Airliners-India.com

Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon

Hello everyone, again! Happy to put on my second TR here, though this time with a poorer quality & lesser number of pics as I did not have sufficient battery on my outbound journey, and it was a night journey on inbound leg, that phase of time when my phone cam fails to capture good pics.

Travel details:
Outbound leg: DEL – BDQ
Airline: AI
Flight No.: AI 819
Aircraft: All economy A320 (VT ESJ)

Inbound leg: BDQ – DEL
Airline: AI
Flight No.: AI 820
Aircraft: All economy A320 (VT EPB)

Purpose & booking:
As my mother hails from the beautiful city of Baroda (or Vadodara), so do a lot of relatives, almost all of them from her side. And as a child it was a routine for me to visit the city and all my cousins at least twice a year. But as the time passed, and life went on becoming more complicated, the frequency reduced, and now it was quite a while that I had not visited the city. Had been thinking of going there somewhere around February / March, and the discounting again appeared on Air India’s site. So there was no time to lose. Looking at my overall schedules, and workload in the office, I finalized 6th of March (Friday, & the Holi day) for leaving DEL, returning on 8th March evening / 9th March morning.
Once the dates were finalized, I visited one of the travel portals just to check out the direct flights available. There were 3 of them: 2 from Indigo, one leaving in the morning & other in evening, and 1 from Air India, in the evening. Same schedule for return journey, as in all the 3 cases, the same aircraft would be returning to DEL. So, for me there were 2 options available to fly in the evening. Indigo was offering it somewhere at around 3,400 one way, while AI was a lot cheaper at just 4,403 for return trip. With the cheaper fares, more legroom, dinner, and FF miles, the choice was obvious.
I quickly visited AI site, to save on the convenience fees charged by most portals (Yes, AI doesn’t charge it, probably the only airline to do so) and earn bonus FF miles. Unfortunately there was some issue with the servers. The search wasn’t getting completed. So I decided to try out AI’s app this time. I had downloaded it for quite some time, but had never used it. I logged into it, searched the flight, chose it, and then I noticed something: In the flight details, it was written: “No Meal”. I knew that AI has stopped serving full meals on some of the flights and instead offers snacks, but ‘No Meal’? That was strange. But anyways, price was making up for it. I went on and made the payment. Have to appreciate the app, at least for flight booking – it was easy and smooth (it’s not that good when it comes to managing the booking though).
Later on I logged into ‘manage my booking’ from the site, chose seat 2F for DEL-BDQ, and 2A for BDQ-DEL, got my FF number attached to the PNR, and then started my wait for the travelling day.

DEL – BDQ: The day of travel
6th of March was a holiday for Holi. So I had that full day at my own disposal. In the morning I did web check-in, and I messed up something there. Don’t really know if it was my fault or the system’s, but as I pressed ‘check me in’ (or whatever text appears there), I got my seat number re-assigned and in the end I was checked in for 7F. Nevertheless, it was a window, so nothing to be sad. My flight was to leave at 19.05. It was the day, when India was playing WI in CWC 2015. Considering I did not have a television at home, I decided to move to airport a bit early. So I booked a cab for 16.00, and was inside T3 by 16.30. It was a long weekend, so most of the public would have travelled on 5th evening / 6th morning. As a result, the terminal was almost empty.

Empty counters

But this time again, I had to get my boarding pass, so I stood in the queue, which comprised of just 2 passengers. But as it is said, the Murphy’s law was at work: there was a cancellation of some afternoon AI flight to Mumbai, and those passengers were being accommodated on another ‘bigger aircraft’ leaving in another hour(the person behind the counter wasn’t really sure of which flight it was, but I believe it must be AI 102, that was the only ‘bigger aircraft’ leaving DEL soon). So one of the passengers was from that cancelled flight, and he was probably travelling for the first time. So a lot of confusion, and lot of questions, delaying my boarding pass. Finally the issue was resolved in 10 minutes. I got my boarding pass, crossed the security, and then the cricket match got my attention. Considering the low scoring match, and India’s position at that point in time, I decided to sit and watch it rather that exploring the airport this time.
Btw I was happy to see commercial use of backside of the boarding pass by AI. On the last couple of journeys it was not so, it was something around colours & festivals of India IIRC.

