Airliners-India.com

pradeep777 · Member Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 57 Location: Mangalore

Hello everyone
This is my first trip report (got inspired after reading reports on this site Very Happy

)
I would like to dedicate this report to my true inspiration sumantra sir, ameya sir and jishnu.
Please forgive for the poor quality of pictures and typing mistake coz no matter how much i try it still types the way i do in text messaging.
I am writing this trip report almost after 7 months.
This was going to be a visit to my uncle residing in Dubai U.A.E. So a quick glance at all the options available with emirates doing a nonstop service twice a day from BLR. But i was very much interested in flying Air India i finalized my tickets. The AI website was very basic and easy which even allowed to select seats as well as the type of meal.
So the itenary was as follows:
BLR-DXB 13 May 2014
DXB-DEL-BLR 10 Jun 2014

13 May 2014 BLR-DXB (Hops: GOI)
Air India AI993 Airbus 319
Seat: 8A
ETD: 16:50 ATD: 20:30

I was well in advance at the KIAL. After a quick glance at my tickets the CISF personal let me inside the terminal at 13:30. Went straight to the check in counters but the counter was not open for my sector. So took a seat exactly in front of the AI counter. At around 14:15 the counter was opened but no destination was stated. I don't know where the people were seated but within a minute there was a huge line. I joined it and almost 20 minutes later i was at the counter only to be said that check for my flight is still not open. I dint have a choice than to make my way back to hard steel chairs. I checked the FIDS it was showing the flight was on time. But things all went worse when i saw a few passengers arguing with a AI official. It was then i knew that they were my fellow travelers who were arguing because the flight had been delayed due to a faulty engine part which had to be flown in from delhi. After a lot exchange of words the official said the flight will departure at 19:00 and then issued us all of us a executive class boarding pass so we can access the plaza premium lounge. After clearing of immigration and security we were on our way to the lounge. Little did we know that the flight will take off at 20:30 rather than 19:00. The funny thing was that even the captain and crew were waiting with us. Even they had no clue of when the flight will be ready. Very Happy

Finally at 20:00 the boarding was announced. Then we were bused from gate 16 to the remote stand were our ride was waiting.

BP 1 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140513_003 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140513_001 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140513_015 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140513_011 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

In flight:
The load was pretty light with Y at 50% and J at 20%. It was a hops flight in Goa. At first i was pretty happy about my seat since only i was occupied in three seats. Soon the snack service began which was tea/coffee with sweet and savory cookie thing.

WP_20140513_019 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140513_020 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140513_026 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

I was not complaining as its such a short flight and i knew there would be second full dinner service. Soon we were making our descent and within minutes we were in Goa International Airport. A few passengers disembarked and the CISF personal came on board to confirm the hand baggage. Even then i was still hoping ma side seats to be vacant but i was proved wrong soon. There was a huge load of passengers joining us. It was a 100% load in both Y and J. Soon after takeoff the drinks service began. I asked for the orange juice and was served with a smile along with a pack of peanuts. Dinner service followed with a option of veg or non-veg.
I went for the later. It consisted of a sweet boondi raita, bun & amul butter chiplet (it was rock hard sumatra sir:P ). The main portion was spicy chicken biryani and a boiled egg in a even more spicy gravy. The desert was a pineapple phirni

WP_20140514_002 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140514_003 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

After a good dinner along with kapil sharmas comedy nights. I wanted a small nap of an hour and that was the time when i realized that my seat doesn't recline. It was because i was seated right before the emergency exit row. I dint have a choice and had to adjust since there was possibly no way i could change my seat. Still managed to get some sleep by constantly changing my posture. Rest of the flight was uneventful.

WP_20140513_017 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140514_010 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

WP_20140514_009 by pradeepkini7, on Flickr

Finally it was time to land. It was quite a bumpy landing. After docking to terminal 1 in DXB it was a long walk to passport control and my baggage took even more time to come.
Please forgive for any mistakes since this is my first time. Part 2 of this trip will soon follow. Thank you

