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Mumbai's Spectacular New T2 + AI 332/77W
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me111993
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Joined: 04 Sep 2009
Posts: 3225
Location: MAA/AMD

PostPosted: Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:07 pm    Post subject: Mumbai's Spectacular New T2 + AI 332/77W Reply with quote

INTRODUCTION
Let me kick start this report with one statistic,

AIRPORT // 2013-14 TRAFFIC // AIRPORT AREA
HYD // 8,635,920 // 5495 acres
DEL // 36,712,455 // 6600 acres
BLR // 12,779,389 // 4500 acres
BOM // 31,958,546 // 1550 acres

This alone says a-lot, doesn't it?

Hello all, and welcome to my Trip Report, in Feb 2006, GVK India, Airports Company South-Africa and Bidwest were awarded the contract to carry out the modernization of Mumbai Airport, a project that would turn out to be one of the most complex Airport Upgrades ever done, no, there weren't any complicated terrains to work on, no there was no lack of funds, when this project was awarded to GVK, they gave an initial report to the ministry of civil aviation that the actual operating area of the airport was 938 acres with over Approximately 308 acres of airport land (to be kept free for future expansion) was encroached upon by about 85,000 hutments housing a population of around 400,000.
Ever considered constructing an airport, which will serve as a gateway to the country's financial capital, with a capacity of 40 million passengers in under a thousand acres of land?

Keeping all constraints in mind, after hours and hours of negotiations with the local government, local heads, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP designed the following ..


In this the pier on the right hand side, also known as the South-West Pier was planned to be constructed first, followed by the the one on the left.









Now here's the deal, this is a pic of the then existing Terminal 2, in order to make the South West pier, they were supposed to demolish a chunk of the existing current terminal, and construct a new one. Right at that spot.

Basically reduce capacity to add more!

This is the google earth shot of the place under construction, the pier was constructed well before the main terminal building because some existing issues.

The thought of thousands of workers working in an active airport environment with all the security concerns, construtcing structures with in meters of active taxiays and parking bays itself is mind boggling. These guys managed it all!

Eventually, this is where we arrive.




Initial renders, by SOM.




The 2nd pier and hence the complete terminal is supposed to be done by 2016.

INTRODUCTION

Ever since it was declared that the new terminal will open sometime in the first quarter of 2014, I had my planned route from MAA-AMD very clear.

Air India's 330-200 does SIN-MAA-BOM, with the MAA-BOM originating and arriving at the international terminals of the respective airports and for BOM-AMD, AI 144, operated by a 777-300ER does EWR-BOM-AMD, so a 330-200 + 777-300ER.

I planned my trip around the festival of holi and due to clarity in University schedules, I was able to book my tickets in mid Jan itself, during one of the off season discount sales.

My out bound was MAA-BOM-AMD on AI on the 14th of March, and return was on the 19th, on a very conveniently timed Spice-Jet non-stop operation.

I have already done this trip once and covered it with a TR too, this one leans a little more towards the new terminal in BOM.



TRAVEL DAY
Left my university at a leisurely 0730 for an 1110 flight, using Chennai's decently spread out public transport network, I managed to reach the airport at around 0845, had a little breakfast outside the airport and walked in.

This was my first time in Chennai's new international terminal.

CHECK-IN - BOARDING
I had managed to do a web-check in from AI's website for the MAA-BOM flight, it didn't work for the BOM-AMD flight.
AI Check-in counters were just about opening, with departures to BOM/DEL/SIN.

I requested the cheerful lady at the check-in counter to give me a through check-in all the way through to AMD, which she said "sorry sir, I can't do that, counter opens only 3 hours before departure, and you have a diff PNR on BOM-AMD" WTF!

I'd heard that ocassionally there were these issues with delayed bags in T2, so I managed to convince the check-in lady to let me take my 9 kg bad into the cabin. Not ideal, but better than waiting for an hour for my bag to come out.

There's a seperate small area for domestic pax, basically surpassing immigration, followed by security check. This terminal was pretty deserted, as the EK/UL guys had already done all formalities.


A6-EMN, EK 773.







Soon, I saw a 330-200 (VT-IWA) land, which I thought was my plane, but was a tad too early, considering it was only 0935 and ETA was 1010, I later realized thats the domestic flight from DEL, this used to be done by a 787 earlier.



At around 10:10, VT-IWB pulled in from SIN , about 20 mins late.














AI, were the usual super efficient in MAA, plane docked in at 1015, at 1025, boarding was announced.
FLIGHT
AIC 343
MAA-BOM
STD / ATD 1110/1105
STA / ATA 1300/1245
Registration VT-IWB / A330-200 (PW Engines)
Duration 1:45 mins
Loads : 254/279

There was this very large group of Nepali or Thai women on a travel group who were basically sitting randomly, and didn't really know how to speak English/Hindi or Tamil, the 3 languages the crew knew, 1 of them was on my seat, 30K, one of them had the emergency exit seat, which was obviously an issue for the crew, while I was waiting for my seat to be cleared, the FA turned to me and asked "are you particular about the window seat you have?". Now this caught me off guard, believe me, on early noon family travel flights, a 21 year old person travelling alone is supposed to adjust, it was really classy of her to ask what she did. 2 big thumbs up for AI on this. I quietly said, " I am, a little, I'm so sorry", to which she smiled, nodded and I went along to my seat. She'd managed to convince someone else to switch by then.














A very short takeoff roll from Runway 7 in MAA. We were airborne in under 35 seconds.


15 mins into the flight, the meals stared being served, I, sitting at 30K, was the absolute last one to be served, and the tray I got didn't have the croissant, which I didn't seem to mind as most people around me seemed to leave it.

the meal consisted of Cabbage, Rice, Spinach-Paneer and dahivada, and it was a mess, tackily served, in the lowest grade plastic, barely edible, not something I expected with AI. The desert was phenomenal though. I still don't know what exotic gulab-jamun - rasmalai mixture it was but it was delicious!

It was cleared out soon, the captain came in and gave the usual flight details, cruising altitude of 40000 feet, speed 0.83 mach weather details and landing time in BOM.







overflying BOM to approach RWY 14.


Bandra-Woril Sealink visible below.

we landed at 1245, 15 mins ahead of time.







and docked next to a MH 737 headed to KUL, which sparked off this conversation of couple of pax and the FA on MH 370, I invairably got involved and kept on chatting till way after every one had deplaned.

After which I quietly asked if it were okay to visit the flight deck, which she smiled and nodded. Following which i deplaned.





ARRIVALS







At this point, I got a call from my friend saying he was already enroute and will be at the airport in 10 mins or so.

I was wondering that it was actually good that the check-in lady allowed me to take in my suitcase as cabin baggage, and right at this moment, it hit me, my suitcase wasn't with me! !!

I ran back into the plane, and found a couple of airport security guys in the plane, around my bag, the FA who I was chatting with had told them that it was most likely mine, so they let me go without asking many questions, and asking me to be more careful next time.


The ramp going upwards comes from the departures section.




BA 744, parked adjutant to us.









Now the arrival section, from the edge of the pier was basically a long walk, with planes docked on the left and gorgeous artwork on the right.

Being who we are, i'm pretty sure, most of us won't really be that interested in the art, especially given the view!





9W 77W headed to LHR.






















This is the A380 gate, on a clearer day, the pic would have come out awesome! 2 AI 77Ws + 2 744s, one of them had just come in from JED/HYD.



you could walk down on either side of the pier.







IX 738.



This is the point where in you enter the main terminal building.



art work all along the walls.






Immigration, once again a side route for us domestic passengers.







Massive baggage claim area.



The biggest positive here is the really high ceiling, makes it look very spacious, all along immigration and baggage claim.











It took my friend and myself a bit of time to figure out where to go exactly for the car pickup, apparently, its mandatory to park for that minimum period of time and then walk down to the parking spot, so the arrival area is completely car free, there's the taxi pick up at the ground floor.

Overall, decent arrival experience, walk was not that long, compared to other major airports in the world, the art was beautiful, and a very tidy experience till you exit the gate.

The real charm was always gonna be the departure.

THE DEPARTURE

CHECK-IN-BOARDING
Now just while driving down, the terminal building is intimidating, it's just humongous, and the approach roads and all are beautifully done.

In a wonderful co-incidence, I saw VT-ALU operating AI 144 land in from EWR, right as i was getting dropped.

AI/IX use gate 4!



That roof is just stunning!

I thought i'd walk in, check in my bag, and then enjoy the terminal.

Empty AI counters right now, the agent gave me 29A on the 77W, she happened to have the crew sheet, so she confirmed that the plane had 113 pax on board for this BOM-AMD leg, 0F/2J/111Y.







Saudia check-in.






AI check-in counters.


9W Check in counters.





Premium Check-in counters.




Now, this is the dedicated F/J check in area, I think it is only for a select few airlines, but as you can see, very spacious inside, and as far as I could tell, this continued all the way through to security check and immigration, basically a dedicated area all alone.



Continued on to security check , it was just as long on the right side too.


This as immediately followed by immigration, again, a dedicated line for domestic pax.


A big chunk of the duty free was under construction but the ceilings and all looked classy.











My first sighting of an airplane, and it was at this point I forgot all about the art wall and all, and just went on ahead!
This is still on level 4, basically continuing on the same level as we checked in on. Most gates are on Level 3.



9Ws 737-900ER to RUH.



Spotting location? Very Happy

Level 3!




Was really gorgeous!


down to level 3.

ElAl 763 parked on the A380 gate.




This, this is the real deal. these massive 8 feet long glasses, clear glasses, for top views all along, in the older terminal, you couldn't even see outside.







Onto Gate 78, for AI 144!




VT-ALU!



Absolutely stunning views! And the sunlight makes it look even better!

EK 773 to DXB.




AI 744 to JED.


VT-IWB that got me into BOM this morning.


B787, will most likely operate LHR or PVG in 12 hours.


9W 737 to DXB.







Boarding about to be announced.







They announced boarding at 1800 for an 1855 flight. Only 40 of us were going to board, remaining pax were inbound from EWR, were onboard already.










THE FLIGHT
AIC 144
BOM-AMD
STD/ATD 1855/2015
STA/ATA 2005/2105
Duration 50 mins
Registration VT-ALU (Orissa)
Load - 0/2/111


29A!


This plane was super tidy and very comfortable!









I switched to a seat further back.
At this moment, at 1850 or so the captain came in on the PA, announced that they were waiting for some cargo to be loaded, and that they are still waiting for it to come. This took almost 25 mins, after which we'd already missed our departure slot.


6E to DXB.


Lights on!












After a while they switched on the mood lighting, but we were still in BOM.





Finally, we pushed back at 2000, almost 1 hour past our departure time.





Yep, still looking gorgeous.


That was VT-ALQ, inbound from JFK/DEL.


All ready to taxi!



Front cam in action!





conveniently placed USB charger/storage space.
At 2015 we roared off into the Mumbai sky, banked right in a bit, you could really feel the place climb!

seat-belt signs switched off, so I got up to take a couple of cabin shots.



In some time, this pathetic little sandwich was served, basically a 6 day old tomato stuffed into a 12 day old piece of bread, i'm not even gonna post a pic. was just horrible.

We cruised at 25000 feet, at around 770 kmph.


Captain soon announced decent, and we landed at AMD almost an hour behind schedule.

VERDICT
- Chennai Airport : The airport looks good on the outside, but has some serious drawbacks, carpets and all were very dirty, even in the new terminal, almost non-existent duty free, if this is the terminal they plan on continuing for the coming decade, then, there are gonna be some serious problems here.
- Flights : There's this thing between me and some members here, that I'm not supposed to complain when I fly 777s on 45 minute flights. Very Happy But AI on both legs did a commendable job, apart from both the meals, planes were well maintained, IFE on the 777 was pretty good for a 9 hour Europe flight, both flights had good and bad Flight Attendants but the good ones over shadowed the bad ones more often than not. The delay at BOM could have been avoided.
- Mumbai T2 : This is the important one. The terminal itself is awe-inspiring, and the gate area is gorgeous, these guys at MIAL / GVK worked very hard on this, and the results are to be seen, let the 2nd pier be ready and once domestic operations are also introduced here, we'll have to see how they cope up, they certainly can, and they've done something they can sit back and stare at for a while and be proud.
Sure there will be these problems, these small niggles when you open something of such a massive scale, bags taking time to come out and mosquitoes are very manageable issues, which ill be ironed out in no time.

Thanks a lot for reading through, hope you enjoyed.

- Rishul
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Super photos Rishul - thanks a ton for posting! Loved the new terminal from the pictures - suddenly BOM seems like a good option for a future set of flights Wink.

