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M.B.A.I 1: The Jet Airways 737-800 from Colombo to Mumbai

 
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jbalonso777
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 11:07 am    Post subject: M.B.A.I 1: The Jet Airways 737-800 from Colombo to Mumbai Reply with quote

Hello everyone.
And welcome.
To what should've been my first trip report of 2015 but is now the second one.

INTRODUCTION
Its July.
The end of a school year.
But this very end of a school year is a very significant one for me, as the doors to school have closed: my 12 years have come to an end, and what a journey it has been! I write this with a feeling of despair, while looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead.

Now, enough with the banter, on to the trip.
Once again -
Its July.
The end of a school year.
July is the time when I go to India. Well, I've only been in Sri Lanka for four years, I talk like I've lived here all my life!
In 2012, I had to go to Kolkata to drop off granny who visited us in Colombo. I decided to try out Air India, and that was a significant flight as it marked the beginning of more AI flying for my family.
In 2013, I went to Mumbai, via Delhi, just to get on the Boeing 787.
2014 was a huge set back for me as my trip had to be canceled, my first Boeing 747 flight being deferred by a few weeks. But the pain of not being on an AI B747 was harsh.

Anyways!
Its 2015. My last year in Sri Lanka. My last year before I leave for good. Before setting out to the land-of-the-UniverSity, I had this trip. I wanted to make the most out of it. I had 2 aces up my sleeve: the constant fare wars in between domestic airlines, while for the international flights (CMB-BOM-CMB, Jet of course!) Dad had a stock of miles to be used up. Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata were the places to be visited. I wanted to maximize what I had.

ITS A SALE!
Believe it or not, I kept an eye on fares for ALL flights in this trip right from November 2014. And then came a fine day when I checked the Jet Airways website: A fare less than half the price of a bog standard CMB-BOM-CMB trip, on Jet or SriLankan! I put this plan forward to Dad, and he approved of it rather quickly. And so, I booked on:
Jet Airways 9W255 Colombo (dep: 0610) to Mumbai (arr: 0850) 12th July 2015 Boeing 737-800W
Jet Airways 9W252 Mumbai (dep: 1805) to Colombo (arr: 2035) 21st July 2015 Boeing 737-800W *^
* - 9W251/252 are the flight numbers to the second daily BOM-CMB-BOM flights launched by Jet in November 2014
^ - I had to make a change to the date, so I called the Jet center up, no hassle at all, just a quick IVR payment for the change fee.
With the international flights sorted, it was time for the hunt for domestic flights.

STRUCTURE OF THIS TRIP
So, like I started last year, this trip report will broken down into several different parts, one part = one flight, unless mentioned. I will begin all by talking about the how fare/flights were found, and of course, talking about the fly day itself.
What is 'MBAI' I hear you ask: Mostly Boeings Around India. From the team of Twitter experts on board this forum, a certain Khabri_Lal mentioned that for month of January 2015, India clearly was an Airbus country. I was on a mission to prove a point. Twisted Evil

CLOSER TO THE TRIP
Excitement was high. Dad went to Kolkata on Mihin's inaugural flight from Kolkata, followed by two wonderful flights in Jet Airways' business class. Mum too went to India. While I patiently waited for my time to fly, a lot happened. Graduation, graduation ball, late night (early morning?) partying, etc etc etc. I had a calendar where I'd strike off the days every morning. Days started off at 10, where I'd check the planes operating flights on FR24. Things looked good.

FORMALITIES, 24 HOURS PRIOR
That obviously is, web check in. Being a 0610 hours departure, waking up so early was always going to be tricky. But I managed to wake up...at 0640. And proceeded with the check in. As has always been the case with Jet off recent, web check in was no pain at all. It started off with filling in the passenger details, selection of guests, passport details, optional emergency contact, seat selection (that indicated a possibly empty flight..), before finally receiving an e-boarding pass, or a printable version.

