Airliners-India.com

[Spiderguy252]

Heya, welcome to this TR describing another hop on IC on the MAA-HYD sector. This is a part of a longer milk run by a vintage A320 on MAA-HYD-AMD-SHJ. I was especially looking forward to this flight as this would be my first visit to the new HYD terminal, since it opened a couple of years back.



Airline: Indian Airlines
Aircraft: Airbus A320-231
Registration: VT-EVQ
First flight date: 15/9/1992

Load in J: 0%
Load in Y: 2%

Scheduled Departure Time: 4:30 PM
Actual Departure Time: 4:30 PM
Scheduled Arrival Time: 5:30 PM
Actual Arrival Time: 5:30 PM

Flight Time: 1 hour

I was pretty late leaving for the airport and left my place only by 3:30 PM. I asked the driver to step on it as we coasted along the new flyovers to MAA's international terminal.

A 6E 320 coming in to 25.



There was a lot of construction going on outside the terminal when I finally arrived at 3:45. They had finally removed that gaudy "ISO 9001:2000 certified" board from the roof and renovation was in full swing. "We apologize for the inconvenience" said the posters.

Entering the terminal, something felt strange. I was the only guy in there! Well, save for one lady who was arguing with the security guy to get herself out of there as WY had apparently rescheduled their flight to 2 hours later and she wanted to grab a bite to eat from the food court outside.

Still, I wasn't expecting a scene like this. The AI check-in counters in the distance.



The red advertising board you see at the top is SG advertising for their CMB flight. It reads "Fly to Colombo from Chennai from Rs. 900 only".

I walked over to one of the check-in persons and.........sounds silly now..........asked for a window seat! She just laughed at me and said that I was the only person on-board today's flight.

Seen at the AI check-in counter.



Still, she allotted seat 23F and I headed over to the empty immigration line where a guy stopped me.

"Flight closed sir. Go back."

"You're kidding me right?"

"Which flight?

"Air India to Hyderabad"

"Okay okay. Wait for sometime, everybody take lunch and come"

"But I don't even have to go through immigration! I'm flying domestic."

"Please wait sir. 5 minutes only please"

So I sat down at the chairs over there and waited. Silkair was checking in too, but just like the AI counters, they were bereft of any pax. As I waited for the immigration people to come over to man the desks (for God knows what) I admired the colour at the back of AI's boarding pass. Nice artwork.



10 minutes later, the guy called me over and pointed at an immigration person who looked equally baffled at the absence of anybody in the terminal. I showed him my boarding card and he let me through.

I climbed upstairs and passed the so called pre-security "duty free" past which I could see my craft docked at a jetway. I sighed. It was an old A320, in the old orange IC livery.



Thanks to all the construction work, the viewing galley was now closed and this is the best view anybody could get, airside.

I cleared security, and walked over to Gate#5, as written on the boarding card to board as I expected it to be being 4:10. But nope, the gate was closed and there was nobody out there next to the jetway. This was getting weird! Spooky, almost.

Empty departures area.



I was the sole admirer of Team India's new uniform at the duty free.



I could have walked up to this and announced something, nobody would have heard!



Finally at 4:15, boarding was called. As I went back to the gate, I saw that it was changed to Gate #4.



IX 738 from the departures corridor.



I took a few snaps of the old bus before the aerobridge.

VT-EVQ would be flying me today.



With that familiar black nose.



As I reached the aircraft door, I discovered that I ain't no "alone". 2 other guys were there as well. The three of us boarded through L1 and immediately noticed a nodding saree clad granny at the front of the J cabin. Shrugging, we walked past to Y where I found 23 F where there were 2 other aunties gosipping at the back.



"This year we bought so many crackers yaar...what to do."

"Aman has outgrown crackers of late. We just bought some sparklers to maintain the tradition. Still, Sanchit will like them"

View from 23F. IX 738 in the distance. The sun was unbearable from this angle.



Pretty okay legroom. VT-EVR, take notes!



Swagat and the safety card.



After a couple of minutes, I realized that I couldn't take the sun anymore. Moreover my seat was falling apart and I shifted to 24A to see the domestic terminal on my left and talk of the devil...........VT-EVR!



Also notice the Paramount Embraer towards the left.

9W 738 and IT 321.



Sharp at 4:30, we pushed back. The captain, Pushkar Reddy sounded smart and said that we will land in a thunderstorm at HYD. Hard to believe, judging by the sun out here at MAA.

Ashtrays. If you see one in your flight, that a/c flew before 2000.



Seat recline.



At least AI has changed the seats and carpets. I really like this orange and red scheme.



Overhead controls.



View after pushback.



Passing that IX 738 amidst construction work in the background.



Will that be AXT Raj?



Lining up on 7.



I should have brought earplugs. The take-off roar was unimaginable. And they call this a babybus.

Lift-off!





One thing I've always noticed- Chennai looks really serene from up here, but go down there and you'll be quick to notice that it is quite the opposite!



We then performed a sharp bank to the left.





Only to have the sun at me again!



The FAs had noticed it too. They came around the cabin and closed all the shades themselves.



One of them then zipped through the cabin giving us our snack service.



Pretty nice actually. The sweet thing at the top left is something only AI/IC can conjure. During the coffee/tea service, as I opted for tea the FA smiled and said "Really? Only the ladies drink tea"

Sounds like the captain was serious about the thunderstorm. The clouds were becoming denser.



