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Spiderguy252 · Last edited by Spiderguy252 on Wed May 26, 2010 5:38 pm; edited 3 times in total

Hello, and welcome to my latest Trip Report. This covers 3 flights, including Jet Airways on SIN-MAA, Kuwait Airways on MAA-KWI and a short hop on EgyptAir from KWI to CAI. I have included 123 pictures below. The bulk of the pictures have been taken on the KU flight, though there are a few from the MS flight as well. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures on the 9W flight as I was pretty much asleep the whole way. Smile

This trip was very hastily planned; more on that below. Thanks for reading, and any feedback is appreciated. This was my first flight on an international 9W route and my first on Egyptair and an A340-200.

Here's what I was carrying. I always carry that NW plane whenever I fly Smile

and an apple, in case of a long delay. And my laptop of course. Can't do without that can I? Smile

An unexpectedly short stay in Singapore

I had arrived in SIN from BLR on an AI A319 which was had a surprisingly full load (It was slightly overbooked in fact). SIN was basically a vacation and I was scheduled to return to India on Wednesday the 25th. However, fate had other plans. Cairo University, to which I had earlier submitted a project on an open source language, "Scratch" for review, had apparently liked it so much that I was called immediately to give a guest workshop. My Visa was arranged the same day. Thus, I was forced to cut short the rest of my stay at SIN.

I had two options to get to Egypt. One was directly from Singapore to Cairo; and the other option which I took was a route which allowed me a few hours stop in India and a day's halt at KWI. This in hindsight, was a better idea since the workshop got delayed to the following week, to a Monday.

How do I fit in India?

If it's India, it's either BLR or BOM or MAA for me. In this case, since I was going to halt in KWI as well I had to pick a destination such that there was an available flight to KWI from there (I had to reach KWI to complete my Visa formalities). BLR was out of the question thus, although AI was willing to put me on the stand-by list for their flight. A quick check told me that KU and 9W were running full on BOM-KWI so I was left with MAA. As far as my airline of choice, it was a no brainer of a decision. I booked 9W. Wink

Luckily, they had seats available.

Part 1: Jet Airways, The Joy of Flying

9W, in my opinion has timed this flight perfectly. SIN-MAA is only O&D and it doesn't need to connect with their BRU and JFK 332 operation. 9W 15 departs SIN at 9:15 AM and arrives at MAA at 11:00 AM. Lunch is served on this 4h15m sector. My only gripe is the aircraft type- it's a Boeing 737-800. I find 737s quite uncomfortable compared to A320s especially on not so short flights such as these. What's unfortunate is that 9W used to operate the 332 on this sector till 2008. Crying or Very sad

Airline: Jet Airways
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Registration: ?
First flight date: ?

Load in J: ?
Load in Y: 80%

Scheduled Departure Time: 9:15 AM
Actual Departure Time: 9:05 AM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 11:00 AM
Actual Arrival Time: 11:05 AM

Flight Time: 4 hours, 15 minutes

I headed to SIN's T3 at 7 in the morning and checked in immediately. 9W staff were quick yet pleasant at the check-in desks. I was done within a quarter of an hour; however I couldn't get a window seat since there were none available. Crying or Very sad

Immigration followed and took it's time, after which I roamed around SIN's duty free stores waiting for my flight to board. The gates were opened shortly after half past 8 and I was among the first ones to board. The 738 cabin smelled fresh and was spotless. It might have been one of the newer aircraft in the fleet; didn't manage to catch the registration as we used the jetway. Well, all Jet aircraft are clean anyway so you can't say. Wink

9W cabin crew helped all the pax stow their cabin baggage into the overhead bins. When a male FA was helping out my neighbour place his laptop into the over head bin, he announced to both of us, "Welcome aboard Jet Airways flight 15 non-stop to London Heathrow." Laughing