AI's meals are supposed to be their crowning glory - so were the bad meals a one-off thing?
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 8:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rishul, thanks for a lovely TR!
As usual, you kept your word to me about posting the TR, sent me an email as well, but I only got to read it the first thing in the morning, on Holi.
- Superb descriptions of the MAA In'l temrinal: the first TR on this forum on this.
- BOM T2 looks very inviting: I would love to be there, and seek out the areas you have been in, and taken pictures of. I can't wait for an opportunity to go to BOM, like you, on a domestic International connector (and of course, try for a wide-body option, which in itself, is awesome)
- The AI experience: the catering seems to have gone for a six, with the 6 tomato and 2*6 bread: shockingly on one of AI's cash cow routes. Bad presentation and indifferent quality on the MAA-BOM leg: no excuses for AI here, either.
- Leave a favourite window seat on a plane, or on a train? Me: no way! I have even fought tooth and nail with a 6 year old kid, and not given up my perch!
- It is nice to see `Orissa' in a good state from the inside. What about the IFE on IWB? Did they switch it on? I have seen AI keep the IFE switched off on many domestic legs. Cost-cutting again, I believe. The A332s have the same audio channels as the Thales i3000 on the new A32S birds, with one extra one for the drop-down video screens. How was the inside on the MAA-SIN leg, given the super-quick turn-around time? The previous leg isn't very nice for the cabin crew and cleaning staff at MAA, given some passengers with unruly cleanliness habits, at least that is what I have experienced myself, and heard about.
- A runway 14 approach into BOM: wow! How I miss runway 32 and 14 action!
Thanks once again for the beautiful introduction, putting it all into perspective, a bit of history, and then slowly, seamlessly shifting into the present. A really wholesome TR, with a lovely array of pictures, and descriptions.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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Spiderguy252
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:19 pm    Post subject: Re: Mumbai's Spectacular New T2 + AI 332/77W Reply with quote

It's a long time since I've flown anyplace (my usual commute these days is the SBC-MAS-SBC Shatabdi lol) so I'm basically living through the TRs on here - and this is a very good one at that! Thanks for the share, and the continual snapshots put up on the Whatsapp group as well; the latter certainly does add a new dimension to Trip Reporting these days.

me111993 wrote:
There was this very large group of Nepali or Thai women on a travel group who were basically sitting randomly, and didn't really know how to speak English/Hindi or Tamil, the 3 languages the crew knew, 1 of them was on my seat, 30K, one of them had the emergency exit seat, which was obviously an issue for the crew, while I was waiting for my seat to be cleared, the FA turned to me and asked "are you particular about the window seat you have?". Now this caught me off guard, believe me, on early noon family travel flights, a 21 year old person travelling alone is supposed to adjust, it was really classy of her to ask what she did. 2 big thumbs up for AI on this. I quietly said, " I am, a little, I'm so sorry", to which she smiled, nodded and I went along to my seat. She'd managed to convince someone else to switch by then.


Yeah, this is always a bit of a problem on hopping flights, and even trains if you're boarding from an intermediate point - your seat is usually plopped on by someone else.

me111993 wrote:
we landed at 1245, 15 mins ahead of time.



Neat, I take it that that IT ATR was mothballed?

me111993 wrote:
I was wondering that it was actually good that the check-in lady allowed me to take in my suitcase as cabin baggage, and right at this moment, it hit me, my suitcase wasn't with me! !!

I ran back into the plane, and found a couple of airport security guys in the plane, around my bag, the FA who I was chatting with had told them that it was most likely mine, so they let me go without asking many questions, and asking me to be more careful next time.


Phew, all's well that ends well.

me111993 wrote:
Now the arrival section, from the edge of the pier was basically a long walk, with planes docked on the left and gorgeous artwork on the right.

Being who we are, i'm pretty sure, most of us won't really be that interested in the art, especially given the view!


Touche. Art what? Razz

me111993 wrote:
This is the A380 gate, on a clearer day, the pic would have come out awesome! 2 AI 77Ws + 2 744s, one of them had just come in from JED/HYD.



Any specific reason why the AI heavies didn't berth at a jetway, seeing that at least one (and possibly more) were running free?

me111993 wrote:


Very slick Departures board - bit like Nokia's clearblack display. You don't need to light up black pixels unless you really need to! Makes the overall contrast a lot more palatable. Smile

me111993 wrote:
[/URL]


Sharklets! Caught the reg, by any chance?

me111993 wrote:
They announced boarding at 1800 for an 1855 flight. Only 40 of us were going to board, remaining pax were inbound from EWR, were onboard already.


Very bright conditions for 6 in the evening, eh?

me111993 wrote:


Gotta love such shots - try an Instagram filter on them for keepsakes, works out well.

me111993 wrote:
Sure there will be these problems, these small niggles when you open something of such a massive scale, bags taking time to come out and mosquitoes are very manageable issues, which ill be ironed out in no time.


I've heard of the problem from a couple of folks who used the terminal last week, and the recent reviews on Skytrax echo the same as well - is it really that bad?

sumantra wrote:
- It is nice to see `Orissa' in a good state from the inside.


And speaking of Odisha/Orissa, how far with the names of the states did AI go before pulling the plug on them? IIRC the 787s are named after rivers/mountains, no?



Overall though @Rishul, this is a top report and the terminal comes across as a very sleek affair too. Really jokes aside, the decor and artwork on the walls are very well done - and the photography stood up to it all. Was it an Advanced P&S you were using?

On a bit of a sidenote, it's a bit flattening to see the AI 77L more or less extinct, but good catch of a reasonably exotic El Al 767 in the meantime!
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HAWK21M
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Amazing pics of T2........looks fantastic.
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sukritmunjal
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 12:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Mumbai's Spectacular New T2 + AI 332/77W Reply with quote

me111993 wrote:


I was wondering that it was actually good that the check-in lady allowed me to take in my suitcase as cabin baggage, and right at this moment, it hit me, my suitcase wasn't with me! !!

I ran back into the plane, and found a couple of airport security guys in the plane, around my bag, the FA who I was chatting with had told them that it was most likely mine, so they let me go without asking many questions, and asking me to be more careful next time.


Reminds me of my last flight where I left my Tab in the seatback pocket. Unfortunately for me, I realized it after exiting the airport and had to wait for a couple of hours to get it back.

Cheers
Sukrit
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jasepl
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love your report! And the pictures... Thanks so much for sharing!


The load of 70 passengers travelling EWR-AMD... I don't know whether to be impressed with that number, or to be critical that AI are sending a taxpayer-funded widebody where a 319 will suffice.

As for the new terminal itself, it certainly looks pretty. I haven't been through it myself, but there seem to be an impressively small number of teething troubles.

From what I have heard, the only negatives are:

1. Immigration
2. Mosquitoes
3. Carpet

The first two can be remedied. The carpeting (not just it's hideousness, but also it's existence), unfortunately, we're stuck with.

I've also heard less than delightful things about the common (Jet) lounge, but that's a different matter.

What makes me happiest of all - just from the pics - is the light.

All in all, it seems like a big thumbs up. Which is a minor miracle for a public(ish) infrastructure project in Maharashtra.
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Mon Mar 17, 2014 11:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jasepl wrote:
The load of 70 passengers travelling EWR-AMD... I don't know whether to be impressed with that number, or to be critical that AI are sending a taxpayer-funded widebody where a 319 will suffice.


Exactly - it's a criminal waste of a wide-body! Just send a 319 to AMD instead - probably save millions of $$$ over the year. Not to forget - the 777 age is (also) measured by the # of cycles, and doing these ultra-short haul hops is the best way to ruin the resale value of the plane by adding on a number of cycles...

Other than not having the pax deplane and emplane (which is not a big deal IMO - they should anyway stretch their legs after a 16 hour flight from EWR), what's the reason to send such a huge plane to AMD?
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me111993
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nimish wrote:
Super photos Rishul - thanks a ton for posting! Loved the new terminal from the pictures - suddenly BOM seems like a good option for a future set of flights Wink.

AI's meals are supposed to be their crowning glory - so were the bad meals a one-off thing?


Thanks a lot Nimish, meal on the MAA-BOM leg was above average he I flew them in August, this time around was really disappointing.

Quote:
Amazing pics of T2........looks fantastic.


thanks a lot Mel sir.

Quote:
Reminds me of my last flight where I left my Tab in the seatback pocket. Unfortunately for me, I realized it after exiting the airport and had to wait for a couple of hours to get it back.

Cheers
Sukrit


yeah, i remember this discussion on the group. sad. Apparently, on this terminal, there's a point of no return, after which the cops will take anything you forgot on the plane and you get it after they finish whatever processing they're supposed to do.
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nimish wrote:
jasepl wrote:
The load of 70 passengers travelling EWR-AMD... I don't know whether to be impressed with that number, or to be critical that AI are sending a taxpayer-funded widebody where a 319 will suffice.
Exactly - it's a criminal waste of a wide-body! Just send a 319 to AMD instead - probably save millions of $$$ over the year. Not to forget - the 777 age is (also) measured by the # of cycles...what's the reason to send such a huge plane to AMD?
Jason and Nimish: I can say this with some conviction, since not just do I have incidental evidence, after the point below, I will summarise AI's wide-body domestic legs for international flights, and the reasons, and the loads. I have some information from some people in the know. To summarise, AI do this part quite well, this is not politically motivated, or otherwise.
70 pax on BOM-AMD is a low load, but it is not quite usual. Rishul's last such trip saw 80% loads. (191/238). I have myself seen amazing loads on a much larger aircraft, the B744. Not just loads, this segment seems to get huge cargo loads, which a narrow-body cannot do justice to.

AI's wide-body domestic legs for international flights

1. AMD-BOM-AMD on AI 191/144: the Newark flight, the `Gujju Express'.
Good loads: pax+cargo. At one time, AI's perhaps only consistent money earner, right from the B744 days, when the flight was via CDG.
2. HYD-DEL-HYD on AI 127/126: the Chicago flight.
Good loads: pax+cargo. AI's second cash cow. Check the average loads. The B77W often goes full, and is often sold out completely a few days before the flight. Yes, that includes the international segment as well. AI's second, and newest cash-cow.
3. BOM-MAA-BOM on AI 342/343: the Singapore flight.
Good loads: pax+cargo, plus the economic advantage of an A332.
4. BOM-DEL-BOM on AI 101/102: the JFK flight.
The loads on the domestic segment are on an average, quite average. Cargo: not too bad. What justifies this leg, then?
AI uses this leg to rotate wide-bodies through BOM, the heavy maintenance base. I have seen most wide-bodies on this route: B77Ls, B77Ws, Dream)liners, and on occassion, even an A332 (getting back after a Haj run to DEL). This is much better than the other alternative: of having to run ferry flights. This works out well for AI, financially, and has been the case, over the years, in spite of passenger loads ranging from the average, to bad.
5. BOM-DEL-BOM on AI 348/349: the Shanghai flight.
A combination of the factors above, including the last one. AI uses this leg to rotate the Dream)liners through BOM, now-a-days.
6. HYD-BOM-HYD on AI 964/965: the Jeddah flight
This is not a daily flight on a B744 but does not seem to be doing too badly. I do not know as much about this flight, as the others, above.
7. CCJ-COK-CCJ on AI 962/963: the shortest domestic B744 flight in India!
This is again not a daily flight on a B744 and perhaps doesn't do that badly, else it would have been pulled out sooner than one would have expected. Again, I do not know that much about this flight.
Have I missed out on some flight?
Cheers, Sumantra.
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me111993
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sumantra wrote:
Rishul, thanks for a lovely TR!
As usual, you kept your word to me about posting the TR, sent me an email as well, but I only got to read it the first thing in the morning, on Holi.
- Superb descriptions of the MAA In'l temrinal: the first TR on this forum on this.
- BOM T2 looks very inviting: I would love to be there, and seek out the areas you have been in, and taken pictures of. I can't wait for an opportunity to go to BOM, like you, on a domestic International connector (and of course, try for a wide-body option, which in itself, is awesome)
- The AI experience: the catering seems to have gone for a six, with the 6 tomato and 2*6 bread: shockingly on one of AI's cash cow routes. Bad presentation and indifferent quality on the MAA-BOM leg: no excuses for AI here, either.
- Leave a favourite window seat on a plane, or on a train? Me: no way! I have even fought tooth and nail with a 6 year old kid, and not given up my perch!
- It is nice to see `Orissa' in a good state from the inside. What about the IFE on IWB? Did they switch it on? I have seen AI keep the IFE switched off on many domestic legs. Cost-cutting again, I believe. The A332s have the same audio channels as the Thales i3000 on the new A32S birds, with one extra one for the drop-down video screens. How was the inside on the MAA-SIN leg, given the super-quick turn-around time? The previous leg isn't very nice for the cabin crew and cleaning staff at MAA, given some passengers with unruly cleanliness habits, at least that is what I have experienced myself, and heard about.
- A runway 14 approach into BOM: wow! How I miss runway 32 and 14 action!
Thanks once again for the beautiful introduction, putting it all into perspective, a bit of history, and then slowly, seamlessly shifting into the present. A really wholesome TR, with a lovely array of pictures, and descriptions.
Cheers, Sumantra.