I whiled away the rest of the 45 minutes reading the newspaper in my seatpocket. How better to spend a short flight?



And then made an interesting discovery. This aircraft was equipped with audio ports! I thought IC a/c were bereft of any entertainment whatsoever.



We shook violently. I looked outside, and saw the "thunderstorm".





The crew made a dual seatbelt announcement for both the turbulence and landing and retreated to their dens.

Empty cabin. Why/How does this airline still exist?



Descent into HYD was totally different from the departure out of MAA. Here, the sun was trying desperately to peek out of the clouds.



We performed a series of left and right turns to avoid clouds I suppose....



Final descent.





And contrary to take-off, made one of the smoothest landings ever. The captain seemed to be an experienced hand as he glided us in quietly onto the runway.





Touchdown! Just as the sleek HYD ATC comes into view.



Followed by the terminal. Another airport to my log.



To the right, you can spot VT-ESK painted in the red AIDS year livery.

We docked next to Velha-Goa, VT-EVB. I had no idea that this aircraft was in the new livery. And what 744 operation does AI have out of HYD?

EVB and an LH MD-11F as a foreground to the ATC.







A 9W 738 was pushing back behind it.



View from the other side of the row. 9W and SG 737s' tails.



The crew announced that the folks at the gate were not ready yet and asked us to wait in the aircraft for 5 more minutes. Time enough for me to click a few more shots!

9W and SG again. The SG was pushing back.



As was the AI beast, a few moments later.





The crew in the meantime were chattering away on their cellphones again.

"Bala and I will be sure to visit you on Dantheras....if I'm not jetlagged that is"

"Acha I'm going to Sharjah now. Bye, love you."

5 minutes became 20, and the night was beginning before we were let out of that lonely place. Before leaving I grabbed this shot from the right, showing another 9W 737, a 73G parked next to us.



HYD's new terminal was indeed fantastic and I would love to travel through this airport in future. And I thought BLR was good.

Scores:

Punctuality: 10/10
Seat: 8/10
Catering: 9/10
Aircraft Condition: 5/10
Entertainment: 3/10

Total: 35/50 = 70% = Four stars out of Five.

Much better from IC, but still you can't really mess up on a short flight like this one. Though their loads state otherwise....
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Yeah.

[747-237]

[avbuff]

Nice, TR.

[Nimish]

Wow - great report and good pictures too!

I'd love for my flights to be as empty as this one, but unfortunately always seem to end up on 100% full flights (except when I fly AI )...

As you said, it's a miracle the airline still survives.
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We miss you Nalini!

[justbala]

Nice TR. I guess its strange to be in a flight where the crew out numbers the pax!!

And I wish MAA catering somehow discovers that Sambar/Upma/Idli/Vada are not the only dishes on the face of this planet!!

[me111993]

nice TR Varun! nice pics too!

[jasepl]

O dear God! They're even more unpopular amongst the paying public than I imagined.
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four years free of jetya punti!

[Spiderguy252]

Thanks for the replies so far.

[iflytb20]

[HAWK21M]

Nice TR varun.Especially the Pictures.
It must have felt weird to notice no one in the area around you.Probably think its a prank or your error somewhere.
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Think of the Brighter side !!!

[theflyingsikh]

Great report !

I remember when I was 13-14 yr old, flew on an almost empty B747 from Dxb-Bom. I played hide and seek with my younger cousin on the plane and he tried hiding himself in the overhead bin

AI flies bom-hyd-jed on certain days of the week using the B747. Dont know if deployment of a B747 on this particular route is temporary.
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Aerosexual...!

[747-237]

[Spiderguy252]

Thanks for commenting.

[sumantra]

Wow - nice trip report, Varun!
Your adding tid-bits of the FA conversation spices up a well-written article even more. The negligible load factors should be quite worrisome for IC/AI. I guess they need to rationalise the route structure and aircraft for a route based on loads. I am a bit surprised, since most of my travels and from DEL and back, and I see excellent loads (more than approximately 80%) on metro flights involving DEL at one end, and BOM, MAA, HYD and CCU, on the other. I often end up taking either an early morning, or a late afternoon/evening flight - this could perhaps be the reason. These routes seem to be doing exceedingly well for IC, at least. The only relatively empty flight I have ever had on IC was a MAA-TRZ-TRV flight which goes on the SJH: this was in 2008, and there were some 10 other passengers on board. We got some nice personalised treatment from the young FAs, and I even got a visit to the cockpit at TRZ, and had a nice chat with both the gentlemen on the flightdeck. This was an old IC 320, and the snacks were great, on both the legs.
Cheers, Sumantra.

[Spiderguy252]

Thanks Sumantra. For the sake of IC I hope loads like this are a one-off.

That said, this flight started selling mere hours before it's launch so that could be the primary reason for the lack of passengers. But again, that is typical of AI.
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Yeah.

[stealthpilot]

Very nice!
I am assuming the poor loads was a one off thing. I guess having 3 seats free is the same as having 30 seats free in a 3-3 config huh?
Did you fly out of HYD?
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eP007

[Spiderguy252]

Thanks, I took 6E on HYD-BOM soon after.
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Yeah.