMCE Sir, thankfully, the tone of this TR is not as angry as the one before, but is just as enjoyable in terms of the contents, and the descriptions! We have learnt a lot about COK's bad public transport infrastructure at Nedumbassery airport. This is one of Kerala's state airports I have never been to (I've been to TRV and CCJ), and among the ones outside the state, CJB and not IXE Smile

No pictures does not mean lack of visualisation. Your descriptions evoked numerous pictures before my eyes, and I treasure these descriptions, which can manage to evoke such responses in the mind of the reader.
I noted the nice captain and the crew, and the irony of the announcement.
Thank you for the pricing analysis in the last paragraph.
However, we would like to see some pictures of Male's public transport to downtown, and the staple Maldivian food you write about: is it the somewhat Indian-influenced coconut flatbread with dry tuna-and-coconut curry?
Thank you for the nice trip report, Sir!
Cheers, Sumantra.

binaiks · Member Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 162 Location: VOBL/VOCI

COK has got Ola/Uber/Meru cabs - all of them are very efficient, and not very heavy on the pocket. The CIAL Cab mafia is best avoided - and all these operators do provide pick-up from CIAL. Since they are not allowed to wait there, they would come in only on receiving confirmation that you are ready to board (in case of arrivals).
_________________
Regards,
Binai

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

Yes I heard Uber , Ola, Meru etc are getting popular but awareness is not great and in the case of international arrivals not everyone has smart phones or mobile apps with a ready to use Indian SIM card.... Travel once on any international flight from the middle East or on UL to COK and you will get a clearer idea of what I am trying to convey.

Interestingly even if the route of the existing KSRTC Volvos is modified slightly this will improve the situation in a big way.

This time I travelled quite a few times on the airport Volvos on the Fort Kochi Airport route. It has a lot of patronage but hardly any airport passengers. I used it because my home is near the airport. Most people are still not aware of the service .

A few small changes can make a differences.

a There are now JnURM Volvos running between Ernakulum to Trichur and Ernakulam to Calicut. These should take the Athani- Airport an then Ankamaly route. It is a smaill detour but helps a lot of passengers.

b The Volvos running between Airport and Fort Kochi should run via Alwaye KSRTC deport on the Fort Kochi direction. Again an invaluable help. Need not have to route via Alwaye KSRTC Depot on the way to the airport as there is a prepaid auto rickshaw counter run by the police in front of the Alwaye railway station.

c There are atleast two Volvo services a day between Vytilla Hub and Pathanamthitta via Alleppy, Changanacherry , Thiruvalla and Kozhencherry. These should originate/terminate at the airport.

d There are now atleast half a dozen Volvos of Trivandrum Depot running to Ernakulam (Thevara) . Even if 2 or 3 of them are terminated at the COK airport, it will help a lot.

Ofcourse you and I know none of these will happen...Because in COK, the Taxi Drivers union calls the shots while CIAL is busy planning even more improvements to their golf course.

Interestingly in COK the international arrivals/departures are now spread out throughout the day unlike earlier when the very early hours of the morning saw a majority of flights landing.

binaiks · Member Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 162 Location: VOBL/VOCI

To Others: Sorry for going off topic!

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

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

Unlike popular perception , a majority of the longer distance Trivandrum Ernakulam JnuRM Volvo passengers are short to middle distance passengers, not end to end.. I can safely comment on this as I actually travelled on a week day between TRV and COK on a 8 AM departure. I saw the 7 AM departure near Pattom while I was going downtown and it had about 6 passengers! My bus was close to full but it was mainly people travelling Trivandrum Attingal, Kollam Alleppy etc. It is a safe assumption that the Ernakulam- Trichur and Ernakulam- Kozhikode services the clientele will be like wise a 10 minute detour on these services will not matter at all. BUT if people have to actually make use of it to reach the airport , the services have to be publicised!!!