- first time in my life I managed to hit the TR deadline Very Happy
This was more of a now or never deal, the moment i'm back to MAA, no way I finish anything.

- The terminal was very disappointing, the departure zone is actually much smaller than the old terminal, which is why they've connnected the 2 departure zones, and by the looks of it, all CX/EK/LH/QR flights departed from that terminals departure area.

- Yeah, one round trip on AI 101/348 will be awesome from your end. Unlike myself, you're much better at describing stuff!

- The catering was c**p. Really let me down.

- haha, next time we meet, i'll learn how to stand my ground from you!

- IFE on IWB wasn't turned on, not even the maps. Plane was relatively clean, just that, what the 332 with lower toilets does is it makes the whole cabin visible to the naked eye, making the plane feel all congested. This is one of the things the 380s and the 77Ws do very well, lots of small cabins all over the place.

- I love 14 approaches, 32 departures! and as it turns out a lot of Bombay wallas are yet to experience this, so that itself makes me feel all the more happier. Twisted Evil

- I just wrote down a very basic intro sir, I really struggle writing imaginatively.
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me111993
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Varun,

- Thanks a lot mate, those Shatabdi journeys wwith Vijaykant movies make quite an experience! Wink

Quote:
Neat, I take it that that IT ATR was mothballed?


yep.

Quote:
Phew, all's well that ends well.



Touche. Art what? Razz


haha yeah.

absolutely, regulars will obviously appreciate the art, but for us, !!! Like for instance, member sm777 flew to CMB recently, took a pic of a 9W 333 + LH 333 + LH 744 in one post! I mean, what else can you ask for!! Same with the pic, Jishnu's brother took.

Quote:
Any specific reason why the AI heavies didn't berth at a jetway, seeing that at least one (and possibly more) were running free?


3 off the 4 were resting, the JED flight was interesting though. More so because there was an IX 737 parked at an aerobridge.

Quote:
Very slick Departures board - bit like Nokia's clearblack display. You don't need to light up black pixels unless you really need to! Makes the overall contrast a lot more palatable. Smile


very very true! Very Happy

Quote:
Sharklets! Caught the reg, by any chance?


Very bright conditions for 6 in the evening, eh?


VT-IFW was headed to DXB, and I think the MCT flight, beside my plane's wing was IFU. Both with sharklets.

Quote:
Gotta love such shots - try an Instagram filter on them for keepsakes, works out well.


I've heard of the problem from a couple of folks who used the terminal last week, and the recent reviews on Skytrax echo the same as well - is it really that bad?



And speaking of Odisha/Orissa, how far with the names of the states did AI go before pulling the plug on them? IIRC the 787s are named after rivers/mountains, no?


- will do, next time. Very Happy

- would be an issue, given the proximity to the river, but im sure they'll come up with something.

- AFAIK, this was the last plane the named, being the last 77W they took delivery of.

Quote:
Overall though @Rishul, this is a top report and the terminal comes across as a very sleek affair too. Really jokes aside, the decor and artwork on the walls are very well done - and the photography stood up to it all. Was it an Advanced P&S you were using?


Thanks a lot, the terminal is really something! No, nothing advanced, I got my tiny digicam. Smile
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me111993
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jasepl wrote:
I love your report! And the pictures... Thanks so much for sharing!


As for the new terminal itself, it certainly looks pretty. I haven't been through it myself, but there seem to be an impressively small number of teething troubles.

From what I have heard, the only negatives are:

1. Immigration
2. Mosquitoes
3. Carpet

The first two can be remedied. The carpeting (not just it's hideousness, but also it's existence), unfortunately, we're stuck with.

I've also heard less than delightful things about the common (Jet) lounge, but that's a different matter.

What makes me happiest of all - just from the pics - is the light.

All in all, it seems like a big thumbs up. Which is a minor miracle for a public(ish) infrastructure project in Maharashtra.


Thanks a lot!

- yeah very true, very small list of issues here, impressive for something so big.

- you forgot baggage claim, that too, during peak hours has been taking hours, but then, solveable, with time.

- the carpet depends more on lighting around, but agreed, given what crap MAA Terminal's carpet had become, dunno what happens to this is 5 years.

- i'm not sure on this, but arent the lounges being used temporary?

- The light, absolutely agreed, just beautiful, mornings and evenings are gonna be gorgeous!

- haha
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 12:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sumantra wrote:
Nimish wrote:
jasepl wrote:
The load of 70 passengers travelling EWR-AMD... I don't know whether to be impressed with that number, or to be critical that AI are sending a taxpayer-funded widebody where a 319 will suffice.
Exactly - it's a criminal waste of a wide-body! Just send a 319 to AMD instead - probably save millions of $$$ over the year. Not to forget - the 777 age is (also) measured by the # of cycles...what's the reason to send such a huge plane to AMD?
Jason and Nimish: I can say this with some conviction, since not just do I have incidental evidence, after the point below, I will summarise AI's wide-body domestic legs for international flights, and the reasons, and the loads. I have some information from some people in the know. To summarise, AI do this part quite well, this is not politically motivated, or otherwise.
70 pax on BOM-AMD is a low load, but it is not quite usual. Rishul's last such trip saw 80% loads. (191/238). I have myself seen amazing loads on a much larger aircraft, the B744. Not just loads, this segment seems to get huge cargo loads, which a narrow-body cannot do justice to.

AI's wide-body domestic legs for international flights

1. AMD-BOM-AMD on AI 191/144: the Newark flight, the `Gujju Express'.
Good loads: pax+cargo. At one time, AI's perhaps only consistent money earner, right from the B744 days, when the flight was via CDG.
2. HYD-DEL-HYD on AI 127/126: the Chicago flight.
Good loads: pax+cargo. AI's second cash cow. Check the average loads. The B77W often goes full, and is often sold out completely a few days before the flight. Yes, that includes the international segment as well. AI's second, and newest cash-cow.
3. BOM-MAA-BOM on AI 342/343: the Singapore flight.
Good loads: pax+cargo, plus the economic advantage of an A332.
4. BOM-DEL-BOM on AI 101/102: the JFK flight.
The loads on the domestic segment are on an average, quite average. Cargo: not too bad. What justifies this leg, then?
AI uses this leg to rotate wide-bodies through BOM, the heavy maintenance base. I have seen most wide-bodies on this route: B77Ls, B77Ws, Dream)liners, and on occassion, even an A332 (getting back after a Haj run to DEL). This is much better than the other alternative: of having to run ferry flights. This works out well for AI, financially, and has been the case, over the years, in spite of passenger loads ranging from the average, to bad.
5. BOM-DEL-BOM on AI 348/349: the Shanghai flight.
A combination of the factors above, including the last one. AI uses this leg to rotate the Dream)liners through BOM, now-a-days.
6. HYD-BOM-HYD on AI 964/965: the Jeddah flight
This is not a daily flight on a B744 but does not seem to be doing too badly. I do not know as much about this flight, as the others, above.
7. CCJ-COK-CCJ on AI 962/963: the shortest domestic B744 flight in India!
This is again not a daily flight on a B744 and perhaps doesn't do that badly, else it would have been pulled out sooner than one would have expected. Again, I do not know that much about this flight.
Have I missed out on some flight?
Cheers, Sumantra.


Thanks for the comprehensive list, Sumantra sir, but as far as AI 144 is concerned, on the 14th, as per the crew sheet, return loads were 0F/0J/89Y, so a switch should've been there, to a 32S, but then we don't know what volume of cargo was being transported, and more importantly, from the 4-5 frame of references i've had, you know the occasional bomb hoax, dad on board, 15 hour delay and all, normally, even on the 77W, Y has consistently had over 250 pax on board, with over 120 connecting pax. So, i dont really know.

I know for a fact that AI 101 gets the 321 often enough on DEL-BOM-DEL, but 126/144, i'm not too sure that happens.

i'll tell you what though, if logistics permit, they should switch.

and, Nimish, in the old T2, pax HAD to deplane in the boarding area , pax bound to AMD from EWR, this time around I found them on board already.
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Nimish
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sumantra wrote:
Jason and Nimish: I can say this with some conviction, since not just do I have incidental evidence, after the point below, I will summarise AI's wide-body domestic legs for international flights, and the reasons, and the loads. I have some information from some people in the know. To summarise, AI do this part quite well, this is not politically motivated, or otherwise.
70 pax on BOM-AMD is a low load, but it is not quite usual. Rishul's last such trip saw 80% loads. (191/238). I have myself seen amazing loads on a much larger aircraft, the B744. Not just loads, this segment seems to get huge cargo loads, which a narrow-body cannot do justice to.


Sumantra - you make good points, but I'm not sure I'm convinced. What cargo are we talking about on BOM-AMD that's so high-volume/ profitable that it can't go on a 320 or even by road/rail? And if there's so much cargo demand (which a narrow-body can't do justice to), how does the rest of the country's cargo needs get met?

Besides, who is factoring in the premature aging of the resource (the 77W)?

AI already has a 320 leaving at 5:50 pm and then this 77W at 6:55 pm - barely an hour later. Sounds like a 320 + 320 an hour apart should be able to deal with all the traffic/ cargo on the sector, and the 77W is just something for local prestige reasons. And on the occasion where loads are so high, sure, sub the 320 with a 321 or 332 or a 77W!

Almost the only reason I can see justify the 77W is that perhaps AI don't have spare 320 capacity at BOM at that time, and the 77W is anyway idling around.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great Report RiS,

Really loved the pictures, what i like best about the terminal is the spotting views

What i liked best is though your intro paragraph and your trip report build up


And yes lucky to get your umpteeth rw 14/32 combo i am yet to land on any of these, and perhaps never will....fortunately have atleast departed from there

BTW, this is a jab at you and JiB, why in your pics does only a 9W 737 have bus boarding despite it being parked between two empty jet bridges Very Happy Very Happy


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

me111993 wrote:
I know for a fact that AI 101 gets the 321 often enough on DEL-BOM-DEL, but 126/144, i'm not too sure that happens.
i'll tell you what though, if logistics permit, they should switch.

Nimish wrote:
Sumantra - you make good points, but I'm not sure I'm convinced

Rishul and Nimish: they make the switch when needed, and do not put a B77L/W on a domestic route unless really needed. For instance (Rishul should find this interesting because he mentioned AI 126/7): AI 126/7 is usually a packed B77W between HYD and DEL, and with good cargo loads, but on 24 Feb 2014, it was an A321, VT-PPN doing the job. (I was ruing my lost opportunity of flying another wide-body domestically, but was somewhat pacified to see PPN on the next flight out of HYD: I was on AI 840, the previous flight, on a scheduled A319) Narrow-body switches on the AI 126/7 route are not that often, slightly lower loads have sometimes seen a DEL-based Dream)liner doing the job last year, for instance.
Nimish: cargo pallet sizes and number are sometimes an issue with narrow-bodies.
I repeat this, since I have information from quite a few people in the know: with those flights that I have written about (DEL/BOM-based), narrow-bodies are deputed as and when required, or smaller capacity wide-bodies, when the capacity demands it.
Routes like AI 101/2 get a wide-body even when loads/cargo do not warrant it to rotate the plane through the heavy maintenance base at BOM. AI 101/2 often does not get pax loads suitable for a B77W.
Nimish: please check out AI's bank of flights around the flight timings: it is often possible for them to send a narrow-body as and when required. They often change the gauge on domestic narrow-body segments, seamlessly juggling between A319/A320/A321s, and even up-gauging them on occassion. The DEL-CCU route in autumn last year saw up to THREE, yes three Dream)liner flights on some routes which would have otherwise seen narrow-bodies.
AI have problems with political interference among other reasons (bad PR, poor announcements of some upcoming routes, and following it up), but their route and capacity planning is usually spot-on. I can say this with a certain degree of confidence.
With regard to circumstantial evidence, ask me. I guess I fly AI more than anyone else on this forum. I have not been very regular with trip reports in the past three months, but that is set to change soon. For the better Smile
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

me111993 wrote:
I just wrote down a very basic intro sir, I really struggle writing imaginatively.
You write very well, Sir. I love reading your reports not just for the factual information, not just for the nice pictures: your descriptions are superb.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 7:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

me111993 wrote:
...