A not so good attempt at capturing a taking off 9W

Boarding and the travel:
Soon it was 18.25, and I started my walk towards the gate 32A. The screen there was already displaying AI 819: boarding, even though it had not yet started. It took another 10 minutes to start the boarding. Meanwhile I took a peak at my aircraft, it was VT ESJ (Is there a name for it, Sumantra Sir? Wink

)

It is one of the oldest aircraft in AI’s fleet, but it was very clean and pleasant experience on board. Boarding was complete within 10 minutes, and the doors were closed at 18.52. The flight was indeed empty as I had anticipated (there were just 60 passengers on board as told later by the FA). I was the only passenger in my entire row.

Empty aircraft

We pushed back at 18.54, yes yes, AI was before time indeed (to be honest, I have taken around 6 or 7 trips on AI, and not on a single occasion it was delayed, may be my luck Smile

).
The take off was to be from runway 29, as it usually is for AI & 9W flights. Taxiing was fast, and we were cleared for take off at 19.03. Soon after the take off, the cabin crew announced that snacks will be served soon. So there were some snacks. It was a cold veg croissant, with a sweet (I don’t really know what it is called in Hindi, but in my mother tongue, it is called ‘Karanji’ – usually prepared in Diwali), which was simply superb, actually reminding me of descriptions of AI’s food given by Sumantra sir.
The service was good, with a lot of smile from the cabin crew (except one).

The rest of flight went well. Landing was fine and as we approached end of the run way at BDQ, there was a 6E flight awaiting clearance, to depart to Delhi. We exited the runway at 20.30, and the doors were open at 20.33, against the scheduled arrival of 20.40, so good job AI;. A 9W flight was getting ready for BOM alongside.

VT JGJ readying for BOM

I only had cabin luggage, and considering the very very small size of BDQ airport, it was hardly 5 minutes from aircraft to the exit (including 3 minutes of bus ride)

BDQ – DEL: The return leg
2 days were quickly over, filled with fun and old memories, and it was 8th of March, day to get back to the base. My flight was scheduled at 21.15. Considering that the airport is just 8 kms from city center, and traffic situation is still decent in the city, I left for the airport at 19.30, to reach it at 19.55. The check-in counters in BDQ are placed right in front of the entry gate, hardly 20 meters. There are 2 counters for AI, 2 for 9W and 2 for 6E. Though it seemed very crowded because of the small size and 3 consecutive flights (2 for DEL, 1 for BOM) leaving in span of 1 hour, the check-in was fast. I got 2A without web check-in this time. From there it was another 1 minute walk to find the queue at security, with just one entry & one X-ray machine. It took around 5-7 minutes to cross it, and once that is crossed, it would be another 1 minute walk to the gate. So the airport is so small, that you can practically reach the boarding gate within 5 minutes of your entry. The passenger hold area would probably have a seating capacity for maximum 350-400 passengers, cramped within the limited space available – that is just 2 B737s / A320s and an ATR72 if they are operating at full loads. There is just one boarding gate, and a subway outlet in there.
The first one to arrive was 6E 487 from DEL, at 20.05, its departure as 6E 488 was scheduled for 20.15, so it was late. At 20.22 precise, boarding started for 6E, which finished within 10 minutes. The next one to arrive was 9W 343 from BOM, at 20.25. And to my surprise, its boarding was announced as soon as 6E’s boarding was over, so the aircraft was empty & ready for boarding within 10 minutes: either load was really low, or the crew was highly efficient (high chances for the first one considering Sunday evening). Our aircraft arrived at 20.40 – It was VT EPB, and even our boarding started at 20.49. It was the same lady standing at the boarding gate who was issuing the boarding passes a while ago Very Happy

. By the time I boarded the bus at 20.54, 9W was on pushback, while a smaller private jet was exiting the runway.

VT EPB

9W departing for BOM

The boarding was complete at 21.07, but it took another 5 minutes to remove the staircase as the ground staff & cabin crew were reconciling some information. At 21.13 we pushed back, on time yet again. This time the load factor was decent, with around 140 passengers on board.
The travel was just fine, with the same cold croissant, with cake this time. I already had full dinner before leaving, and my experience with the croissant was not so good on my previous flight, so I left it. Opened the cake, but to my disappointment, didn't like it much. So it was just coffee for me.
The landing was on runway 11, this was the first time I landed in that direction. We were at the gate by 10.45. During the taxi, to my amazement, there was SQ 403, the A380, getting ready for taxiing. That was the moment when I felt sad for not having a good cam. But yes, that sight gave me the feeling of ending my journey on a high note Very Happy

As usual, it was a long walk at T3 to get out of the terminal where my cab was already waiting.

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

Dear Sir, thanks a lot for a neat trip report, covering a hitherto untouched sector, as far as trip reports go! Thanks for the repeated mentions: I also notice that all have to do with my documented idiosyncrasies namely, crazy nomenclature, and food Smile

Thank you for a nice and detailed planning section, something all of us aviation nutters can associate with!
I always like airlines which name their aircraft, since I have always felt that every aircraft has its own `personality', often in tune with its name. Air India traditionally named all its aircraft, a process which stopped prior to the Dream)liners, much to my disappointment. Further, with the `merger', the ex-IC aircraft came in without names. Hence, I let my imagination run riot. The aircraft you experienced, I also have sweet memories on them.
`SJ' the `Safe Journey' plane, and `pB', the old `leaden/heavy' plane (there is a newer one as well: VT-PPB, an A321). And yes, the more I seem to read about it, the more I am convinced that someone at DEL seems to really care for the older/elderly birds. I have found the interiors of the older A320s often spotlessly clean, and much better maintained, than the newer A319/A320/A321s, or the wide-bodies: especially the ones based in DEL. When the A332s were based in DEL, I have seen some spotless cabins as well.
The sweet you saw on the outbound is called the gujiyA in Delhi, and a large part of North India, and is typically made around the time of the festival of colours, Holi. The inner filling is usually sweet dessicated milk mAwA/khowA/khoyA, along with occasional chopped dry fruits, mewA. the refined wheat flour covering and subsequent deep frying, followed by an immersion in sugar syrup, makes it incredibly sinful - but tasty! Air India often matches its food offerings to the region, and time of the year, which makes me look forward to travel on the airline, even more.

Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon

Thank you very much Sumantra sir Smile

vvk106 · Member Joined: 19 Apr 2008 Posts: 38 Location: nagpur

nice TR....well u didnt do anything wrong during webcheckin ..AI automaticaly assigns you a random seat when you web check..earlier a seatmap used to pop up and one could select the seats but thats not the case now. Last week i did webcheckin for my NAG-BOM flight and it assigned me 14D, as i wanted a window seat i called up the call centre and got myself 11F the lady sad she had changed my seat..but when i went to the counter at the airport to collect my boarding pass i was assigned 14D only..i only noticed it when i was boarding as i was talking on the phone while taking my boarding pass.
AI needs to sort out this issue and let people select their seat while web checkin.

ameya · Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2015 4:16 pm Post subject:

Interesting TR. DEL-BDQ seems to get lesser attention with focus on neighboring AMD. Untill recently BDQ was not on the map for AI and limited connectivity from 6E

Interesting pictures too
_________________
www.networkthoughts.com

Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon

Thanks vvk106 and ameya.

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

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

Thanks for posting the report and interesting read from Baroda.

Although it was a short flight Air India still managed to provide you a snack and coffee so that is quite good. The load factor seems quite poor with only 60 pax not sure if airlines are making money on this sector.

Sri_Bom

Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon

jbalonso777 · Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2015 5:23 pm Post subject:

Hey Jaydeep, another great trip report from you!

Lovely to see the AI A320s, the ex-IC ones, in mint condition! Add to that, some old classy IAE V2500 engines and double bogey landing gear!

Yes, I fell asleep watching the India vs WI match in a hotel room in Bentota, Sri Lanka. Glad we won..phew!

Good flight again from the looks of it and nice descriptions from the activity at BDQ!

Thanks for sharing!
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

Jaydeep · Member Joined: 02 Mar 2015 Posts: 37 Location: Gurgaon