The towel service and the safety demo followed. We departed a few minutes early amidst a typical Singaporean drizzle because of which we faced some turbulence climbing out. Shortly after take-off, seatbelt signs were switched off and the FAs commenced Lunch service. I had the veg option which consisted of Parathas and Kurma, which was pretty delicious for an airline meal IMO. After meal service was done; since I was pretty tired from staying up late the previous few nights so I dozed off in my aisle seat and slept the whole way only waking up to have a drink of orange juice and to allow my seat partners to use the toilets. I was so deeply asleep that I didn't realize that we were landing, and was rudely awoken by a very bumpy touchdown on MAA's runway. We parked at gate 3 and I saw a KU A310 parked next to us. I was pretty surprised and just assumed that it had a technical failure the previous day and was rescheduled to today (had happened to me once, that) and was further delayed on the tarmac. I hoped nothing of the sort would happen to my flight.

Chennai immigration was relaxed and my bags were already outside the belt. Speedy!

Now that didn't even feel like I had hopped across the sea to another country. Smile

Scores:

Punctuality: 10/10
Seat: 9/10 (was able to sleep, and sleep well)
Catering: 9/10
Aircraft Condition: 10/10
Entertainment: 9/10 (maybe a bit biased, didn't try it out at all, just assuming it's good because it's 9W Cool

)

Total: 47/50 = 94% = Five stars out of Five.

Part 2: Kuwait Airways, Earning Your Trust

Have you flown or heard of other peoples' Kuwait Airways experiences before?

A search through the Internet will not bring you many Kuwait Airways Trip Reports for your reading experience. One reason for this is that it is a tiny airline and operates to a limited number of destinations, hence not many get the chance to fly it though it's hub is in one of the most central locations possible. Other factors include it's horrible reputation since the turn of the century due to it's ageing fleet among other things. Complaints against Kuwait Airways range from delayed flights to malfunctioning IFE systems and worn out seats. Kuwait Airways have not procured a single aircraft since 1998 and their relatively small fleet of 17 makes it extremely difficult to compete against regional giants such as Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways or more recently, Oman Air. It's not smooth sailing in the Kuwait market either. In 2005, the Boodai Aviation group launched Jazeera Airways, an LCC. Jazeera Airways immediately went on an aircraft acquisition spree, ordering 30 Airbus A320-200s in the Paris Airshow 2005. It launched many regional destinations and quickly became the airline of choice for many in Kuwait and Dubai, where it set up a hub. In fact, by 2006, Jazeera had become the airline with most passengers transported in and out of Kuwait airport. As if Jazeera was not competition enough, yet another airline- Wataniya Airways was launched in 2008. Based on the premium model, Wataniya began operating an A320 fleet too and did more damage to Kuwait Airways than Jazeera as it set up operations to European destinations such as Istanbul, Rome and Vienna. Kuwait Airways is thus a struggling airline and is a barely known face in the cut-throat sector that is commercial aviation. It's Indian sectors are it's bread and butter and the airline now survives by offering the cheapest fares for travellers travelling between India and the West.

Over the past few years I have spent on this forum, I have received more than one message asking for a Trip Report on KU. It did take me some time to get around to actually make one. I, like most people I know avoid KU like the plague. The one time I did use it recently was on a short flight between Dubai and Kuwait earlier. That Trip Report can be found here:

http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=9308

However, I felt that that tiny Trip Report did not do justice to the requests I got, so I planned to make another one as soon as an opportunity presented itself, and make it well.

Well, here it is I guess.

Copyright Stephan Kruse

The troubles that plague this airline

Kuwait Airways is now 56 years old; and was one of the pioneers of aviation in Kuwait and the Gulf up until the mid 80s or so, when a number of events took place that resulted in KU struggling to remain afloat and stay ahead of the competition in the Gulf (primarily Gulf Air). The Iraq-Iran war was one of these events. Kuwait's airport was closed many times during the war, especially when Iran bombed the southern Iraqi town of Basra. It is also important to note that Kuwait was supporting Iraq during this war and the billions that were given to Iraq to fight Iran sapped the Kuwaiti government of it's resources.