Yeah, that carpet's ugliness isn't it's only sin. It's in the wrong place. I don't get what they need to have carpeting in the passageways, when they really should have tiles. Lounges are amongst the few places where a carpet is warranted, to keep noise at a minimum. Instead, we'll most likely have tiles or wooden flooring in the lounges. Ugh.

The worst of all though is AI's inflight decor. Those colours just need to go immediately. To repeat what Mrs Thatcher said when she spied that man's clothes on my LX flight : No. No. NO.

But besides that, the terminal does seem like a job very well done. Hopefully they will iron out the immigration/baggage/mosquito wrinkles soon.

Karan69 wrote:
why in your pics does only a 9W 737 have bus boarding despite it being parked between two empty jet bridges

It's the JetPrinciple of it! Really? You haven't figured out all the lalaness by now? Smile

sumantra wrote:
AI have problems with political interference among other reasons (bad PR, poor announcements of some upcoming routes, and following it up), but their route and capacity planning is usually spot-on. I can say this with a certain degree of confidence.

I'm not 100% sold on that. AI have certainly done great things at DEL and do seem to have figured out what a functioning hub means.

At BOM though, things remain a bit dysfunctional. AMD is one of the major trunk air routes from BOM. Yet, AI give us this:


2 am **
5 am **
6 pm
7 pm **

** means it's one of those retarded connectors (which do exactly the opposite of the EY9W pre-clearance deal). That's 3 of 4. Two flights bunched up together at nasty o'clock and two bunched up together in the evening. Nothing during the day.

I'm not that familiar with AI's entire schedule, but does that really make sense?
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 6:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jasepl wrote:
I'm not 100% sold on that. AI have certainly done great things at DEL and do seem to have figured out what a functioning hub means.
DEL's domestic departure banks give excellent flexibility for handling otherwise cascading delays, and IRROPS handling.
jasepl wrote:
At BOM though, things remain a bit dysfunctional.
AI's narrow-body management at BOM is quite good, Jason, you would have also seen this. The wide-bodies tan themselves on the tarmac. IRROPS in the network are managed through both DEL and BOM. Havign been in a few IRROPS situations as a passenger made me thank my stars I was on AI, and not any other airline.
jasepl wrote:
AMD is one of the major trunk air routes from BOM. Yet, AI give us this:
...those retarded connectors...Nothing during the day.
Nasty o'clock: yes. `Nothing during the day' is definitely an issue. Can I get back to you on this? They have covered up the `London jAvANU' with a scheduled narrow-body for the pax loads on the AI 103/131 BOM-LHR flights. Jason, the `connectors' are not that bad, are they? RIshul and many others noted very poor loads on this route in the pre-`merger' days, but post the DEL hub and all the restructuring AI has gone through, I do not see them do too badly in terms of loads, and suiting the purpose.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I hope once the terminal construction is complete, I dont need to do bus transfer again! Otherwise this terminal looks good.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sumantra wrote:
Nasty o'clock: yes. `Nothing during the day' is definitely an issue. Can I get back to you on this? They have covered up the `London jAvANU' with a scheduled narrow-body for the pax loads on the AI 103/131 BOM-LHR flights. Jason, the `connectors' are not that bad, are they? RIshul and many others noted very poor loads on this route in the pre-`merger' days, but post the DEL hub and all the restructuring AI has gone through, I do not see them do too badly in terms of loads, and suiting the purpose.


Sure.

The JetSuitcase could be part of the explanation.

That said, instead of giving you a long and convoluted speech, I'll just say that AI should be looking at BOM as primarily an O&D base, not one to go out of the way to build connections over. Besides Newark, there are no international destinations that aren't served from DEL. And even domestic, the only places served from BOM and not DEL are probably Jamnagar and Rajkot (and maybe one or two southern cities) - hardly network-making or breaking stuff.

So, if they must have this retarded connector (really past it's sell by date), it should be just the one. AI do need 3-4 "domestic" flights (ie from Terminal 1) between Bombay and Ahmedabad, not the other way around.

(Also, I must re-iterate that when I say AI, I mean AI and not IC. Air India have long been a lost cause and IC married down and got screwed in many ways).
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jasepl wrote:
The JetSuitcase could be part of the explanation.
Quite possible, Jason, I am waiting for some more information.
jasepl wrote:
I'll just say that AI should be looking at BOM as primarily an O&D base, not one to go out of the way to build connections over. Besides Newark, there are no international destinations that aren't served from DEL. And even domestic, the only places served from BOM and not DEL are probably Jamnagar and Rajkot (and maybe one or two southern cities) - hardly network-making or breaking stuff.
This is absolutely true Jason, but the new AI possibly will not simply move out of BOM, thanks to the establishment there, and the heavy Engg base. The ex-IC and PM-AI: both have had strong establishments at BOM. The aircraft utilisation at AI is not as high a la an efficient LCC such as Indigo, but the slack in the schedules, and secondary hub at BOM ensures some decent IRROPS handling, which I have seen personally, in addition to a few more in the family: my father has flown both ex-IC and PM-AI extensively in the past, and flies the new AI quite a lot.
jasepl wrote:
So, if they must have this retarded connector (really past it's sell by date), it should be just the one. AI do need 3-4 "domestic" flights (ie from Terminal 1) between Bombay and Ahmedabad, not the other way around.
Point well taken, Jason: the need for more T1A/1C flights and not domestic connectors for the BOM-AMD sector - but Jason, I have seen quite a few connectors do quite well. Yes, those out of BOM as well. Take the HKG flight for instance. I have seen this personally, and have lots of circumstantial evidence, plus some information from senior cabin crew on the flights, and some from people in the know. AI 310/314 is the daily BOM-DEL 8pm flight from BOM T2 (Sahar), which is a terminal I have patronised quite often, not just during my Mumbaikar days, through I did not like the then renovated T2 at all. I have written about this in detail, as well. This flight has seen a good capacity match: I have seen A319s, A320s and A321s on the route, with the plane going jam-packed. And much to my pleasant surprise, a fair percentage of the traffic is domestic, passengers such as Yours Truly. Domestic passengers (and not just aviation nuts like me) do seem to go to Sahar to take this flight to DEL. I have taken quite a few other domestic connectors, which are not all wide-body flights, just to experience a domestic `D' and see an international terminal as a domestic passenger. This includes AI 43 for instance, from the old and shabby MAA international to DEL. Domestic loads were decent - but ah, MAA and CCU has/had adjacent terminals, so this argument doesn't really count for airports with terminals a good distance apart. I think the connectors still see good patronage on quite a few sectors I have seen. An integrated BOM T2 should solve many problems.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 10:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Let's say one's for Newark and the second for London. That's the only two long-haul destinations AI have from Bombay. Then what's the third connector for?

Things were different until not too long ago, when there was much less competition. Today, many people - eg yours truly - who'd otherwise be perfectly happy to fly AI on BOM-AMD will avoid it because of the added international drama and the rubbish timings.

Again, I'm not completely up to date on all of AI's flight timings, especially out of DEL, but my understanding is that they have a couple of major banks for the long-hauls. So same deal with BOM-DEL : One or two flights around the primary banks should be enough.

There's another issue, especially for connecting flights and flights between major cities: what if you miss your connection and the next flight is from/to a different terminal? I don't know the answer to that.

As for an integrated BOM, when that happens, then the connectors should go altogether. As it is DEL is a single-terminal operation now so there's no bus / transfer issues. The whole connector business may be popular for some, but we really do need to have a common approach for all airlines on all flights at all airports when it comes to immigrations & customs. But we can't even get the immigration stamps to match, so let's not hold our breaths!
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 11:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jasepl wrote:
Let's say one's for Newark and the second for London. That's the only two long-haul destinations AI have from Bombay. Then what's the third connector for?
Jason, it is precisely for these two questions that intrigue me as well, that I am waiting for an answer. The second of course, is the absence of day-time flights. I have a few guesses, but I will not hazard them in either case, since in the first case, I do not know the rotations of the plane at that time, and the available inventory; and in the second, about the possibility of a dictat. I should get an answer in the next few days. I am also waiting quite eagerly on this.
jasepl wrote:
Today, many people - eg yours truly - who'd otherwise be perfectly happy to fly AI on BOM-AMD will avoid it because of the added international drama and the rubbish timings.
Perfectly true, Jason: first, I am waiting for the two answers above. Second, I do not contest what you term as `nasty o'clock' connector flights. They would indeed be nastier for domestic passengers. My point was with regard to AI's other domestic connectors for international flights. They are timed quite decently even for connecting domestic passengers, who patronise them quite well. Quite unlike aviation nuts like Yours Truly, who take it for the thrill and the experience (`hey, I am doing an international flight domestically!' I do about one international return flight a year-yes, on AI no less for most of the journey, but nothing quite beats a domestic international experience, more so, if it is on a wide-body Smile )
jasepl wrote:
Again, I'm not completely up to date on all of AI's flight timings, especially out of DEL, but my understanding is that they have a couple of major banks for the long-hauls. So same deal with BOM-DEL : One or two flights around the primary banks should be enough.
Spot on with the first statement, and as regards the second point, the only domestic connectors on the BOM-DEL route are the daily JFK and HKG flights, and the non-daily PVG. All other BOM-DEL flights are purely domestic ones, but I&C at DEL T3 isn't really that much of an issue, with lots of counters, and a shocking streamlined efficiency that is so un-Delhi'ite in nature!
jasepl wrote:
There's another issue, especially for connecting flights and flights between major cities: what if you miss your connection and the next flight is from/to a different terminal? I don't know the answer to that.
This is the worst-case scenario, but AI have a history of delaying connectors, and alternately, arranging for the main flight to wait. I have experienced this quite a few times in person. And that also contributes in part to AI's bad OTP. AI's OTP is bad at both its primary hub at DEL, and secondary hub at BOM: I have wondered why, as most business hour flights see good OTP.
jasepl wrote:
but we really do need to have a common approach for all airlines on all flights at all airports when it comes to immigrations & customs.
Jason, that is ture: AI have a unfair advantage over all other airlines in India, in this regard. This also takes away some flyers, who would have flown other airlines, just for the convenience of the entire operation. While it doesn't matter to me, since I fly AI most of the while, I have been intrigued at AI's connections on international flights, and what it means for a connecting passenger on AI. While I have seen incidental evidence of AI's DEL T3 hub working well, I will do a thorough analysis of this in a trip report on my November 2013 San Diego trip, as the number of destinations which passengers were connecting to on AI 126, beat my wildest expectations. This will take some time to write down, so please bear with me here.
jasepl wrote:
But we can't even get the immigration stamps to match, so let's not hold our breaths!
Ha ha, nice observation!
Cheers, Sumantra.
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stealthpilot
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice pics of MAA international terminal. Looks .... bare? Very new but AAI'ish?
Airborne in 35 seconds is short? .... you've been on too many long hauls Laughing

Amazing pics of BOM. Great for the city to finally have an airport they can be proud of.
GVK seem to have done a great job architecture wise, lets just hope it's not super expensive to run (a la GMRs HYD-DEL)- I hope MIAL makes money! Having lots of space + high ceilings + lots of space is great, as long as they can afford it.

jasepl wrote:
Yeah, that carpet's ugliness isn't it's only sin. It's in the wrong place. I don't get what they need to have carpeting in the passageways, when they really should have tiles. Lounges are amongst the few places where a carpet is warranted, to keep noise at a minimum. Instead, we'll most likely have tiles or wooden flooring in the lounges. Ugh.


I guess im one of the few who prefer the carpet ... SIN style.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 8:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Great Report RiS,

Really loved the pictures, what i like best about the terminal is the spotting views

What i liked best is though your intro paragraph and your trip report build up


And yes lucky to get your umpteeth rw 14/32 combo i am yet to land on any of these, and perhaps never will....fortunately have atleast departed from there

BTW, this is a jab at you and JiB, why in your pics does only a 9W 737 have bus boarding despite it being parked between two empty jet bridges Very Happy Very Happy

Karan


- Thanks a lot KaB!

- Fully agree with that, spotting views are two thumbs way up!

- Thanks a lot!

- To be fair, they had one flight, to BAH, which didn't have the aerobridge, just that that plane, JGF, has been pictured a couple of times over, one more plane with stairs was JGC, the -900, but that was laying eggs baking in the sun, doesn't fly international. Every other flight, KWI DMM RUH DXB, all had aerobridges.