The day went by rather quickly, as I met fellow member Aditya (who, like Abhijeeth, was supposed to be on 9W255 to Mumbai, on the same flight), bought stuff for the people I'd be meeting, etc etc.
I didn't get a lot of sleep, a late night party meant that my Dad, Dobby (what a party dog!) and I returned home only at 12am. Leaving home time set at 0300, sleep was out of the question as I had packing to do, and the minor issue of wondering what plane would operate my flight........

REGISTRATION OF THE PLANE IS...
Many, many months before the trip, Abhijeeth and I came to a conclusion that Jet were 'forced' to send IFE equipped Boeing 737s to Colombo (9W256/255 rotation), because the same plane would operate to Singapore from Mumbai as 9W10. Only thrice in those many months, did a non-IFE B737 operate the flight. As you might know, I've only had 2 flights on Jet's IFE 737 (where it was working........)
Trends suggested that the plane operating my flight would first operate 9W252/251 the previous day (to Colombo), and prior to that, 9W432 from Mangalore to Mumbai. Sitting in Aditya's house, I predicted VT-JBF would operate my flight, because this was the plane operating 9W432. However, I kept an eye out for 9W311/312 (BOM-DEL-BOM), 9W625/628 (BOM-CCU-BOM), 9W11 (SIN-BOM), 9W537/538 (BOM-DXB-BOM).

Abhijeeth kept telling me all activity of the IFE planes, since non-IFE planes were out of the question, before finally confirming VT-JBF would in fact be operating my flight. The night went on, and I eventually finished packing and all got ready by 0315 and left for the airport.
He came, and said goodbye....


Note - I will be making many comparisons to the 9W255 flight I took in January 2015, you can find that here

CHECK IN, IMMIGRATION, ETC ETC

0340 - curbside


0341 - entering the check in area..
Before entering the check in area. I had to purchase some stuff, which I found at the Cargills Superstore before check in. At the check in area, it looked rather empty. This was perhaps I came in quite late for check in (still more than 2 hours before departure!) Horror of horrors, I found a maths teacher, and two other school kids on my flight. Mad Mad Mad Mad
The maths teacher was heading to LHR, while the two kids and their families were headed for CDG. I hid my face away as much as I could, and this worked. Check in was a quick affair. My SEQ1 boarding pass was handed to me, as I flew through immigration. No major dramas. I headed for the usual Palm Strip Restaurant, bought a High Flyer club sandwich, and I was absolutely horrified with what I saw: Only an Air Arabia A320. That's it. Nothing else. One and a half hours of boredom lay ahead....







Some traffic, which later flooded in. My Boeing 737 arrived, but turned off way too soon. Ahhh well. A QR B77W took off (Dad took this flight), followed by the usual SriLankan Airbus planes, some Mihin A321 arrived, etc. I was just too tired for this all haha




BOARDING
I soon headed for boarding because it was getting boring. I walked slowly and leisurely. Reached the boarding gate, not too many people around. They perhaps must've boarded the plane.


While wearing my shoes after security, I saw two ladies in pilot uniforms walk in: we would have an all female flight deck that morning, and this was truly awesome! Very Happy
I made my way to Gate 6, where the nice lady who checked me in tore off the boarding pass stub, and invited me to board the plane right away.


I was warmly welcomed by the flight attendant, I passed through the business class section, and I find a pretty empty economy section! I was in fact one of the last to board! Razz Only the school friends were the ones that remained....




The passenger seated in 26C was in some kind of pain, to which the FA came over and helped with some Moov cream. This was nice. Welcome announcements were made, it looked like a very very empty flight, just bit 35-40 souls on the plane! Captain Nivedita Singh came on the line and briefed us rather well for the flight, also apologizing for a possible 10 minute delay because 2 passengers were yet to be found. Once they were onboard, we pushed back at 0558 hours. Many people (including me) asked if it was okay to change seats, and they replied with a smile (and to me, she said - 'the plane is all yours today!' ).

6 seats for me! YAY! Very Happy

DEPARTURE



While the engines were being started, the safety briefing was being played on a video...yes IFE was working! Very Happy We started taxiing at a medium pace, as the Kuwait Airways A300 made its way to the runway. Capt. Singh said the taxi would last 10-15 minutes, however, it was barely 4 minutes as we didn't require a full length take off (but of course...)