On August 2, 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait and the destruction that followed was unimaginable. KU lost three quarters of it's fleet including brand new A300, A310, B767 and B747 aircraft. The rampaging Iraqi army also destroyed KU's premises at the airport as well as the KAC building at Kuwait City. KU's hub was temporarily shifted to BAH during the invasion and after operation Desert Storm, KU seemed like a miniscule fraction of the airline it was a few years ago. The Kuwaiti government went ahead and rebulit the airline from scratch, ordering 15 aircraft from Airbus in 1991. This order included 5 A300-600R, 3 A310-300, 3 A320-200 and 4-A340-300 aircraft, all equipped with the latest entertainment systems. Mind you, in the 90s seeing an A300 or an A310 with PTVs in Y was rare! In 1996, KU phased out all it's pre-invasion aircraft and placed a 2 aircraft order with Boeing for 2 Boeing 777-200s. This enhanced KU's 30 year partnership with Boeing. One Boeing 747-400 aircraft was retained in the fleet for Emiri operations and for serving as a back-up aircraft if and when scheduled aircraft were unavailable.

In 1999, Kuwait Airways ended all it's dedicated Cargo operations due to intense competition from others in the industry. At the turn of the century, KU's route map extended from Chicago in the West to Manila in the East. For the first time in it's history, KU posted a profit in the year 2000. Aside from that, the 2000s were not a pleasant time for the carrier, as the government seemed to have forgotten that KU even existed, instead focusing on the aforementioned low cost Jazeera Airways and the premium Wataniya Airways. KU's fleet remained stagnant during this period and the company derived most of it's revenue from it's Indian operations. By now, it's ageing fleet had done nothing but bring about a poor reputation to the company and it's lack of involvement in codesharing or a global alliance meant that KU was the last resort for many.

Finally in 2008, the government decided to privatize KU and efforts are on to complete this process by the end of 2010.

Ticketing

As I said above, I picked MAA because of a free seat available to KWI from Chennai, unlike BOM. KU does not serve BLR and there are no direct flights on the BLR-KWI route.

I managed to book my seat from MAA on a 3-class A300 for Rs. 7675.

The KU website is irritating to use, the homepage playing a melancholy tune by default which you can turn off by clicking on a "Pause" button at the top right of the page.

Here is where I selected KU 344 for MAA-KWI.

Once I booked the flight, KU sent an email with my ticket where I could locate my booking reference number. As a footnote to this email, there was this:

Do enjoy your flight on Kuwait Airways. We encourage you to use the booking reference number above to avail a host of services on-board your flight.

I went back to the KU website and saw a new feature that had escaped my eye earlier: "Manage Booking". I keyed in my reference number and my last name and was led to another page where I could place a meal or seat request or request other services such as wheelchairs, passport handling and frequent flier benefits. A brand new feature for KU, but EK has been doing this for years. Smile

I selected "Indian Non-vegetarian" under the meal options and picked the emergency exit row behind the wing for my seat (23A). I noticed that the entire row was occupied save for 'A'. I also noticed that the bulkhead row was 2 rows ahead, on row 21.

To Chennai Airport

After another late night, I freshened up at the ungodly hour of 2 AM to depart to MAA's International Terminal.

Just before leaving I did a quick check on KWI's website to find out whether the flight had been delayed from KWI. And it had- by 35 minutes. I like that the website displays the aircraft type along with the flight number; it's fun from an aviation perspective. Smile

The drive from where I live in MAA (Adyar) to the airport took no more than 10-15 minutes and we used the newly built flyover near the airport. Once inside the International parking area, I saw that half of the terminal was cordoned off from the outside with posters saying "We apologize for the inconvenience, modernization under progress."

The departures area had been shifted to one corner because of this and the FIDS, usually visible near the entrance was hidden behind the posters. Evil or Very Mad

The CISF manning the entrance checked my ticket and let me through.

Once inside the terminal, I waited until 2:50 AM when the check-in desks would open. During the wait I bumped into a friend of mine- Nitin who was travelling on the same flight. Smile

From where we were standing we could make out the BA check-in desks in the distance.