Quote:
Nice pics of MAA international terminal. Looks .... bare? Very new but AAI'ish?
Airborne in 35 seconds is short? .... you've been on too many long hauls Laughing

Amazing pics of BOM. Great for the city to finally have an airport they can be proud of.
GVK seem to have done a great job architecture wise, lets just hope it's not super expensive to run (a la GMRs HYD-DEL)- I hope MIAL makes money! Having lots of space + high ceilings + lots of space is great, as long as they can afford it.

jasepl wrote:
Yeah, that carpet's ugliness isn't it's only sin. It's in the wrong place. I don't get what they need to have carpeting in the passageways, when they really should have tiles. Lounges are amongst the few places where a carpet is warranted, to keep noise at a minimum. Instead, we'll most likely have tiles or wooden flooring in the lounges. Ugh.


I guess im one of the few who prefer the carpet ... SIN style.



MAA terminal is bare, very AAI-ish indeed. Smile

35 secs, I've been on too many of those Spicy 737s with derated engines which take longer!

Thanks a lot for the comment on pics, i try my best, good to see them come off.

GVK definitely seem to do better than GMR at this.

Carpets, IMO, its where they are placed, what Jason said made a lot of sense, they have it, where its not really needed, and dont have it where it is.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sumantra sir / Jason,

there's a slight differential, inbound to AMD, they have 3 flights, and on AMD-BOM, they have 4, the 3rd one being the AMD-BOM-MCT flight, on return this plane simply comes into BOM, and connecting pax take the LHR international connector back to AMD.

Sticking to AMD alone, i dont think they pull in any sort of O&D, their morning flight caters to the evening JED flight, as ive herd a lot, but thats pretty much it, I think there might be a political angle to 191/144 being a 77W service all the time, cargo makes just as much sense.

DEL, I hope they make the PVG flight walla international connector a daily flight, be it a 787 run, they connect to the whole EU bank, AI 101/102 are critical, AI is #3 on the BOM-ORD market, simply by virtue of this flight, they should do away with the HKG connector, IMO, enough domestic flights connecting one way, and 4 days of the week, the PVG flight does the job.

BOM-MAA is critical, AI struggles the hell out of BOM-SIN, clubbing it with MAA-SIN, which AI leads in, would average out the losses on a stand alone BOM-SIN flight. The stupid thing they do is that there's an IX flight leaving at about the same time, on BOM-MAA, which goes to CMB.

you know, BOM-SIN reminds me, in about a few months from now, you'll have an SQ 380 parked in BOM, and right behind that plane, you'll have an AI 319 and a 9W 737 parked on a remote stand doing the same flight. Razz

some more random musings,

If you look at AIs network, they've never been frequency oriented ex BOM, which would cause them to lose majorly on the domestic business segment, you lose the leisure segment by having 12 am and 5 am flight, MAA, they do their bit to show the most basic requirement, 2 morning-mid/morning flights, 2 evening/late-evening flights 4 a day, thats it, nothing that compares to the 8-10 flights a day 9W/6E have.
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sumantra
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 20, 2014 11:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rishul: you have basically put in all the points. I had my reply today, but had not formatted it well, and being in Chandigarh without an Internet connection saw me behind the clock, as usual. My reply is only a bit different, I will post it in the next few days, along with some points about AI's point of view, and connections.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 22, 2014 3:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

me111993 wrote:
DEL, I hope they make the PVG flight walla international connector a daily flight, be it a 787 run, they connect to the whole EU bank, AI 101/102 are critical, AI is #3 on the BOM-ORD market, simply by virtue of this flight, they should do away with the HKG connector, IMO, enough domestic flights connecting one way, and 4 days of the week, the PVG flight does the job.

Whilst I still think the connectors need to go, I can't imagine AI have more than 2-3 "banks" for long-haul flights out of DEL or BOM. So even if these connectors continue, all they need are 2-3 between BOM-DEL and just the one between BOM and AMD. To mess up the whole thing for Muscat is just dumb.

me111993 wrote:
If you look at AIs network, they've never been frequency oriented ex BOM, which would cause them to lose majorly on the domestic business segment, you lose the leisure segment by having 12 am and 5 am flight, MAA, they do their bit to show the most basic requirement, 2 morning-mid/morning flights, 2 evening/late-evening flights 4 a day, thats it, nothing that compares to the 8-10 flights a day 9W/6E have.

It wasn't always the case, of course. The advent of competition certainly played a part, but there's certainly more to the story.

AI's move north to DEL wouldn't have been a factor in the decline, because IC was always DEL-based and the move of long-haul operations shouldn't impact core domestic routes like BLR, MAA, AMD, CCU etc.

But you're right, besides DEL, it looks like the greatest daily frequency they have is 4 flights to AMD, BLR, GOI, HYD and MAA - the same places have 8-10 flights on Indigo or Jet. And even those 4 flights aren't all at the best of times. That's it - everywhere else has rather sparse service, or no service at all.

Another glaring example is Baroda - a significant market that makes good money, but AI no longer serve it. Whether it's true or not I don't know, but the theory goes that Jet arranged for IC to drop the route and then made it difficult for Indigo to enter.


sumantra wrote:
My reply is only a bit different, I will post it in the next few days, along with some points about AI's point of view, and connections.
Cheers, Sumantra.

Sumantra - let us know when you hear back! Laokar!
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 23, 2014 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jasepl wrote:
Sumantra - let us know when you hear back!
Jason and Rishul, just hold on a bit longer. I have heard back, and this is a relative lot of material to compile, including some recent AI wide-body movements, due to capacity and Dream)liner glitch constraints, illustrating the point I was making. Ameya would be mad with me, but I guess contributing to a very popular thread on Rishul's excellent trip report would be better utilisation of my time this evening, than complete my own trip report, which I will do so, very soon. I will reply, in a few hours from now. It takes me quite a bit of time, being technically challenged: I do not use any BBCode/html editor: I use a plain ASCII editor: vi/vim, on which I manually type out BBCode/html syntax and tags, and put in a version for keeps, for myself.
Cheers, Sumantra.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just to get back to what this section is all about, fantastic report RiS! The pictures are a visual treat, and bud, I was ecstatic seeing your coverage and T2 TR buildup with all the challenges thrown in!

The glory of BOM, part 2 ! \m/

Never mind the bumbling AI state of affairs at BOM and ex-India overall, compounded by D)L issues! I guess now that they have the compensation, D)L niggles can be tolerated at the expense of schedules and aircraft subs. Atleast thats what appears from the frequent subs.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mel11993 wrote:

Loved your pics. Thanks for posting.
I can't wait to see the new BOM terminal later this year!



sumantra wrote:


Have I missed out on some flight?
Cheers, Sumantra.


yes sir, you forgot the Kabootar express ATQ-DEL-BHX. Wink

How is that doing, with respect to loads/yields?
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mel11993 wrote:

Loved your pics. Thanks for posting.
I can't wait to see the new BOM terminal later this year!


sumantra wrote:


Have I missed out on some flight?
Cheers, Sumantra.


yes sir, you forgot the Kabootar express ATQ-DEL-BHX. Wink

How is that doing, with respect to loads/yields?
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The DEL - BHX flight is doing pretty well, with much decent yields than one expected. 4 weekly flights, lower operating costs of B787s and right configuration is making it work for AI.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 28, 2014 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

rutvij wrote:
Just to get back to what this section is all about, fantastic report RiS! The pictures are a visual treat, and bud, I was ecstatic seeing your coverage and T2 TR buildup with all the challenges thrown in!

The glory of BOM, part 2 ! \m/

.


thanks a lot, Rutvij and "The Goat".

Ojas, great to know!
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 2:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice report Rishul. I like the way you started off with the Bombay Airport constraints and development and then weaved this into your TR very nice way to start off.

I was recently in Chennai and I found the new Chennai Airport sub-standard and lacking in many facilities. I wish Chennai airport was also privatised what a waste of tax payers money.

I have never landed on a runway 14 approach into Bombay that would be a hell of experience specially when the plane flies from the sea skirmishing low rise apartments, crossing the so called western expressway to land.

Thanks for posting.

Sri_Bom
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PostPosted: Fri May 23, 2014 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rishul great TR this one!
Sorry for my really early reply - exams have just gotten over.

Impressive structure this new BOM T2, more so because of the constraints you mentioned in the beginning of your TR, fantastic!

From what I calculated, I think they just hit the delete button on 4 aero-bridge gates in the old T2 to bring this exotic one up.

Shame to see the new MAA terminal in such a shambolic state - judging by the glasses!
Nice to see the ground staff take a break from the sun standing underneath the wings, haha!
BTW, why was that FA on the floor....or so it looked like..?! Shocked

AI's catering has been quite erratic from what I have seen - steel cutlery with aluminum foil containers, to completely plastic stuff as you've shown!

Lovely pictures of Mumbai, from the top, of course!

And OMG what a structure T2 is! Amazing! Your brilliant pictures certainly makes me want to go there ASA(F)P! Oh, the 747 looked so majestic! (Wink)

Too bad the delay was so long, if you were seated on the starboard side, perhaps you could've caught some activity.

Credits to Sumantra sir, Nimish and Jason for such an intriguing discussion on AI's wide bodies (no, not the air hostesses - aunties is a very mean thing to say, but about the utilization of the wide body planes). Trust me, this discussion of yours got me planning something amazing..for myself at least, and I look forward to sharing it all with you!

KaB - yes, it is crazy that 9W had one of its B73H's parked right in between 2 aero bridges, but I counted 2 9W 737s with aero bridges attached to them, right in this TR. I wonder why you didn't say anything about that! Razz
Haha, jokes (y)

Regards
Jish
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 28, 2014 4:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I apologise for the months of silence. Here is the write-up, circa March 2013.
I will also re-post this as a part of a Mar'13 Chandigarh trip report.
Cheers, Sumantra.

Appendix: Air India: the Mumbai base, wide-bodies, etcetra. Mar'13

A.1 Mumbai's International Connections
Member Jason had pointed out that Air India's `connectors' had
perhaps lost their utility, and perhaps apart from the
Mumbai-London and Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Newark flight, Mumbai was no
longer the primary gateway to the world for Air India, with most
of their flights having shifted to Delhi. Mumbai still had
flights to quite a few international destinations, and served as
Air India's secondary hub. Mumbai had the following flights to
international destinations. The aircraft type is shown in
rectangular brackets, in this list. All this is circa March, 2014.

Departures out of BOM

- The early hours departures out of BOM
Abu Dhabi (AUH): AI 945 {12:05am-} [A319]
Newark (EWR): AI 191 {01:30am-} [B77W]
Bangkok (BKK): AI 330 {01:35am-} [A321]
Riyadh (RUH): AI 921 {02:50am-} [B77W]

- The morning departures out of BOM
London (LHR): AI 131 {07:00am-} [B788]
Shanghai (PVG): AI 348 {08:15am-} [B788]

- afternoon departures out of BOM
Jeddah (JED): AI 931/965 {04:50pm/04:55pm-} [B77W/B744]

- The evening/night departures out of BOM
Hong Kong (HKG): AI 310/314 {08:00pm-} [A319/A320/A321 to DEL, B788 to HKG]
Dubai (DXB): AI 983 {08:30pm-} [A321]
Singapore (SIN): AI 342 {09:25pm-} [A332]
New York (JFK): AI 101 {09:30pm-} [usually B77W, occassional substitutions]
Muscat (MCT): AI 985 {10:05pm-} [A320]

Arrivals into BOM

- The early hours arrivals into BOM
Riyadh (RUH): AI 920 {-12:30am} [B77W]
Hong Kong (HKG): AI 311/317 {-12:55am} [A319/A320/A321 to DEL, B788 to HKG]

- The morning arrivals bank into BOM
London (LHR): AI 131 {-04:00am} [B788]
Dubai (DXB): AI 984 {-04:05am} [A321]
Muscat (MCT): AI 986 {-04:10am} [A320]
Jeddah (JED): AI 930 {-04:45am} [B77W]
Shanghai (PVG): AI 348 {-06:15am} [B788]
Abu Dhabi (AUH): AI 944 {-06:55am} [A319]

- The noon time arrivals bank into BOM
Jeddah (JED): AI 964 {-12:05pm} [B744] (one stop)
Singapore (SIN): AI 342 {-01:00pm} [A332]

- The afternoon/evening arrivals bank into BOM
Newark (EWR): AI 191 {-05:30pm} [B77W]
New York (JFK): AI 101 {-06:55pm} [usually B77W, occassional substitutions]
Bangkok (BKK): AI 331 {-11:05pm} [A321]

A.2 The Air India Mumbai-Ahmedabad services
Member Jason pointed out that AMD was one of the major trunk air
routes from BOM. Yet, AI give the passenger mostly international
connectors, and nothing during the day.

``...those retarded connectors...Nothing during the day,'' he said.
Nasty o'clock: yes. `Nothing during the day' is definitely an issue.
``Can I get back to you on this?'' I asked. They have covered up the
`London jAvANU' with a scheduled narrow-body for the pax loads on
the AI 130/131 BOM-LHR flights. Jason, the `connectors' are not
that bad, are they? Rishul and many others noted very poor loads
on this route in the pre-`merger' days, but post the DEL hub and
all the restructuring AI has gone through, I do not see them do
too badly in terms of loads, and suiting the purpose.