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

Thank you for a nice trip report, Mr. Kini! That was a really long delay at BLR, and while the no-information on the part of AI was not nice, the lounge access did sound nice! The forum has rules for when your pictures will start coming online (I guess it is after a few posts), but it is nice to see your pictures, even if it means clicking around. Ha! A typical Air India short flight `refreshment': beverage+something. If that something is these cookies, I still find it much more acceptable than a pack with two biscuits of a type I consider the most vile and inedible in business...Marie biscuits. The other option is usually a fruit-based drink and a pack of groundnuts/peanuts, which I find a bit more acceptable. It keeps my ravenous hunger at bay, for a little longer.
Your dinner on the other hand, sounds and looks nice and inviting. Yes, I noted with glee, the `rock hard' part, thank you! That biriyAnI looks nice, as does the spicy egg curry. I think I can well imagine what the latter tastes like, both on Air India, as well as at home. (The latter: I have to rush out to replenish the spice stocks at home, the very next day).
Pineapple firnI! This is something new for me. I have usually experieced nirvANa with Air India's signature traditional firnI, many a time, with Air India never failing to deliver a complete blissful experience, ever. This is an exotic new creation, since pineapples are not exactly native to the land which gave us this incredibly delicious dish...Kashmir!
Two points where I differ a bit: first, the Kapil Sharma part, and second, I seem to sleep better with the seat straight, but all of my 6 feet sliding in, with my actual feet almost touching those of the passenger in front of me. Somehow, I seem to sleep better with the seat actually upright, than on an incline. I guess I sleeping too much at work, has spoiled not just my circadian rhythms.
Thanks a lot for sharing this with us, Mr. Kini: we look forward to part 2, and many more after this one!
Cheers, Sumantra.

jbalonso777 · Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 11:10 am Post subject:

Pradeep sir, great first TR from you, again from a very unique route!
It is an absolute honor to be one of those who inspired you to write TRs, and this despite the fact that I don't fly too often and I've delayed a rather small TR of mine by a very long time!

Interesting read this one, the dinner looks very nice, but the containers...not quite so. I've found the domestic flight containers of a much better quality. But as long as the food quality is not affected, no problems Smile

I might be slightly late in replying to your upcoming parts, but do I sense a Boeing 787 flight report soon? I look forward to it! Very Happy

Cookies look pretty OK to me, but I had a similar one on Cathay Pacific (LOL that meal still makes me laugh!), and it tasted like wheat rather than a cookie. 5* airline, World's Best Airline, yada yada yada......

I look forward to the second part!

Regards
Jish
_________________
http://www.youtube.com/c/JishnuBasu777

pradeep777 · Member Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 57 Location: Mangalore

Thank you very much sumantra sir. This is my first time in writing any kind of trip report. I couldn't recline the seats was only a problem. I am exactly 6. I prefer to sleep with my legs stretched even though now and then i disturb the passenger in the front. Very Happy

pradeep777 · Member Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 57 Location: Mangalore

Thank you for your kind reply. You are absolutely right jishnu. I just finished posting the second part. Well when a 5* airline like cathay can serve cookies then i wouldn't mind having them on AI. Very Happy

Yes the containers dint really affect the food in it since they were all very tasty. Smile

ameya · Posted: Mon Dec 01, 2014 10:37 am Post subject: Re: Air India BLR- DXB- DEL- BLR

pradeep777 · Member Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 57 Location: Mangalore

Thank you ameya for your kind reply. It was the CISF who did the checking. He had another personal with him. May be he was from the customs. Not sure about it. And again a special thanx for information regarding how to post pics inline. Smile

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

The food I'm sure was great but the presentation .... yikes!
Big delay out of BLR tho, how was the lounge?

Thanks for the write-up.
_________________
eP007

pradeep777 · Member Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 57 Location: Mangalore

Nimish · Posted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 4:12 pm Post subject:

Great start to the TR journey - thanks for sharing. Out of interest, what was the approx cost for the BLR-DXB-BLR routing on AI? And did it cost extra to return via DEL?

It would be great if you could embed the actual pictures inline here - very simple to do from Flickr - just click the "Share" icon on the bottom right, and select the BBCode and paste it here.
_________________
We miss you Nalini!

pradeep777 · Member Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 57 Location: Mangalore

Nimish · Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 10:58 am Post subject:

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

Thank you Pradeep for taking time out for posting the trip report and sorry to note the delay. Well luckily the flight departed on the same day as sometimes if it goes tech it may be cancelled as well. The food looks pretty decent which is Air India’s strong point and I think they need to capitalize on that.

Sri_Bom

pradeep777 · Member Joined: 21 Nov 2014 Posts: 57 Location: Mangalore