The quietest check-in ever!

At 2:45ish, the KU counters opened and we passed the baggage screening first where our luggage was tagged with an "Air India" sticker, as AI codeshares with KU on this flight. We then made our way to the next to last set of counters from the left where check-in had started.

To our left, GF had just begun check-in for it's BAH flight.

After around 10 minutes at the queue, I approached the counter and handed over my ticket and passport. The check-in agent didn't say a word- not one, no 'Good Morning" or "You can board the aircraft through Gate no. 4"; he just tagged my luggage, handed me cabin baggage tags and my boarding card. Quick, but a polite greeting wouldn't hurt! Smile

I noticed that he had stuck a red sticker on my boarding card before he handed it over. It said "Boarding Priority 1". It was also pleasing to note that the seat I had pre-assigned (23A) had been alotted. Which meant that I had extra legroom for the flight. Smile

Funnily enough, Nitin who was next in line had a blue sticker with "Boarding Priority 2" on it. He had also got seat 22H, which was right ahead of the bulkhead row as we later found out. Sitting in front of the bulkhead means that you have limited recline and this is a pain especially in Y.

Immigration

While waiting for Nitin to finish filling his form I snapped a few shots of the terminal.

Departures Board.

A photo of Etihad checking in it's pax to AUH at the newer check-in desks near immigration.

A View of MAA's large check-in area.

At 3:20 AM we went ahead to the immigration desks. There were just two people in line ahead of us and we were out of there in just a couple of minutes. This was the fastest immigration, ever! Shocked

Empty Immigration.

Security, Boarding & More about that KU A310

Post Immigration we walked forward and took an escalator to the upper level and did a U-turn to proceed for security. Here is a view of that area, from the lower level. Notice the 9W offices to the right.

It was just 3:30 in the morning so security hadn't opened for the KU flight. We sat around in the chairs near the entrance to the boarding hall and watched crew and pax for the EK, QR and EY Very Happy

flights go through the process. Opposite our seats was a shop and I got myself a can of coke for Rs. 50/-. (=rip off)

The seats by the way, hadn't been cleaned in years. Signs of a government airport. Wink

However, the trash can was attended to regularly (twice during our wait there).

We had over an hour to kill so we took our laptops out and played some stuff. After a while I checked if I could locate a free wireless network, like in BLR or HYD.

Turns out that I found something, but Rs. 1000 is a rip-off for god knows what speed. And I don't want 24 hours worth anyway! Confused

Signal strength was abysmally low too, check out my wireless icon at the bottom right.

To our right we noticed an Airtel kiosk where it converted existing Indian plans to overseas ones. The agent smiled at us and asked us which flight we were using. When we told him that we were flying KU to Kuwait he looked surprised.

Him: "Didn't the flight get cancelled a few days back? The aircraft had a technical problem."
Nitin: Oh. I don't know anything about that. But I hope nothing happens to our flight. Smile

View of the Maharajah lounge near security.

At 4:30 AM security for the BA flight and ours opened and we proceeded to the security area. It involved taking our laptops out and placing it on the belt.

Security was brusque and rude. He found my hp USB suspicious and confiscated it! Rolling Eyes

When I challenged him to plug it in a computer to check it for himself he relented.

Nitin unfortunately was caught up in the queue right when KU crew and pilots came through to clear their security. Since crew gets priority for screening, it took Nitin a while to clear his. Laughing

The boarding hall was largely empty. MAA was very lightly populated today.

CX to HKG had already departed and EK was commencing boarding. EK uses zones for boarding and for once, pax were actually sorting themselves for boarding. Probably because there were too few of them.

I took a short walk around the terminal and took a few shots out of the window.

EK 772 to DXB

Our KU AB6 had just landed and had parked next to the EK flight.

There is nothing to do inside this boarding area. You can die of boredom here and apart from a tiny bookstore, it's just chairs all around. A far cry from the swanky terminals of DEL, BOM, COK, BLR or HYD.