Jason said, ``That said, instead of giving you a long and convoluted speech,
I'll just say that AI should be looking at BOM as primarily an
O&D base, not one to go out of the way to build connections over.
Besides Newark, there are no international destinations that
aren't served from DEL. And even domestic, the only places served
from BOM and not DEL are probably Jamnagar and Rajkot (and maybe
one or two southern cities) - hardly network-making or breaking stuff.''

``So, if they must have this retarded connector (really past it's
sell by date), it should be just the one. AI (and not the ex-IC)
do need 3-4 "domestic" flights (i.e., from Terminal 1) between Bombay and
Ahmedabad, not the other way around.''

Air India's main focus on this route seemed to be to provide
international connectivity rather than serve the domestic market.

AI 012: BOM-AMD {01:45am-02:50am} [A321]
AI 130: BOM-AMD {05:30am-06:30am} [A320] [`London jAvANU']
AI 643: BOM-AMD {05:50pm-07:00pm} [A320]
AI 144: BOM-AMD {06:55pm-08:10pm} [B77W]

Air India does not have a presence of the BOM-AMD daytime
flights, this is possibly not because of Jet Airways exerting
political pressure to take them out of the route. It is possibly
more because of the lack of aircraft to use on the route in the
day time. The morning and evening flights see good patronage from
the business crowd on an average, and this seems to be working
out well for the airline. As regards more flights, Air India
badly needs up to about 19 all-Economy sharkletted new A320s,
since without more planes, the airline will gradually end up
losing a share of the market pie. As of now, Jet is a prominent
player on the day-time BOM-AMD flights. The two prominent
low-cost carriers in India Indigo and SpiceJet often established
themselves on routes with some non-business hour flights, before
consolidating, and introducing business hour flights. The former
(Indigo) has some loyal corporate customers, from what I have heard.

A possibility for Air India was to route one of the DEL-BOM
flights via AMD, but there were two issues: lack of planes, and
possibly most of the day time traffic being relatively low-yield,
which may not be worth chasing for the beleaguered national
carrier, on an upswing. The corporate/business flights on the
BOM-AMD segment had a good percentage of high priced ticket
bookings close to the day of the flight, giving better yields to
the airline, as opposed to the day time flights, which have seen
lower priced tickets being booked well in advance.

There was an important point with regard to the AI 191/144 legs.
This came from the statistics Rishul mentioned in his
lovely trip report, Mumbai's Spectacular New T2 + AI 332/77W

As both Jason and Nimish pointed out, it was
possibly a waste of taxpayers' money, sending a load of 70
passengers onto AMD on a B77W. Further, as Nimish pointed out,
would this not incur cycles on the B77W, advancing its age?
I had replied, saying that I could say this with some conviction,
since not just did I have incidental evidence, after the point
below, I will summarise AI's wide-body domestic legs for
international flights, and the reasons, and the loads. I have
some information from some people in the know. 70 pax on BOM-AMD
is a low load, but it is not quite usual. Rishul's last such
trip saw 80% loads. (191/238). I have myself seen amazing loads
on a much larger aircraft, the B744. Not just loads, this segment
seems to get huge cargo loads, which a narrow-body cannot do
justice to. Please read on, below, about AI accommodating
passengers on this flight, and cancelling the other narrow-body flight.

The odd-time AI 012 turns around as AI 131, the narrow-body
domestic connector for the LHR flight, with a routing AMD-BOM-LHR.
AI 130 from BOM which provides excellent connectivity on the
AMD-BOM sector with a nice early morning departure from AMD.
The only current blemish may be the fact that this flight uses the
current International terminal at Mumbai, and not the domestic
one. Many passengers prefer the slightly more centrally located
Santa Cruz (CSIA Terminal 1A/B/C) to the current non-integrated
CSIA T2 at Sahar. Sahar is however more convenient for those at
my earlier place of work, however. There is another point with
regard to the current international terminal. Please read on,
below. Air India had changed a flight which operated to the
domestic T1, to the international T2. Of course, when the
terminal would end up integrating operations at Mumbai, things
would be more uniform, which is sometimes an issue, give that the
two terminals are quite some distance apart from each other,
almost at the two ends of the main runway 09-27 at Mumbai.

In the evening, AI 643 departs to AMD very close to AI 144
because its a positioning flight for AMD-BOM-MCT. Air India gets
some significant international connections on this route because
the flight also connects to the DXB flight. The AI 614/643
service provides a full working day in BOM.

Air India gets a lot of international connectivity from AMD and
has a very loyal clientele from the state of Gujarat.
That is why the early morning AI 618/619 from DEL
has now changed to AI 18/19. Also, in the evening sees AI 11/12 and
AI 30/31 from DEL. Both the evening flights depart within
couple of hours of each other. Air India does not operate AI 11/12
when the loads are poor, shifting passengers onto the other
evening flight, thus making a good match of the passenger loads,
with the aircraft type deployed.

However, the same logic does not apply to the AI 101/102 route.
They just can't do it either due to aircraft unavailability or
due to the need to position the aircraft for the next flight.
Air India find it more economic to rotate the wide-bodies from
Delhi via their heavy engineering base at Mumbai. I have seen
most aircraft in the Air India fleet doing this route, the B77W,
B77L, the A332, the Dream)liner, and on occassion, even an
A321/A320/A319, though the latter has been quite rare, only about
one or twice a month.

A.3 Air India's domestic wide-body services, circa March 2014

I had compiled a list of Air India's domestic wide-body services.
I have been over-enthusiastic about experiences these somewhat
rare fraction of Air India's services, usually trying not to miss
a wide-body experience in the domestic skies. This is exotic for
me, since I anyway usually end up patronising Air India on the
longer wide-body routes. In most of these, I have put in some of
my notes along with the route, based on information I have from
my contacts, and what I have read about on this forum, as well as
circumstantial evidence, which I have seen as a frequent
traveller on Air India's network.

International Flight legs

1. AMD-BOM-AMD on AI 191/144: the Newark flight, the `Gujju Express'
Good loads: pax+cargo. At one time, AI's perhaps only consistent
money earner, right from the B744 days, when the flight was via CDG.
2. HYD-DEL-HYD on AI 127/126: the Chicago flight
Good loads: pax+cargo. AI's second cash cow. Check the average
loads. The B77W often goes full, and is often sold out completely
a few days before the flight. Yes, that includes the
international segment as well. AI's second, and newest cash-cow.
3. BOM-MAA-BOM on AI 342/343: the Singapore flight
Good loads: pax+cargo, plus the economic advantage of an A332.
4. BOM-DEL-BOM on AI 101/102: the JFK flight
The loads on the domestic segment are on an average, quite
average. Cargo: not too bad. What justifies this leg, then?
AI uses this leg to rotate wide-bodies through BOM, the heavy
maintenance base. I have seen most wide-bodies on this route:
B77Ls, B77Ws, Dream)liners, and on occassion, even an A332
(getting back after a Haj run to DEL). This is much better than
the other alternative: of having to run ferry flights. This works
out well for AI, financially, and has been the case, over the
years, in spite of passenger loads ranging from the average, to bad.
5. BOM-DEL-BOM on AI 348/349: the Shanghai flight
A combination of the factors above, including the last one. AI
uses this leg to rotate the Dream)liners through BOM, now-a-days.
6. HYD-BOM-HYD on AI 965/964: the Jeddah flight
This is a twice weekly flight on a B744 but does not seem to be
doing too badly. I do not know as much about this flight, as the
others, above. This flight seems to have some J (Business) demand.
AI 965 is BOM-HYD-JED and AI 964 is JED-HYD-BOM. The B744 is
based at BOM, at AI's heavy engineering base.
7. CCJ-COK-CCJ on AI 962/963: India's shortest domestic B744 flight
This is again not a daily flight on a B744 and perhaps doesn't do
that badly, else it would have been pulled out sooner than one
would have expected. Again, I do not know that much about this flight.
AI 962 is CCJ-COK and AI 963 is COK-CCJ twice a week. CCJ-JED on
the other hand, is a 5 weekly flight both ways, in which on two
days, the plane serves COK as well.
8. AI 113/114: the BHX flight, kabUtar Express, and the
corresponding purely domestic positioning flights

This is the flight on the infamous illegal immigration route.
Air India had started this flight under severe political
pressure. AI could not start this on a Dream)liner, and then
change the domestic sector to a narrow-body.
The only saviour was perhaps the Dream)liner's economics, and
the fact that they decided to go this route 4 times a week, and
not daily. As Ojas wrote, the flight is doing quite well (in
spite of a very short domestic leg on a wide-body), with much
decent yields than one expected. The winning formula was having 4
weekly flights, the lower operating costs of the Dream)liners,
and the right seating configuration. The Dream)liner comes back
as a domestic flight AI 462 on four days from Amritsar, and the
other three days, this route is operated by an A321. The opposite
direction has AI 461 for four days as a Dream)liner, and three,
as an A321. On lean days, AI have also cancelled a narrow-body
flight, and had passengers transferred onto the Dream)liner.

Purely Domestic Flights
The A332s and of course, the Dream)liners do well on the longer
domestic flights, typically the 02:30 hour legs.

1. AI 803/505 DEL-BLR-DEL
This route has seen occassional A321s, on days when some
Dream)liners fell short, or when loads did not warrant a
Dream)liner.
2. AI 439/430 DEL-MAA-DEL
This route started the domestic Dream)liner service, but has seen
the larger capacity A332s often operate it on busy days (plus
when the Dream)liners have not been available).
3. AI 20/701 DEL-CCU-DEL
The DEL-CCU route saw three out of the four daily services on
Dream)liners, in the peak season. There is a huge traffic between
the two cities, and Air India has adjusted the capacity, with the
narrow-bodies (CR7, A319, A320, A321) and the Dream)liners (and
the A332s) on service between the city pairs, including a time
when a B744 did one of the runs. Coming back to the AI 20/701
routing specifically, this flight connects well from one of the
two LHR-DEL flights (AI 112), among others. I have seen passengers
connecting onwards to Dhaka via Calcutta, AI 230, an A319 flight.
AI 20 in fact connects well to the morning-late morning arrival
bank of International flights. This has been one of the success
stories for Air India, when a CCU-LHR flight would not have made
economic success alone, even on a Dream)liner, given the current
traffic figures (till March 2014).

A.4 Other `International Connectors'

Air India has had the concept of an `international connector' to
allow passengers to clear immigration and customs at the point of
the start of the journey, rather than the major leg, which leave
India. Of course, a seamless check-in of baggage is also a part
of the deal. At some places (such as Delhi and Mumbai,
prominently), the international and domestic terminals were far
apart from each other. An international connector would do an
international-international transfer.
How relevant is this in today's times?

Air India do not seem to be doing the international connectors
too badly. I tried to compile a list of these flights, save those
I have already mentioned above, in the domestic wide-body
part, or the BOM-AMD segment.
There are quite a lot of them, and I have written notes beside them.

An interesting point is that even if a particular flight is not
an international connector, Air India often hold a connecting
flight for booked passengers, at the cost of its on-time
performance figures. I have seen this at DEL (their primary hub,
of course), BOM (their secondary hub) and interestingly, at BLR
(where there were connecting passengers from a delayed MLE
flight, one day). I am reasonably sure they do it at other places as well.