A sorry sight for all quad-jet lovers (and UL lovers, which I believe, is only me in this forum..)



We took off pretty quickly (of course..) and soon banked over the amazing Negombo Lagoon, some great pictures I got from there! Very Happy
Soon we raced towards our cruising altitude of 38000 feet. While we flew into an ever brightening day, I started to notice of few things: JBF wasn’t in the best of shapes, given Jet Airways’ high standards of maintenance. Some of the seat pockets were torn, some grime marks around. Some headphones were out, spread on to the seats like a mess. Were they not kept away after landing, owning to low loads? Anyway, we rapidly headed for the cruising altitude.






IN FLIGHT
Drink service started on a tray, giving us few passengers not much of a choice, as opposed to the January flight when there was a dedicated trolley service. I went for orange juice, the other being water.

Using the front camera for reasons it isn't meant for - cabin pictures Razz




We leveled off at 0632 hours, exactly when the food service began. Of course, there only was one trolley for the entire economy class section. The had hearted asked me - ‘Omelette or dosa?’ That’s all. Omelette, I said. This at least guaranteed a different meal compared to January.


The meal started off with the usual cut fruits, a slice of muskmelon, watermelon (with seeds…), and papaya. There was a cold bun, absolutely rock hard cold butter chiplet. I opened the main course with glee - hash brown, omelelt, chicken sausage. Once again, I wondered if I was transported back to 2007, Jet’s peak days. The hash brown felt quite dry, omelte was passable, while the chicken sausage was burnt from below. Not the best of meals from Jet, truth be told.



Rock hard butter? Confirmed! Very Happy


Got this at the gate, which was very helpful


Reasonable legroom, but having 3 seats helps.

Once the trays were collected by the crew (only one of them had a smile, at times.), I made my second seat change and headed for seat 24A for a while. Returned to my seat where I watched the highlights of the 2015 Australian Grand Prix. So while Metallica’s Death Magnetic has been removed from the JetScreen IFE, the fact that F1 was there is simply awesome Smile I kept that on in front of my face, and the flight info airshow channel on 25E, the middle seat. Oh, the map was never shown, but I must commend the easy to use touch screen (as you’ll see in the video TR), as opposed to Cathay Pacific’s hammer screen Smile




GRIME!







We were making superb progress. 0850 was the scheduled arrival time, but we’d make it at 0806 hours! Bad news for me as I’d have to kill more time at BOM Sad
Got my laptop out from the bag, which meant the overhead bin door was open. The FA closed the bin, to which I apologized, and she said it wasn’t a problem, a finally a smile on her face! Only the two FA’s served us that morning.

Anyway, I went to the washroom a few minutes before descent. The crew were never to be seen after tea and coffee service. No duty free. No checking on passengers. Nothing. Just a curtain drawn and dark galley. Almost all passengers slept on the three seats they had to themselves. The washroom once again showed JBF’s sorry state. It wasn’t clean, and when I used the toilet paper roll to clean up the basin, the whole assembly fell off! Rolling Eyes

Oh shoot. Um...RUUUUN!



DESCENT AND ARRIVAL
Only one or two big bumps of clouds, one in which the FA actually lost her balance! It was a quick descent. The nice smelling insect spray thing was done, we made good progress towards Mumbai, and Earth.



0802 hours, the two ladies up front made a superb landing on Runway 27, before hard braking followed to exit via the rapid taxiway. Just a 5 minute taxi, I saw some AI wide bodies, A6-EGD, my first Boeing 777-300ER, to name a few. We parked at stand V6, which is awesome because F1 uses 1.6l V6 turbocharged engines hahahah. Some AI A319s were in the vicinity too. Bags were to be collected from belt number 5. Disembarkation was unsurprisingly quick.

My first B77W - good to see you again, EGD!



Thank you, JBF..