At 5:00 AM, BA announced that the flight to LHR was delayed by at least a couple of hours as the aircraft had gone tech. I heard this play after I had taken the shots above and a BA staff in a yellow uniform approached me and asked me whether I was flying the BA flight. I said no, but I asked him what the trouble with the aircraft was. He said he had no idea, but he mentioned that the flight would probably take-off later in the day. He also remarked that two aircraft were tech out on the apron. When I asked him about the other one, he said that it was a KU bird, just what the Airtel guy was referring to.

I couldn't make any sense of it. Why were there 2 KU birds out there? I walked around the glass windows to Gate #2 and saw the same sight as I'd seen in the morning- the KU A310- 9K-ALC! Shocked

Just as I was digesting the information that 2 KU Airbuses were indeed out there on the MAA tarmac, boarding was announced asking all pax to assemble near Gate #4.

Airline: Kuwait Airways
Aircraft: Airbus A300-600R
Registration: 9K-AME
First flight date: 18 November, 1993

Load in F: 0%
Load in J: ?
Load in Y: 50%

Scheduled Departure Time: 5:50 AM
Actual Departure Time: 5:55 AM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 8:20 AM
Actual Arrival Time: 8:15 AM

Flight Time: 5 hours, 0 minutes

Once at Gate#4, the ground staff requested all pax with red stickers to board the aircraft first. Red included Priority 1 and Priority 4 passengers. We entered the doors and stood in the jetway. A few minutes later, a passenger with a wheelchair entered and jumped to the front of the queue.

A very dirty jetway. Another sign that this airport is AAI handiwork. Razz

5 minutes later, the crew beckoned for the wheelchair passenger to board first and after he was done, we followed. The aerobridge was attached to door L2, which meant that if you took a left after entering the door you would enter the F cabin whereas if you took a right, you would enter the J and Y cabins.

Boarding through the door.

The FA at the door was pleasant.

FA: Good Morning Sir.
Me: Good Morning.
FA: Seat 23A? This way (pointing to the aisle) and then a right.

A quick snap of the business cabin.

At the front of the Y cabin I met another FA, male this time.

FA: Good morning Sir. Seat 23A? Just after the curtains. It's the emergency exit row.

I arrived at row 23 when another FA came forward and helped me place my bag and laptop onto the overhead lugggage bin. He looked familiar....

Me: Excuse me, have I flown with you before?
FA: (smiles) Could be. Do you remember me on a flight from Kuwait or to Kuwait?
Me: I recall you from a flight from Kuwait to Mumbai.
FA: Yes, then you are right.

I smiled and got myself seated. The aircraft filled up at a steady pace around me. Thanks to the priority stickers, boarding was very well organized. Nitin came in a few minutes later, and to his dismay discovered that his seat was right in front of the bulkhead. Mr. Green

The seat map on the website was wrong, thus. I also remembered that the entire emergency row had been booked but nobody turned up.

I was wrong, however. Just then the pax on the wheelchair with his wife were escorted to occupy two seats on the centre row and an unnacompanied minor took the seat on the far right- 23K. The seat next to me was empty so Nitin planned to move over there after take-off.

I then busied myself taking shots of the cabin.

FA jumpseat in front of me. Note that it is still in the old-style blue-green colours. Last year KU changed all it's passenger seat covers to gray.

Emergency flashlight and no smoking and seatbelt signs.

Forward Y cabin, just in front of the bulkead row.

Legroom was more than adequate. Twisted Evil

The benefit of sitting in the emergency exit row is that you have all the paraphernalia right in front of you. Wink

Entertainment controls. I didn't expect it to work however, video at least.

Seat Recline button. Very worn out.

That wasn't the only thing worn out, however. Crying or Very sad

Safety Card.

Ashtrays on the armrest. Proof that this flew in the 90s. Very Happy

This was below my left foot. Anyone know what it is?

To our left was the BA 772, apparently tech.......

.......behind which the domestic terminal was showing it's first signs of activity.

AI 321 coming in from someplace.