International Departure Banks at DEL
- The morning bank of international departures from DEL:
DAC AI 231 {06:05am-09:00am} [A320]
LHR AI 115 {06:40/06:45/06:50am-} [B788]
KTM AI 213 {07:20am-09:00am} [A320]

- The early afternoon bank of international departures from DEL:
PVG AI 348 (4 times per week) {11:50am-08:00pm} [B788]
KBL AI 243 (6 times per week) {12:35pm-01:35pm} [A320]
DMM AI 913 {01:00pm-02:30pm} [A320]
MEL/SYD AI 302 {01:00pm-} [B788]
KTM AI 215 {01:10pm-02:55pm} [A321]
CDG AI 143 {01:10pm-06:00pm} [B788]
BHX AI 113 (4 times per week) {01:15pm-05:00pm} [B788]
BKK AI 332 {01:25pm-07:20pm} [A321]
FRA AI 121 {01:35pm-06:00pm} [B788]
RUH AI 925 (twice a week) {02:00pm-04:45pm} [B77W]
LHR AI 111 [02:45pm-06:55pm} [B77W]

- The afternoon/evening miscellaneous international departures from DEL:
JED AI 991 {04:05pm-07:45pm} [B77W]
BAH-AUH AI 941 {06:15pm-10:55pm} [A319]
MCT AI 973 {07:20pm-09:25pm} [A320]
DXB AI 995 {08:40pm-10:45pm} [B788]
NRT AI 306 {09:15pm-08:00am} [B788]

- The late night/early hours bank of departures from DEL:
HKG-KIX/ICN AI 310/314 {11:15pm-} [B788]
SIN AI 380 [12:05am-08:00am} [A319]
(*) DME AI 155 (4 times per week) {01:25am-05:15am} [B77L/B788] (not started)
JFK AI 101 {01:35am-07:35am} [B77W]
RUH AI 925 (once a week) {01:55am-04:45am} [B77L]
ORD AI 127 {02:00am-07:30am}

International Arrival Banks into DEL

- The early morning arrival bank into DEL
PVG AI 349 (4 times per week) {-02:45am} [B788]
LHR AI 116 {-02:50am} [B788]
MCT AI 974 {-03:30am} [A320]
DXB AI 996 {-04:45am} [B788]
JED AI 990 (thrice a week) {-05:10am} [B77W]
AUH-BAH AI 940 {-05:20am} [A319]

- The morning/mid-day arrival bank into DEL
FRA AI 120 {-09:35am} [B788]
CDG AI 142 {-10:05am} [B788]
BHX AI 114 {-10:05am} [B788] (thank you Abhijith, for pointing this out!)
DMM AI 912 {-10:15am} [A320]
LHR AI 112 {-11:20am} [B77W]
KTM AI 214 {-11:25am} [A320]
DAC AI 232 {-11:45am} [A320]
BKK AI 333 {-12:05pm} [A321]
SIN AI 381 {-12:30pm} [A319]
RUH AI 924 {-12:35pm} [B77L/B77W]

- The afternoon/evening arrival bank into DEL
JFK AI 102 {-03:00pm} [B77W]
(*) DME AI 154 (4 times a week) {-03:20pm} [B77L/B788] (not started)
ORD AI 126 {-03:25pm} [B77W]
KTM AI 216 {-05:00pm} [A321]
KBL AI 244 {-05:55pm} [A320]
NRT AI 307 {-06:00pm} [B788]
MEL/SYD AI 301 {-06:15pm} [B788]

- The night arrival bank into DEL
BHX AI 114 {-08:30pm} [B788]
KIX/ICN-HKG {-09:35pm} [B788]

International connectors to DEL

AI 018 AMD-DEL {08:05am-09:35am} [A319]
Business hour O&D on the AMD-DEL route, plus
connecting well to the early afternoon bank of international flights,
Intriguingly, this connects well from the Kuwait flight to AMD.
AI 982 (thrice a week) {12:05am-06:05am} [A320]

AI 011 AMD-DEL {08:15pm-09:40pm} [A321]
Business hour O&D on the AMD-DEL route, plus
connecting to the Hong Kong-Seoul/Osaka, and by default, the
late night/early hours bank of international flights, though
there is a later flight some two hours after this one, which
connects better to the late night/early hours bank.

AI 030 AMD-DEL {10:05pm-11:30pm} [A321]
Connects well to the late night/early hours bank of international
flights.

AI 113 ATQ-DEL (4 times per week) {10:30am-11:45am} [B788]
This is the connector for the Birmingham flight, and
connects well to all flights of the early afternoon bank of
international departures out of Delhi, except for the extremely
tight PVG connection.

AI 115 ATQ-DEL {03:00am-04:15am} [A321]
This is primarily a narrow-body connector for the Air India B788
flight to London Heathrow, which goes on with the same flight
number. this also connects well to the morning bank of departures
which apart from the Heathrow flight, includes the Dhaka and
morning Kathmandu flight.

AI 111 ATQ-DEL (thrice weekly) {10:30am-11:50am} [A320]
This is primarily an international narrow-body connector to the
LHR flight with the same number. This also connects well to all
international flights in the large early afternoon departures bank,
with the exception of the PVG flight.

AI 127 HYD-DEL {08:55pm-11:10pm} [B77W]
This is the Chicago flight, but connects well from Hyderabad to
the entire bank of late night/early hours bank, except for the
Hong Kong flight out of Delhi.

AI 143 MAA-DEL {08:45am-11:30am} [A320]
This is the international connector for the Paris flight,
primarily, but connects well to almost all flights in the early
afternoon bank: KBL/DMM/MEL-SYD/KTM/BHX/BKK/FRA/RUH/LHR.

AI 043 MAA-DEL {09:05pm-11:45pm} [A319]
This is the international connector to the North American bank of
flights out of DEL, JFK/ORD and the RUH flight too.
Interestingly, this flight connects from the CMB-MAA flight as well.
AI 274 {04:35pm-06:00pm} (6 times a week) [A321]

AI 018 AMD-DEL {08:05am-09:35am} [A319]
In addition to this being a business hour AMD-DEL flight, this
connects to the entire early afternoon bank of departures out of DEL

AI 047 COK-DEL {08:00pm-11:05pm} [A320]
This connects very well to the entire late night/early hours
international flight bank out of Delhi, primarily the North
American flights, and Singapore and RUH.

AI 021 CCU-DEL {10:00am-12:05pm} [A321]
This connects very well to the large early afternoon bank of
international departures out of Delhi, except the PVG flight.

AI 023 CCU-DEL {08:15pm-10:30pm} [A321]
This connects very well to the entire late night/early hours bank
of departures out of Delhi, primarily the North American bank
(which was the main target of this flight, anyway).

AI 348 BOM-DEL {08:15am-10:30am} (4 times a week) [B788]
This connects very well to the entire large early afternoon bank
of flights out of Delhi, though AI 1348/349 is primarily an O&D
set of flights.

AI 101 BOM-DEL {09:30pm-11:45pm} [B77W]
This connects very well to the entire bank of late night/early
departures bank of flights out of Delhi.

International connectors from DEL

AI 114 DEL-ATQ {12:40pm-01:45pm} (4 times per week) [B788]
This is the same-plane international connector from the
Birmingham flight to Delhi. Interestingly, while this is
primarily an O&D flight, this connects well to the Air India
flights to Eastern Asia, including a slightly tight NRT
connection, HKG-ICN/KIX and SIN.

AI 112 DEL-ATQ {12:40pm-01:45pm} (3 times per week) [A321]
This complements the AI 114 flights on the other days of the week.
This is the connector from the LHR flight of the same number.

AI 016 DEL-ATQ {10:00pm-11:20pm} [A321]
This connects well to the night arrivals bank into Delhi: BHX and
KIX/ICN-HKG

AI 126 DEL-HYD {05:00pm-07:15pm} [B77W]
This is primarily an O&D flight, but also taken in passengers
from the entire mid-day bank of arrivals, and the JFK flight,
onwards towards Hyderabad. Loads are usually excellent on this flight.

AI 142 DEL-MAA {12:30pm-03:15pm/01:55pm-04:45pm} [A320]
This is primarily the connector from the Paris flight, but also
connects well to the almost the entire morning/mid-day arrival
bank into DEL, including FRA/DMM/LHR/KTM/DAC.

AI 042 DEL-MAA {05:15pm-08:00pm} [A319]
This is primarily a connector from the afternoon/evening North
American arrival bank into DEL: JFK/ORD, it also connects
with some delay, with the morning/mid-day arrival bank into DEL.

AI 019 DEL-AMD {06:00am-07:30am} [A320]
In addition to being a business-hour DEL-AMD flight,
this connects well from the early morning bank of arrivals,
from PVG/LHR(usually unnecessary because of the BOM connection)/
MCT/DXB/JED/AUH-BAH.

AI 010 DEL-AMD {06:10pm-07:35pm} [A321]
In addition to being a business hour DEL-AMD flight,
this connects well from the North American arrival bank (JFK/ORD)
and KTM. The connection from the morning/mid-day arrival bank
into DEL is a bit on the higher side, and I doubt if there are
too many connecting passengers.
This also connects well to the KUW flight:
AMD-KUW AI 981 [thrice a week] {09:00pm-10:30pm} [A320]

AI 031 DEL-AMD {08:00pm-09:25pm} [A321]
In addition to being a business hour DEL-AMD flight,
this connects well from the KTM/KBL/NRT/MEL-SYD flights.

AI 048 DEL-COK-TRV {06:05pm-09:10pm, 09:50pm-10:40pm} [A321]
This connects well to the afternoon arrival bank into DEL,
primarily the North American flights.

AI 020 DEL-CCU {02:20pm-04:20pm} [B788]
This was primarily meant as the international connector for
passengers coming in from LHR, and serves as the primary reason.
However, this also connects well to many others in the
morning/mid-day arrival bank into Delhi.

AI 022 DEL-CCU {08:15pm-10:25pm} [A321]
Air India adjusts its capacity on this route using narrow-bodies
according to the season, the load, and the aircraft availability.
I have seen all of the A319/A320/A321s on this route. This
connects well to the afternoon/evening arrivals bank, and serves
as a backup for AI 764 (the scheduled 5pm domestic Calcutta
flight), in case the North American bank of
flights is delayed for some reason.

AI 349 DEL-BOM {04:00am-06:15am} (4 times a week) [B788]
This is primarily an O&D flight pair, but connects well to some
flights in the early arrival bank into Delhi.

AI 102 DEL-BOM {04:45pm-06:55pm} [B77W]
This is primarily an O&D flight, and one to rotate aircraft
through the Mumbai heavy engineering base. However, this connects
well from the Chicago arrival as well.

International connectors to BOM

AI 131 AMD-BOM {04:00am-05:05am} [A321]
This flight connects to the LHR flight with the same number, from BOM

AI 191 AMD-BOM {09:40pm-11:10pm} [B77W]
This of course, is the `Gujju Express', with usually a same plane
service to Newark.

AI 985 AMD-BOM {08:00pm-09:10pm} [A320]
This connects well to the SIN/JFK/MCT flights, though AMD
passengers could go straight to Delhi on a flight to catch the
JFK flight from there.

AI 343 SIN-MAA-BOM {08:20am-09:45am; 11:10am-01:00pm} [A332]
This is primarily an O&D flight, but connects somewhat late to
the JED flight.

AI 311/317 DEL-BOM {10:50pm-12:55am} [A321]
Primarily an O&D flight for KIX/ICN-HKG and DEL passengers, but
connects to the EWR early hours departures out of BOM.

AI 349 DEL-BOM {04:00am-06:15am} (4 times a week) [B788]
Primarily an O&D flight as well, but connects to the LHR flight,
which is just coincidental, here, apart from reasons of aircraft
rotations.

AI 102 DEL-BOM {04:45pm-06:55pm} [B77W]
Primarily an O&D flight, also used for rotating aircraft through
AI's BOM heavy engineering base. Coincidentally connects to the
evening departure bank as well.

International connectors from BOM

AI 144 BOM-AMD {06:55pm-08:10pm} [B77W]
Not just is the the connector from the EWR-BOM flight on the same
place (usually), this connects well to the AMD-KUW flight as well.

AI 342 BOM-MAA-SIN {09:25pm-11:10pm; 12:45am-07:20am} [A332]

AI 310/314 BOM-DEL {08:00pm-10:00pm} [A321]
This is the daily Hong Kong flight, which goes onward to Seoul
Incheon and Osaka Kansai on alternate days. The BOM-DEL segment
is on a narrow-body, while from DEL onwards, it is a wide-body.

AI 348 BOM-DEL {08:15am-10:30am} (4 times a week) [B788]

AI 101 BOM-DEL {09:30pm-11:45pm} [B77W]

The above two connections have been described in detail, above.

Miscellaneous International connectors

AI 962/963 (twice a week) [B744]
This serves as an international same-plane same flight
number connector for COK passengers for the otherwise 5 times per
week CCJ-JED flight.

AI 982/981 [A320] (thrice a week)
KWI-AMD-HYD-MAA, and vice versa. This is primarily an O&D flight.

AI 263/264 MAA-BLR-TRV-MLE and vice-versa [A320]
(BLR is missed one day of the week)

AI 993/994 BLR-GOI-DXB and vice versa (4 times a week) [A319]

AI 981/982 MAA-HYD-AMD-KWI and vice-versa (thrice a week) [A320]

AI 977/978 BLR-HYD-MCT and vice versa (thrice a week) [A319]

AI 975/976 MAA-GOI-KWI and vice-versa (four times a week) [A320]

AI 967/968 MAA-TRV-SJH and vice versa [A320]
(please read on below, on the SJH connections for DEL/BOM)

AI 951/952 VTZ-HYD-DXB and vice versa [A321]

AI 234 RGN-GAY-CCU (twice a week) {02:05pm-03:25pm; 05:15pm} [A320]
AI 233 CCU-GAY-RGN (once a week) {01:30pm-02:25pm; 03:00pm-06:00pm} [A319]

A.5 International Destinations not Directly Connected to DEL/BOM
The four prominent such cities are KUW, MLE, SJH and RGN (one
can perhaps add DAC and CMB to the list).