Jet ground staff called for passengers to Singapore, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Paris, London and Jeddah. However, some people on my flight……they didn’t know what a ‘JEDDAH’ is, and spelt it as ‘J-E-D-A……’ This was so embarrassing to hear I had to stop in the aerobridge and…control my laughter.





VT-JGG was being prepared for its flight to Dhaka, VT-JBZ came in from er…Jeddah, and was being prepared for its flight to Cochin. VT-TTG, a Vistara A320 was also around.

NEW TERMINAL, SAME OLD PEOPLE..
Walking through the terminal didn’t take too long either. Annoyingly, JBF was parked close to the immigration place and all. Immigration lines were annoyingly short. There were many counters open. I reached my immigration person. He had huge ego issues. Asked me where I came from AFTER he took my boarding pass (which too was rudely asked for). I said I study in Colombo and all, he was surprised and asked me a lot of really dumb questions. Then he took forever to go through my passport and all. He then asked to see the camera, which I did, despite this he was like ‘Theek se dekho, udhar udhar!!’ (See the camera properly, its over there, over there!) Wow, that’s India’s first impression gone bad…..
Anyway, went through duty free towards belt 5 as announced and I was horrified to see the number of people around! They were from the Jeddah flight (of Saudi Arabian Airlines, a full 777-200ER). All were wearing pilgrimage clothes. 9W255’s bags were from belt 4, close by, but confusion caused, panic attacks happened.
0832 hours, 18 minutes before arrival time, I had both my bags. You’d expect it to be awesome when everything happens this early but here I was absolutely bewildered. I had nothing to do, but sit around!





I went through customs, declared some fruits, but nothing happened which is a shame because I wanted to kill some time! Razz
Customs also happened quickly - although, AFTER I put all my luggage up into the screening machines did they tell me that I don’t need to put them up, only hand luggage. Yay, good for my spine then! The screener asked me where I came from, I said Colombo, but he let me go which was again a shame, because, I had time to kill! There was no drama when I needed it most Sad



Anyway, headed for the arrival section and waited. Waited excitedly as I was going to meet yet some more amazing aviation geeks! Yatrik, Hiren and Sanjeev would head over to the T2 Starbucks, as I waited for my next flight to depart. I had a wonderful time, learnt a lot of things, heard various interesting experiences, but most importantly, not only did I have a good time, I met some wonderful people! Very Happy
Two and a half hours passed by as I was getting closer to my next flight…..


Regards
Jish
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 20, 2015 10:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

...it was worth the wait. A JB trip report!
Once again, a beautiful introduction, with soft links to related trip reports.
This is really beautiful, and puts everything into place.
I will also do the same in my TRs, from now on. Copy your style
But no, not the soft part. Being an eternal show-off, my references will be on-the-face, as always.

The planning part looks as excellent as the planing part Smile
I was waiting eagerly for this TR, since it would feature quite a few AI.net members, as you told me all these days, over email. I will really look forward to the next one, and the five others to follow. (Five, right?) You have sent it well in time as well.

The expectation around which aircraft would operate one's flight, is something perhaps only we avgeeks will appreciate. In your case, I would have been waiting with bated breath, since the chance to fly on a working IFE-equipped 9W plane is in general, not high, anyway. Your explanations set up the reading experience for me. I find it rather sad that Jet had the best AVOD IFE in a narrowbody in the domestic Indian skies, yet they do not turn it on. This malaise has also spread to the AI narrow-bodies, with their earlier non-AVOD Thales i3000 as well. Cost-cutting, sigh.
That Dobby picture, with the door half-open, looked as beautiful as it did last Sunday evening. I can feel his emotions, and what his little heart would be yearning to say, in his own sweet way.

The High Flyer Club sandwich has now become a de facto standard, for your trips out of the Palm strip at Bandaranaike, I guess. However, the low-light photography has been great food for thought.
The KU A300 with all beacons flashing was a great catch.
The Mihin V2500 bird does not seem to have caught much of your attention, I guess. It is in the background in two pictures, and wait...do I see a third one? Wow, an Il-18 again, at sunrise!