BA Boeing vs IT ATR Laughing

To our right was a GF 320. The unaccompanied minor- she couldn't have been more than 12, was imitating me and taking a shot of it with her cellphone camera! Razz

Not such a bad flight after all!

The FAs came around with a cold face towel.......

.....as the safety video played on the overhead screens.

And on individual PTVs. First in Arabic, then in English. That guy doesn't seem to be too interested though. Smile

The Captain came on line right then and introduced himself as Captain Robert and gave the usual flight details; we would be flying at an altitude of 36000 feet and would depart just after he and the co-pilot are done with the paperwork in the cockpit. ie: in a few minutes.

At 5:55 AM, 5 minutes after scheduled departure, we began push-back.

AI party.

Right behind us was a 9W 332 being prepared for it's flight to JFK via BRU.

Next to that was an IX 738 bound for CMB a couple of hours from then. I wonder if pax get to ride the bus to reach these aircraft, should be fun!

The irritating hum- characteristic of old aircraft commenced as we made our way through the taxiway to reach the end of the runway.

View of the International terminal. You can get a good view of the 9W 332, and also an IX 738 and the GF 320.

Taxiing to active.

Blame it on slow shutter speeds. I missed a good shot of a 9W 738 arrival. Crying or Very sad

Just then, an FA came and got seated in front of me. To the jumpseat on the far right, a female FA took her place. I recognized both of them from earlier flights too! I smiled and wished him good morning. He smiled back.

Me: Hey, I guess I've flown with this crew before.
Him: Quite possible. From Kuwait to India I guess.
Me: That's right. Kuwait to Mumbai in fact.
Him: Smile

Yes of course. We fly down from Kuwait twice a week and have a couple of days to spend here. So we just relax before the flight back.
Me: Where do you get to fly?
Him: Indian destinations mainly. But sometimes European sectors too, perhaps once a month.
Me: Only on the A300 and A310?
Him: That's right.
Me: What about Mumbai though?
Him: Mumbai sees everything from the B777 to the smaller aircraft- the A320. But it doesn't make sense. A320s can only seat around 140 passengers. I fly to Mumbai only if the A300 and A310 are scheduled.
Me: Oh. What's your name by the way?
Him: I'm Diptanshu. And you are...?
Me: My name is Varun. I'm an aviation enthusiast.
Him: Laughing

I guessed that.
Me: (Pointing to the empty row) Pretty light load today.
Him: Yes only 128 passengers on board. Strange, when we came here the flight was full.
Me: I was wondering, why did KU knock one frequency off this sector to make it 3xweekly?
Him: Capacity-wise it's still quite the same. When it was 4xweekly it used to be the A310 which can seat 198 passengers. Now it is 3xweekly A300 which can seat 232 passengers.
Me: Do you know what the registration of this aircraft is?
Him: Hmm.....this would be 9K-AME. Are you making a Trip Report?
Me: Yes I am! Smile

I was so engrossed in the conversation that I didn't realize that the take-off run had begun. I managed to snap a shot only at the very end, as we were lifting off.

Diptanshu: I don't think you could have got anything. Smile

Me: Well, I did get something. (shows camera screen)

I captured a few more shots as we were climbing.

A lake.

Banking left, the sun shining brightly on the A300's 5 wing fences.

Levelling off.

Just about then, the seatbelt sign was turned off and Nitin came and joined me. Diptanshu got up and commenced service along with the female FA.

Diptanshu: Gotta go now. Starting cabin service. Have a nice flight! Will see you before I land.
Me: All right.

A couple of male FAs then came around distributing headsets and blankets. I took the headset but refused the blanket.

The headsets were pretty plasticky and you have to put the ear cushion around each headset yourself. Not the best way to present headphones, in my opinion.

I then pulled out my entertainment screen and to my surprise, it was working! Shocked

A quick video, last seen by me probably back in 1999 was played explaining the features of the entertainment system.

I switched to the airshow and watched it pan and zoom as the food cart rolled past me. Early breakfast today.