Some of your group Binai may not be aware of it, but KSRTC did run successfully airport services earlier. In the late 1970s and 80s when TRV was the gateway and COK airport was the Naval Air Station and CCJ did not even have an airport, the daily IC 167/168 AB300 service from BOM to TRV was then the feeder for a lot of Middle East Connecting traffic - EK/EY/QR were all not born at that time Very Happy

KSRTC had three express services. from TRV airport to feed this service. One was via NH 47 , another MC Road and the third via Punalur, Pathanamthitta. There was an early morning service to Kannur from the International Terminal as well which connected with GF etc. The one important reason why these services will always be a success is the population density of Kerala and the fact that Kerala has so many air travellers originating in small towns and villages every 10-20 kms apart in the main arteries . This is also why despite the proximity of CCJ and IXE , the new Kannur airport will still get enough and more passengers.

I am in no way trying to belittle your efforts. I have for long in these forums been a campaigner for better surface transport access form Kerala's airports and I am glad that despite the scepticism and virtual jeering of more than quite a few ill informed insensitive members here in this forum and the associated Whatsapp group, some people are taking the efforts to understand the importance of effective surface transportation from the airports and people like Binai and his colleagues are trying to push things through with the Kerala transport authorities.

KURTC has already made a visible difference in road transport in Kerala in the last few months and hopefully now they will make a difference to the multitude of passengers using Kerala's airports as well.

And to those people who make intelligent comments about what a trip report on SG's COK MLE flight has to do with this discussion- all I can say is take the flight once (or be in the COK airport when the pax check in) and hopefully you will understand!!!!

iflytb20 · Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:20 am Post subject:

Nice TR.

Regarding the PAs. Earlier the PA was completely under the Captain's control. He (back then it was only He) could say what he wanted, when he wanted. That's when the Captains use to give the route, the landmarks that could be seen and at times even the history of the place.

These days sadly the PA is controlled in most airlines. There are so many guidelines on what to say over the PA and in some cases, even a strict format to be followed. They often insist that it should not be longer than 3-4 minutes at the most and only give specific information.

As a result of all these, chances of getting a talkative cockpit crew is pretty rare these days and the Navjot Singh wannabees and the Aanivaryamohinis rule the roost.

Just a few questions

1. Does Maldivian operate to COK ?
2. Where all do they deploy their A320s?
3. Any plans for public transportation from the new COK international terminal?

I love the colors of Maldivian and their call sign. Hope to see them in the ME some day
_________________
Always do everything into wind...... except piss Wink

ameya · Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 11:49 am Post subject:

Nice one Rajeev. .

would have loved to see the pics !
_________________
www.networkthoughts.com

binaiks · Member Joined: 15 Jul 2007 Posts: 162 Location: VOBL/VOCI

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

All the best Binai.

With its location, CIAL can easily become a good multi modal hub. BHX (Birmingham, UK) airport is a similar to that of COK, being situated just off the main motorways . Many of the National Express (UK's main coach operator) coaches running North South makes the small detour to BHX airport as well as the city coach station. And like BHX airport, there should be frequent shuttles to the nearest rail stations ...Angamaly and Aluva.

I am not "showing off" or am "patronising" or "ranting" as a few in this group/forum has complained , but I have actually studied these things academically , flown out of BHX (I have an old trip report here) and a regular user of COK airport and can only despair at the short sightedness of CIAL.

If Binai, you and your group study the BHX airport connectivity from their website, you may actually be able to gain a few additional points to win your case with the KSRTC MD.Come on let us be honest. It takes far more time for almost every KSRTC bus to detour and enter Cherthala town 24 x 7 from NH 47 just because two political big wigs hail from that town than it will take a few services on the North South corridor to run via the airport to link with flight departures. The access road to the airport from the Aluva side as you are aware is actually far better than the one to Cherthala anyway.

TKMCE · Member Joined: 27 Feb 2007 Posts: 957

iflytb
Yield is not a fashionable word but is critical . US airlines learned it the hard way. Many others in my personal opinion particularly in India will learn its importance soon enough The exception are a few airlines in some parts of the world whose staff from CEO to the chai kofee wallah is aware their owners will keep the airline afloat come what may for their personal pride and more importantly rich enough to do so.