Seeing a Jet bird with grime marks, and in an unkempt state, is sad. I am a bit used to this state of affairs on AI, but look forward to an experience on 9W's birds (and the AI elderly DEL-based birds as well) just to experience a spic-and-span plane. 9W has not disappointed me in most cases. And 6E too, in this regard.

Your wing shots are simply delectable. A typical JB TR featuring a day trip will be incomplete without wing shots! The sun and the clouds look beautiful.

The food: yes Sir, I got the rock-hard part Smile
The overall rise in Jet's food post-their complete full-service avatar, has been noticeable, on an average, which is very nice. However, one of my cribs has been the lack of some thought into the serious business of food. The menu is exactly the same, exactly the same on most breakfast flights, which did not change much even in the Jet Konnect days. Jet's recipes in general, do not evoke the same awe in me (and deep inside me), as AI's do, for that matter. AI's sees constant experimentation with little but subtle changes here and there, and some things kept constant, which keeps expectations high, and the guessing game on, as well. Of course, even if a recipe is grand, the final implementation is at the hands of the catering agency. The seeds in the watermellon, and the indifferent main box are a cause for concern. However, I must add here that in spite of the menu being exactly the same, I have had an excellent version of this on a Jet Konnect AT7 flight, in the Konnect days. The chicken sausage was well done, and the omelette was nice, and a bit surprisingly, neither was that oily, which has been a pet peeve of mine, with respect to Jet's food. Jet's recipes seem to call for a bit more oil than I seem to like, in my food.

Overall, it was nice to see the interiors of a Jet aircraft with the IFE on. I have never been lucky with a Jet bird with IFE (either on, or off, for that matter). Neither have I managed to get a BSI'd Jet or SG bird, ever.
Those two pictures, with the top of the AC buses, look beautiful!

Jishnu coming over is something most avgeeks of this forum would not like, or want to miss. I think Jishnu would have met the largest number of people on the forum, in person (from what I read about and remember, that is), in such short a while since he burst onto the forum a la Vettal, as a breath of fresh air. I am glad I also made it, though we will hear about your bad culinary experience on Vistara, and going without sleep for such an extended period (and yet keeping the famed wit and humour about you, in spite of being completely drained out), in the next part.
In eager anticipation,
Sumantra.
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sri_bom
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another fantastic report and a good way to sign off Colombo.

Dirty unkempt airplanes are becoming more common on Jet and I experienced the same on my travels last year, although the food seems to be making a comeback. Still what is worrying is the low load factor but I am guessing this is common across all carriers in quarter three specially during monsoon which is an off peak period for most carriers.

The photos are all great and one thing for sure if I am ever in Colombo I will try the High Flyer club sandwich at the Palm Strip Restaurant.

The immigration guys attitude was not good. Any idea how these chaps are recruited do they come under purview of the federal government or state government? My previous experiences has always been positive where some smile and ask questions and some just get their job done.

Sri_Bom
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good TR - lucky guy - getting the empty seats and a quick exit from the airport - what else can one ask for!
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me111993
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 6:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good stuff Jishnu. Looking forward to the rest.
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jbalonso777
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi all, thanks for your very quick and encouraging replies!
Truth be told, I haven't gone beyond writing about the second flight on this trip Sad
I will write them all, as promised.

sumantra wrote:
...it was worth the wait. A JB trip report!

And it always is a joy to see a TR length detailed reply from you, sir! Thanks so much for your constant encouragement!

sumantra wrote:
I will also do the same in my TRs, from now on. Copy your style
But no, not the soft part. Being an eternal show-off, my references will be on-the-face, as always.

Go right ahead sir, reading your trip reports are always a joy, no matter how they are presented!

sumantra wrote:
The planning part looks as excellent as the planing part Smile

Typical of you, sir! Laughing

sumantra wrote:
I will really look forward to the next one, and the five others to follow. (Five, right?) You have sent it well in time as well.

I will aim to put up a TR every week from now on, but very very busy times ahead, I will put them all up for sure. And no sir, not five parts, there will be six parts after this. I flew a lot wow.....

sumantra wrote:
The expectation around which aircraft would operate one's flight, is something perhaps only we avgeeks will appreciate.

It adds to the excitement, more so when its a new registration, or a correct prediction...or both! Very Happy

sumantra wrote:
In your case, I would have been waiting with bated breath, since the chance to fly on a working IFE-equipped 9W plane is in general, not high, anyway.

Even getting an IFR-equipped plane for an international flight might be tricky...it depends on all that rotational stuff... Razz

sumantra wrote:
I find it rather sad that Jet had the best AVOD IFE in a narrowbody in the domestic Indian skies, yet they do not turn it on.

And I believe that the system is on par with leading airlines in the world, SQ and EK. (The Panasonic IFE system..)

sumantra wrote:
That Dobby picture, with the door half-open, looked as beautiful as it did last Sunday evening. I can feel his emotions, and what his little heart would be yearning to say, in his own sweet way.

Very Happy

sumantra wrote:
The High Flyer Club sandwich has now become a de facto standard, for your trips out of the Palm strip at Bandaranaike, I guess.

Its the cheapest filling meal at a location where photography is allowed! Smile

sumantra wrote:
However, the low-light photography has been great food for thought.
The KU A300 with all beacons flashing was a great catch.

Thanks sir!

sumantra wrote:
The Mihin V2500 bird does not seem to have caught much of your attention, I guess. It is in the background in two pictures, and wait...do I see a third one? Wow, an Il-18 again, at sunrise!

I'm bored of taking picture of blue Airbus A320 family planes Razz
But the Il-18 is always around, and when it flies, the engines smoke greatly!

sumantra wrote:
Seeing a Jet bird with grime marks, and in an unkempt state, is sad. I am a bit used to this state of affairs on AI, but look forward to an experience on 9W's birds (and the AI elderly DEL-based birds as well) just to experience a spic-and-span plane. 9W has not disappointed me in most cases. And 6E too, in this regard.

As I found out later in the trip, this was surely (an unacceptable) one-off. The other planes were up to Jet's standards. IndiGo too, yes, very clean planes from them.

sumantra wrote:
Your wing shots are simply delectable. A typical JB TR featuring a day trip will be incomplete without wing shots! The sun and the clouds look beautiful.

More than half my flights in 2011 were in the night. I had to make amends ever since, to make up for the lack of photographs. A major part of the reason I flew 9W255 was because Abhijeeth and I planned it out, while I also wanted some wing shots, although I was sitting in the wrong side as the glare increased Sad

sumantra wrote:
The menu is exactly the same, exactly the same on most breakfast flights, which did not change much even in the Jet Konnect days.

I guess the improvement in quality is what I was looking for, that has at least happened. Furthermore, the meals for 9W256 (BOM-CMB, the red eye) were exactly the same in 2012, 2013 and 2015. I hope the recent menu change has seen the keema and bread disappear!

sumantra wrote:
AI's sees constant experimentation with little but subtle changes here and there, and some things kept constant, which keeps expectations high, and the guessing game on, as well.

I experienced this, a day later. Awesome stuff from them! Smile

sumantra wrote:
Neither have I managed to get a BSI'd Jet or SG bird, ever.

I'm disappointed I didn't get a single BSI bird on this trip (but that does mean a higher chance of no IFE..), but does the B787 count? Then I have had one BSI flight in this trip! Very Happy

sumantra wrote:
I think Jishnu would have met the largest number of people on the forum, in person (from what I read about and remember, that is),

No sir, I don't think I've met as many people as many others in this forum! I'm just only building up my numbers right now, but all in all, I have found some amazing people in this forum, and all of it mostly increased because of the WhatsApp group! Very Happy

sumantra wrote:
I am glad I also made it, though we will hear about your bad culinary experience on Vistara, and going without sleep for such an extended period (and yet keeping the famed wit and humour about you, in spite of being completely drained out), in the next part.

It was great meeting you and ShivJi, thanks for such a wonderful evening, but more on that in the next part! Very Happy

sri_bom wrote:
Another fantastic report and a good way to sign off Colombo.

Hi Srinivas, thanks for your reply! However, I am not done with Colombo just yet, I leave for good next Wednesday.

sri_bom wrote:
Dirty unkempt airplanes are becoming more common on Jet and I experienced the same on my travels last year, although the food seems to be making a comeback.

JBF was definitely a one-off, as I found out later in the trip. Yes, glad the good is returning! Very Happy

sri_bom wrote:
Still what is worrying is the low load factor but I am guessing this is common across all carriers in quarter three specially during monsoon which is an off peak period for most carriers.

Correct. I read about VT-JGR making an emergency landing in MCT (flying BOM-DXB) due to a bomb threat, and that only had 54 passengers!

sri_bom wrote:
The photos are all great and one thing for sure if I am ever in Colombo I will try the High Flyer club sandwich at the Palm Strip Restaurant.

Please do! Its a great way to spend time in Colombo, provided there is some air traffic.....

sri_bom wrote:
The immigration guys attitude was not good. Any idea how these chaps are recruited do they come under purview of the federal government or state government? My previous experiences has always been positive where some smile and ask questions and some just get their job done.

I too have had mostly the latter - smiling or just getting about his/her own business. This rude person was one of only two rude people I've had, the other being in Mumbai as well. I too want to know how they are selected, but their attitudes also depend on a lot of factors, I guess....

Nimish wrote:
Good TR - lucky guy - getting the empty seats and a quick exit from the airport - what else can one ask for!

Thanks Nimish! Yes, having 3 seats to myself, moving around freely...ahhh good times! Any other day, I would loved to fly in forty minutes before time, however, not that day because my long transit of 5hr30min got even longer Sad

me111993 wrote:
Good stuff Jishnu. Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks for your reply and enthusiasm, Rishul! I will put them up very soon! Very Happy

Thank you ALL once again for reading!

Regards
Jish
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yatrik
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Joined: 08 Nov 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 29, 2015 4:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excellent report Jish, another Seq 1 on the boarding pass !!

Nice for Jet to get you to BOM so much earlier than scheduled. I remember we had discussed on the group about meeting at 10-10:30. I was in for a surprise when I read your message about taxiing to the gate at about 8:10-8:15 or so.

You should have eaten something at Starbucks. And yeah I'm still clueless about those little stupid screws !
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aditya466
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Joined: 17 Dec 2014
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Tue Aug 04, 2015 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR, Jishnu. I am really regretting cancelling our trip, but there is always a next time.
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jbalonso777
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Joined: 05 Jul 2012
Posts: 1501
Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Wed Aug 12, 2015 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yatrik wrote:
Excellent report Jish, another Seq 1 on the boarding pass !!

Thanks so much, Yatrik! Yes, the little joys of getting SEQ1 haha!

yatrik wrote:
I was in for a surprise when I read your message about taxiing to the gate at about 8:10-8:15 or so.

And you didn't send me a reply after that - for a moment I thought my message didn't reach you and I started worrying hahaha Razz Pretty good stuff by Jet, with the OTP at least.

yatrik wrote:
You should have eaten something at Starbucks. And yeah I'm still clueless about those little stupid screws !

Now I realize Sad
But yes! What were those screws anyways! I guess a suitcase dismantled somehow...someone must've been angry Razz

aditya466 wrote:
Great TR, Jishnu. I am really regretting cancelling our trip, but there is always a next time.

Hey Aditya, thanks!
Yes, we will fly US domestic - got a couple of MD planes to fly on!

Regards
Jish
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jbalonso777
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Joined: 05 Jul 2012
Posts: 1501
Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Sun Sep 06, 2015 9:34 pm    Post subject: The videos! Reply with quote

Hey all!

I've finally got the time to put the videos up on to YouTube.

The start up (sorry the audio is messed up in the beginning)
Lovely take off from Colombo!
Early arrival into Mumbai

Got half an hour?
I bring to you my fifth video trip report! Like I highlighted in the text, way before time arrival, average at best meal, very responsive touch screen, and the empty flight!
Click right here!

Regards
Jish
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