Ka'aba- the direction to Mecca. Prayers can be done facing in this direction.

The screen quality was fuzzy- but hey! In KU, you don't expect them to work in the first place.

Just then, Diptanshu and a female FA came with the food cart.

FA: Veg or Non Veg?
Me: Oh, I had placed a request for an Indian Non-vegetarian meal.
FA: I'm sorry sir, but our meal request service is currently available only on flights from Kuwait.
Me: I see. What is the non veg option all about?
FA: It's sausages and omelettes.
Me: All right. I'll take that please.

A photo of the meal.

The main course was largely edible as far as airline meals go. The sausage in fact, was really nice. The omelette wasn't too great but still fine. The vegetable curry, though nice seemed out of place and the tomato was just rotten. Mad

The salad at the top left was very fresh, contrastingly. A slice of musk melon and a few pieces of fig and kiwis. All cold and delicious. There was a small container of orange juice next to it as well as a croissant and a bun.

The FAs came around with the beverages run and an extra bun but I refused. They also collected the yellow cup off the tray (water, not in image) and would reuse it later in the flight.

A few minutes later, as Diptanshu was clearing my tray...

Diptanshu: Hey, didn't you have any coffee or tea?
Me: No, it's all right. Plain old H20 for me, thanks!

After the breakfast service ended, the FAs came around and encouraged everyone to close their window shades. I did and went to the back of the aircraft to the toilets.

Amenities.

Wash.

I clicked a few snaps on the way back to my seat.

If you measure the age of an aircraft through yellowing cabins, this one would be a hundred years old. Smile

Here, see for yourself. I was also slightly surprised to see a higher than average number of PTVs working on this flight.

Sole source of light for the cabin, these exit signs.

Though the main screens were on as well, disturbing the handicapped man sitting right below it.

I then dug out the entire content of the seat pocket in front of me.

Al Buraq is the in-flight magazine. Half of it is in English and the other half in Arabic. Al Sougha is the duty free magazine and Screen is the inflight magazine. And the summer timetable was a nice touch. If you can make out on the cover, it reads "5th frequency to Colombo" and "3rd frequency to Chittagong". Possibly one of the A300/A310 aircraft freed when this MAA flight was made 3xweekly from 4xweekly was used in one of those sectors.

Al Buraq is a 113 page typical airline magazine. This May-June edition had quite a few travel articles on places like Cape Town, The Valley of Anglin (France) and Lebanon. there was also a route map and fleet page where the configuration, seat map, and date when the aircraft began operations were listed. The latter can't be a great idea since all the dates are from the early 90s! What do they expect the passengers to think when they see dates like January 24, 1993 and October 11, 1992 listed?

Besides that there was also a technology section and a news section where there was an article about KU using T4 at heathrow henceforth. But the most interesting page in the magazine was The Kuwait Airways Story. It's a large block of text at the side of which there were pictures of the various aircraft KU operated over the years- from Constellations to Viscounts to 747s and A340s. I've posted the article below.

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:46 am Post subject:

Lift-off!

The Farwaniyah area next to the airport.

The A340 is sure a very slow climber.

We reached the coast before doing a U-turn of sorts and heading back West as we were vectored for Cairo.

Trust me, that's a satellite. Don't ask me how I know. Cool

We were given a quick meal service. After biting into the chicken, I just put it away. It was worse than pathetic.

I then took a quick nap before I was rudely awoken by the FA to hand over the meal tray. Evil or Very Mad

The cabin lights were switched off and I tried to fall asleep again but i couldn't. The inability of the seat to recline made it worse. The Arab on my right could push her seat back, however and I couldn't figure out if she was smiling at me, through her Burqa.

But sleep I did, I was so tired from crossing countries and going through airports and a non reclining seat wouldn't hinder that. I woke up just as the sun was rising. We were hit by turbulence immediately as we were descending. I took a few shots of the thick clouds around us.

I think right about then we were put in a holding pattern as we were just circling.