1. Kuwait (KUW)
The convenient international gateway is AMD, and not MAA/GOI/HYD

AMD-KUW AI 981 [thrice a week] {09:00pm-10:30pm} [A320]
The following international connectors connect to it:
DEL-AMD AI 019 {06:10pm-07:35pm} [A321]
BOM-AMD AI 144 {06:55pm-08:10pm} [B77W]

KUW-AMD AI 982 [thrice a week] {12:05am-06:05am} [A320]
The following international connectors connect to it:
AMD-DEL AI 018 {08:05am-09:35am} [A319]
This does not connect well to a Mumbai international connector,
only a domestic flight.

2. Male (MLE)
The convenient international gateway is TRV, BLR to some extent,
and MAA. However, neither the first, nor the second have an
international connector from DEL/BOM.

AI 265/266 BLR-MLE and vice-versa [A319]

3. Sharjah (SJH)
Sharjah is connected to Chennai, Kochi, Kozhikode, and Thiruvananthapuram.
The best connection is perhaps via Kochi.

SJH-COK AI 934 {01:30pm-07:00pm} [A320]
This connects well to
COK-DEL AI 047 {08:00pm-11:05pm} [A320]
and
COK-BOM AI 055 {10:00pm-11:45pm} [A319]

COK-SJH AI 933 {10:20am-12:30pm} [A320]
DEL has a domestic flight, but no international connector
connecting to this flight.
BOM-COK on the other hand, has such a flight:
BOM-COK AI 054 {05:35am-07:20am} [A319]

AI 968 SJH-TRV-MAA {12:05am-05:35am-07:50am} [A320]
While this connects well to the international connectors out of
MAA to DEL/BOM, the extra stop dos not make it worth it. This connects to
MAA-DEL AI 143 {08:45am-11:50am} [A320]
and
MAA-BOM AI 343 {11:10am-01:00pm} [A332]

AI 967 MAA-TRV-SJH {05:30pm; 06:5pm-10:25pm} [A320]

SJH-CCJ AI 998 {12:05am-05:15am} [A321]
CCJ-SJH AI 997 {08:15pm-10:45pm} [A321]
These flights do not have any international connector either way,
to/from Kozhikode.

4. Yangon/Rangoon [RGN]

India's main connection to the place is through Calcutta (and
Gaya, but the once-a-week Gaya flight goes through Calcutta.

RGN-GAY-CCU AI 234 (twice a week) {02:05pm-05:15pm} [A320]
RGN-CCU AI 228 (once a week) {06:45pm-07:45pm} [A319]
DEL has an international connector from Calcutta, which connects
from this flight, while there is no international connector to
BOM. (The last domestic flight from CCU to BOM does not connect to
the second flight, above.)
CCU-DEL AI 023 {08:15pm-01:30pm} [A321]

CCU-RGN AI 227 (twice a week) {10:35am-01:20pm} [A320]
CCU-GAY-RGN (once a week) {01:30pm-06:00pm} [A319]
Neither DEL nor BOM have any international connectors connecting
to either flight, pointing to not much regular traffic on the route.

5. Dhaka [DAC]
Dhaka is connected directly to Calcutta and Delhi, but Mumbai and
Chennai do not have any international connector to/from Calcutta.
AI 230 CCU-DAC {07:20pm-08:40pm} [A319]
AI 229 DAC-CCU {09:40pm-10:05pm} [A319]

6. Colombo [CMB]
Colombo is connected to Chennai alone.
AI 273 {02:15pm-03:35pm} (6 times a week) [A321]
There is no international connector from DEL which connects
comfortably with this flight, there are only the domestic
connectors at this time.

AI 274 {04:35pm-06:00pm} (6 times a week) [A321]
Passengers to Delhi connect on the international connector
AI 043 MAA-DEL {09:05pm-11:45pm} [A319]

A.6 Connecting on an AI flight at DEL IGI T3: Where, and How

Here, I had to take the help of my friend from Bhopal once again,
since I have not connected via DEL, which is my home base. He has
to often connect to flights out of DEL and BOM on official trips,
and occasionally MAA as well. He keeps detailed lists of such information.

A.6.1 International to International connections
Passengers head straight to the International connections desk
(at the mezzanine level), show their boarding passes, clear
security, and enter the Departures level, again. With Air India,
this is of course, easier at their home base, with counters, and
staff all around.

A.6.2.a International to Domestic: Same Flight Number
e.g., AI 126 ORD-DEL-HYD. Both Immigration and Customs at the
final destination, HYD. Passengers come out to the Domestic
Connections desk, clear security, and enter the Departures part.

A.6.2.b International to Domestic: International Connector
A different flight number e.g., AI 20 DEL-CCU. Both Immigration
and Customs at the final destination, CCU.
Passengers come out to the Domestic
Connections desk, clear security, and enter the Departures part.

A.6.2.c International to Domestic: A Domestic Flight
Both Immigration and Customs at DEL. Passengers first clear
Immigration, collect their baggage from the conveyor belt, clear
Customs, go out, turn immediately towards the Transfer Desk at
the arrivals part (I think there are two such points art the two
extreme ends of the arrivals part: domestic/international, go up
an escalator/elevator to the Departures part with their baggage
on a belt (e.g., near the Sports bar at the international part).
Passengers then clear security as a regular domestic passengers,
enter the departures hall, and board the plane.

A.7 New destinations on Air India

Air India are playing it safe with respect to new destinations on
the Dream)liners, owing to the niggles that all operators of this
type are experiencing world-wide, though every operator is
enjoying the economic advantages the type gives, in spite of the
occassional problems. As of March 2014, Air India had wanted to
start a DEL-DME service (Delhi-Moscow Domodedovo) which would
align to one of Air India's bank of flights, and that too not a
daily flight, but four times, weekly. This was expected to ring
in the cash registers, but the Dream)liner issues meant the
postponement of this nearly imminent route, which they did not
start with the other aircraft of similar capacity in the fleet,
the B77L as the type would bleed the airline badly, with its
front-heavy configuration. Moreover, Air India had sold three
frames to Eithad, and were left with VT-ALE `Haryana' as the only
one in working condition, with VT-ALH `Maharashtra' being sadly
used as a spares source, it Mumbai. These two will possibly also
go to Etihad, soon. The only other plane of similar capacity are
the A332s with their limited spares inventory, and very limited
crew base, with most of the senior front office crew (who were
earlier on the A300s) having transitioned to the Dream)liner. The
A332 leases were supposed to be till sometime in the year later
(2014).

Due to one Dream)liner almost always needing some maintenance,
the Air India policy has been to fall back on the B77L sometimes
to run the schedules. Air India's focus was instead on making
existing routes upgrade to the Dream)liner, to try to get back
some market which the South East Asian giants had carved a niche
for themselves, such as Singapore. This would free up some A319s,
which would give Air India some breathing
space with respect to the narrow-body fleet, since two A319s
CD, the `optical storage' plane VT-SCD and CE, the `energy
emission' plane VT-SCE had left the fleet and been returned to the
lessors in March 2014, after some yeoman service to the airline.

My Government servant friend from Bhopal Mr. Talking maintains
detailed logs of movements of Air India planes, including the
narrow-body fleet. On Fri, 21 Mar 2014 in the early hours of the
morning, he informed me that ANL,
the `cancellation/annul' plane VT-ANL and NM, the `distance
(nautical mile)' plane VT-ANM were both on the ground that day.
ANA was doing AI 995, ANB AI 302, AND AI 143, ANE AI 380, ANG AI
310, ANH AI 121, ANI was a DEL, ANK doing AI 116, ANN AI 349, and
ANO, AI 113.

On Saturday 22 March 2014, Mr Talking informed me that Air India
were keeping AND the `connector' (VT-AND) to operate the
Australia flight, else it would have done the morning Bengaluru
flight AI 803, which was done by a jam-packed A321, with some lucky
passengers getting a lucky upgrade. The A321 in question was PJ,
the `not-so-funny plane VT-PPJ. WA, the `wide-bodied aircraft'
VT-IWA (one of the two A332s in the fleet) had gone back to
Mumbai a few days back to the BOM-MAA-SIN run, since the other
WB, the `wide bodied' plane had been on the ground. All this
information was from him in the morning. That day (22 March
2014), either VT-IWA or VT-IWB would do the AI 101 BOM-DEL
segment, and the morning Delhi-Chennai flight AI 439 would go
back to the higher capacity A332 (as compared to the
Dream)liners) from the next day (23 March), and the morning
Bengaluru flight would possibly get a Dream)liner.
The previous day (21 March 2014) had a B77W VT-ALT operating AI
439, the morning DEL-MAA flight.

The capacities of the planes in Air India's fleet are the following:
B744: F/J/Y 12/28/385
B77W: F/J/Y 04/35/303
B77L: F/J/Y 08/35/195
A332: F/J/Y --/24/255
B788: F/J/Y --/18/238
A321: F/J/Y --/12/170
A320: F/J/Y --/20/120, --/12/138, --/--/168
A319: F/J/Y --/08/114, --/--/144
B738: F/J/Y --/--/186 [With IX, Air India Express]
CRJ7: F/J/Y --/--/68, --/--/74 [with CD, Air India Regional/Alliance Air]
AT42: F/J/Y --/--/48 [with CD, Air India Regional/Alliance Air]

His Saturday 22 March 2014 morning table showed the following:

VT-ANA, the `elder brother' (ANnA) plane doing AI 115
VT-ANB, the `studious' (notebook) plane doing AI 461
She would turn around as AI 113 from ATQ, and
continue to BHX via DEL.
VT-AND, the `connector' plane being at DEL for the
next Australia flight at 01:15 pm
VT-ANE, the `North-East' plane doing AI 314
VT-ANG, the `New Generation' plane doing AI 381
VT-ANH, the `New Hope' plane doing AI 301
VT-ANI, the `Princess' plane doing AI 439 the Chennai morning
flight with more loads than the Bengaluru flight.
The Princess would come in from Chennai and turn
around as AI 20 to CCU.
VT-ANJ, the `younger brother' (ANuJ) plane doing AI 348
VT-ANK, the `Egyptian' plane (ANKh) doing AI 142 (CDG) and turn around
VT-ANL, the `cancellation/Annul' plane doing AI 120 (FRA) and turn around
VT-ANM, the `distance' (Nautical Mile) plane being at BOM
VT-ANN, the `brainy' plane (Artificial Neural Network) doing AI 131
VT-ANO, the `negation' plane doing AI 307

The next day 23 March, 2014 (Sunday) wasn't one on which he would
rest. Mr Talking told me that ANK and ANL would do CDG/FRA, and
that ANG had been grounded in Singapore the previous day. In its
place, VT-ALF did the DXB run due to the grounding.
His table for the morning showed the following:
ANA: AI 115
ANB: AI 114
AND: AI 301
ANE: AI 317
ANG: SIN
ANH: AI 505
ANI: AI 307
ANJ: AI 348
ANK: DEL
ANL: DEL
ANM: BOM
ANN: AI 131
ANO: AI 381

AI make the switch between types when needed, and do not
put a B77L/W on a domestic route unless really needed. For
instance (Rishul should find this interesting because he
mentioned AI 126/7): AI 126/7 is usually a packed B77W between
HYD and DEL, and with good cargo loads, but on 24 Feb 2014, it
was an A321, VT-PPN doing the job. (I was ruing my lost
opportunity of flying another wide-body domestically, but was
somewhat pacified to see PPN on the next flight out of HYD: I was
on AI 840, the previous flight, on a scheduled A319) Narrow-body
switches on the AI 126/7 route are not that often, slightly lower
loads have sometimes seen a DEL-based Dream)liner doing the job
last year, for instance.
They often change the gauge on domestic
narrow-body segments, seamlessly juggling between
A319/A320/A321s, and even up-gauging them on occassion. The
DEL-CCU route in autumn last year saw up to THREE, yes three
Dream)liner flights on some routes which would have otherwise
seen narrow-bodies.

DEL's domestic departure banks give excellent flexibility for
handling otherwise cascading delays, and IRROPS handling.
AI's narrow-body management at BOM is quite good, Jason, you
would have also seen this. The wide-bodies tan themselves on the
tarmac. IRROPS in the network are managed through both DEL and
BOM. Having been in a few IRROPS situations as a passenger made
me thank my stars I was on AI, and not any other airline.
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ameya
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Location: Pune,Maharashtra

PostPosted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gem of an info Sumantra SIr
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