After 10 minutes we descended and I could make out the Nile river in the distance. We shuddered through the sky and approached the runway. This landing was on the rougher, bumpier side and we even skidded a bit. Definitely not what you want to happen after hearing news of the IX crash.

There was an announcement from the flightdeck- once again in Arabic. Rolling Eyes

We taxied past the old terminal where I could see an ET 757.......

......before we parked at the new T3- the Star Alliance terminal.

We deboarded through the stairs and took the bus to the terminal. Cairo was quite humid- not what I expected at this time of the year.

Immigration was decently quick. Mine took longer because the guy needed to process my Visa details. The baggage, however was another story. It took no less than an hour for my trolley bag to come through and I was extremely tired by then. I left the airport and boarded the SUV that CU had sent me.

A very negative experience with EgyptAir, they'll probably bring the Star Alliance standard down. (For that matter, so will AI when it joins in 2034)

Scores:

Punctuality: 1/10
Seat: 4/10
Catering: 0/10
Aircraft Condition: 3/10
Entertainment: 2/10

Total: 10/50 = 20% = One star out of Five.

Conclusion:

So it wasn't the most pleasant trip from South East Asia through the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East before finally ending up in Africa. I was extremely tired at the end of it all. In spite of the poor service on MS it was definitely an experience for an aviation enthusiast and it adds to my list of airlines flown. As for KU, that flight was a total one-off and I wouldn't expect anything half of that in future. 9W was at it's trademark best and was easily the best of the 3.

Here you go then:

Fly 9W.
Don't fly KU.
Never fly MS.

Once again, thanks for reading. Wink

Varun
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Yeah.

iceman · Member Joined: 19 Jan 2007 Posts: 55

iflytb20

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

Interesting TR Varun.

However 2 questions:

*Was the 9W A332 delayed that day? Normally they leave at around 0100 hrs from MAA.

* there is a small typo of the flight duration between Kuwait and Cairo. It should not be more than 3 hours.

Thanks for sharing.

HAWK21M · Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 3:35 pm Post subject:

Excellent TR,fantastic pictures.
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Think of the Brighter side !!!

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:26 pm Post subject:

Thank you guys very much for your comments so far!

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Excellent TR Varun!!! Very Happy

You finish your TR's real fast!!! Wink

Pics were excellent too, especially MAA tarmac ones! Very Happy

]
I did actually know that KU was a bad airline, didn't expect MS to be that bad! Shocked

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 1:36 am Post subject:

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Thu May 27, 2010 2:44 am Post subject:

On a sidenote- I didn't realize that there is a limit for the size of a post. Apparently I hit it which is why I had to split my TR into 2.

Members posting long TRs, take note.
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Yeah.

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

Excellent TR Varun, where can one get to read 9W, KU and MS all in one report.

Sri_Bom

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Incidentally, skytrax happens to have rated 9W/MS/KU all as 3 star carriers!! Shocked

Now, I cant comment much about MS because this was perhaps the only TR i've read till now, but KU has been so very consistant in delivering poor services and products, it baffles me even to compare KU to 9w, let alone rate them equally. Forget about service, just think about comparing KU A300/310 with a 9w A332! Shocked

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Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

- Greg House

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 9:48 pm Post subject:

Nimish · Posted: Sun May 30, 2010 10:46 pm Post subject:

Excellent report Varun - was fun to read. How would you compare these 3 with AI on your outbound sector?

I'd already decided to stay away from MS since it was "dry" and after reading this report, it does not seem like I'm missing anything there. I hope I don't have to fly to CAI with MS being the only choice available Smile

.
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We miss you Nalini!

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:03 am Post subject:

rochel1977 · Member Joined: 28 Sep 2007 Posts: 42

awesome TR. thx for the share
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Proud to be a Sri Lankan

http://www.facebook.com/aviation.srilanka

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 4:26 pm Post subject:

stealthpilot · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 2325 Location: BLR, DXB

wow, except for the 9W flight it seemed like a horrible journey!!
nice TR.
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eP007

Spiderguy252 · Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:36 am Post subject: