Airliners-India.com Forum Index Airliners-India.com
Flickr Group & Facebook
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Routes and Shoots: The Garden City, August 2012

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Airliners-India.com Forum Index -> Trip Reports
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 4:59 pm    Post subject: Routes and Shoots: The Garden City, August 2012 Reply with quote

Routes and Shoots: The Garden City, August 2012
-----------------------------------------------

This trip report can be found at the above URL.
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic13030.html

As usual, this is a highly contrived and convoluted attempt at
somehow putting together a title, and what is above, can be best
described as a `Titular Head', a la the role of the Indian
President, in the parliamentary democracy. The routes refer to my
experiences with public transport in the Garden city, and the shoots
of course, refer to the camera, with me on one side, and planes,
on the other.

Set out 16 Aug (Thu) for Bengaluru from New Delhi
AI 403: Air India (A319) [Seat: 07A; PNR: Z8W7Y]
IGIA T3, New Delhi - BIA, Bengaluru
New Delhi (DEL) - Bengaluru (BLR)
[04:45 pm - 07:25 pm]

The trip came about all of a sudden, when a senior colleague
requested me to make a presentation on his behalf. I jumped at
the opportunity, since a visit to the Garden City, Bengaluru, is
always welcome. I had booked a taxi with my favourite cab
operator, who came in at the designated time. We set out for IGI
T3 without much ado. 2012 marked a dry Monsoon season in India,
more so, in the north. There were grey clouds all around, and
somehow, I like cloudy atmospheres better from the photography
point of view. Having checked in very quickly, I performed my
customary ritual: a visit to the place behind the Citibank ATM,
to check out on the action at the International pier.
There was none.
It was empty.
So was the terminal.
It was 16 August 2012.
`The Day After' the `Independence Day'.
Too filmy?
Perhaps.
It was more of an anti-climax, however.
There were few movements, and that too, either biz-jets, or
narrow-bodies. There was a Kingfisher A320 parked beside an Air
India `Masked Bandit', the CRJ700.
`Birds in red, companies in the red,' I told myself.

I had just texted a friend about the fact that I was the only
wide-body around at IGI-T3, there was no wide-body plane to be
seen around. All of a sudden, I saw the silhouette of what looked
like a 777. It was a Fedex 77F! There was quite a lull, as there
were a few biz-jets landing. Suddenly, there was the unmistakable
silhouette of a 777 again, it was an Air India 777-200LR, or the 77L.
This made a very smooth and short landing on runway 11 right in
front of me, and moved towards a rapid exit taxiway. I was at the
extreme end of the Air India domestic finger, and lay in wait to
take pictures as it passed me, on its way to the International
part. Much to my utter surprise, it turned towards the Air India
domestic finger, and parked at gate 33!



My friend and prominent Delhi plane spotter Mr. All-stare MacLean
texted me that he had seen a similar situation with VT-ALG also.
This plane was VT-ALC, `Assam', one of the early 77Ls. I have
flown on this particular bird thrice. The first time was on 13
December 2008, JFK-DEL as AI 102, and the latest, on 30
September, 2010, HKG-DEL, as AI 311. I had not noticed any
different in the interiors - the plane looked as new and fresh as
ever on my 2010 trip, too. The 77L looked absolutely fabulous,
and a bit out of place on the domestic piers. My friend texted me
that this was possibly the late afternoon DEL-MAA run, which
usually sees excellent loads. I really wonder - does this large
load justify the huge fuel burn, even though this is a 2.5 hour
flight? From what I had heard from an Air India captain, the A332
was possibly the ideal type for these long domestic legs, with
their moderate fuel burn, good capacity - both for passengers, as
well as cargo.

I left my perch at the Air India domestic finger end to the
other extreme, Gate 28B, where our flight AI 403 to Bengaluru,
was already boarding. The cheerful ground handling agent gave me
one end of the boarding pass, and I walked in, towards our plane.
This was CK, the `stylish plane', VT-SCK. The interior had the
old Indian Airlines interiors on the walls, and the blue and
steel grey blue PTVs. This was immaculately clean! Both the
plastic surfaces, as well as the fabric were very clean. My
window however, was not immaculately clean. It did not matter, as
within a couple of minutes, the Business Times in the pocket in
front of mine was put to some unintended business.

Captain Anish Singh was in command. We pushed back on schedule,
with good loads - they were about 80% in Economy (Y). Captain
Singh took off from runway 11, and when in line with the end of
the main runway 10, he made a sharp right turn, and we were off
towards Bengaluru. Gone were all my hopes of taking off on the
secondary runway 09, so that I could catch a view of the mysterious
old Il-14 in good shape, which was gracing the Palam Technical
Area, some half-a-century after she last flew from there in VIP
configuration. I also wanted to take more photographs of the
DC-3, the Caribou, and the Tu-124K, which were parked behind the
Air Force Museum.
That was not to be, as we climbed about the clouds.
Portly Sumantra was on the Port side of the
plane for all these reasons, and his wishes were not fulfilled.
He wasn't exactly on Cloud Nine, but a familiar
announcement lifted his spirits.
Even if his wishes were not fulfilled, his cavernous belly would
be. Snacks would be served on the flight.
The service started promptly.
Our section of the plane was served by a very senior lady, and a
young one. I had had a nice lunch, though a bit hurried.
That did not matter, as I attacked the tray.
There was a very fresh white-and-brown bread sandwich, with a
coleslaw filling with lettuce/salad leaf and shredded orange
carrots tingled my taste buds.
The accompaniments were the usual tomato sauce/ketchup sachet,
and a nice coriander-and-yogurt/curd chutney.
What would these go with?
I opened the main box expectantly.
To the right, was the heavenly spinach-and-sweet-corn cheese
quiche, which I look forward to, almost every Air India flight.
The box had been heated just right, and I was in a state of
perfect bliss. There were three pieces of very soft and nicely
marinated boneless chicken pieces. The marination was a North
Indian Mughlai styled one, which had been tossed around with some
lovely Kadhi-patta/curry leaves, bringing a nice fusion taste to
the pieces. What a nice experiment! The dessert was another
fusion experiment, which I was looking forward to. This was the
sweet which had blown my senses away on my last Calcutta trip:
`Calcutta: A Short and Sweet Trip, June 2012.'

Yes, it was the same sweet in a mildly sweet custard base.
The outer covering of the solid block was the North Indian
`Balushahi' or the South Indian `Badhusha', with the interiors
filled with something like the North Indian `Sohan Halwa'.
What a fantastic fusion of North and South Indian delicacies,
with a Western one! A somewhat bland instant coffee put a full
stop to some sudden food cravings I get, the moment I step on to
an Air India aircraft!

What was playing on the i300 Thales In-Flight Entertainment
(IFE)? The Hindi Film hero `Kaka' Rajesh Khanna had passed away
some time back, and there was a series of his films being
screened. The scheduled channel was blank, however. The recent
film was a Prosenjit-starrer `Shanghai' - I did not know that
Prosenjit had tried his hand at Hindi films, too. The other
channels had some non-descript programmes playing, as I made my
usual skip to the much more wholesome audio section. There were
two channels playing old Hindi film songs, and I listened to them
as I sat in front of my laptop.

There was some moderate chop during the flight, as Captain Singh
negotiated some dense grey Monsoon clouds.
First, the announcement requested passengers to return to their
seats, and fasten their seat belts. This was followed some time
later by another, requesting the crew to also return to their
seats. Luckily, this did not last very long.

I was sleepy when we de-planed using an aero-bridge. A few paces
in front of me was Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, with a few people around
him. I headed off to the baggage claim, as my bag was quite
prompt in coming out. I missed taking a picture of Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar - I had to take my bag, and rush out to be in time to
catch the airport bus, BIA-6 to my brother's place. Luckily for
me, I managed this, and dozed off in the bus, as the lights were
switched off. I did not check on what route the bus took. A
friend had told me that there would be some construction on the
airport road. Now, I wasn't sure of which airport road he had
referred to - the one beside the old HAL Airport, or the new one.
I woke up some two hours later, when the conductor announced,
`Kundalahalli Gate'. I got down into the lovely air conditioned
Bengaluru weather, and waited for my brother to pick me up.

Routes.
The next day, my brother gave me detailed directions to the place
where my meeting would be held. There was a very convenient Vajra
bus service 335E, which would drop me at the Corporation Circle,
or the RMR stop, from where I could take an auto-rickshaw. `Auto'
for the Delhi'ite, `rick' for the Bangalorean, `shaw', anybody?
One came, I shaw it, and was Concorde, as the three-wheeler flew
towards my destination. I was joined there by a senior colleague
who had arrived by the early morning flight from Delhi. He had
had some adventure as his taxi had broken down on the route from
the airport! After the meeting, could I re-trace my steps?
No, warned my brother, as routes in the city were not that
straight-forward. Many streets in the location were `one-way'. He
gave me detailed directions as to where to get down from an auto,
and take the same bus back (albeit from a different stop), to the
Kundalahalli Gate stop, which was close to his residence. I was
travelling by bus in the city after quite some time, and found
the Volvo buses running the Vajra service, identical to the Vayu
Vajra airport bus service. Neat, clean, and efficient.
Auto-rickshaws ran by the meter. The city looked as nice as ever,
with some lovely weather. The Namma Metro (`our Metro')
construction was on at some parts of the city.

Routes.
My return was by the AI 505:

Set out 18 Aug (Sat) for Bengaluru from New Delhi
AI 505: Air India (A321) [Seat: 11A; PNR: Z8X1S]
BIA, Bengaluru - IGIA T3, New Delhi
Bengaluru (BLR) - New Delhi (DEL)
[09:30 am - 12:05 pm]

Would I be better off taking an airport bus, or a taxi? Brother
dear recommended the taxi. Fastrack cabs had come to Bengaluru
also, I had availed their services in Chennai before, where they
had vehicles of all types and sizes. He booked it on the phone,
they night before. An Indica was supposed to arrive at 6:30am.
At around 6am, he got a call. As I was getting ready in the other
room, I noted a very detailed conversation between him and the
driver. The driver apparently did not know the place well, and
the Fastrack call centre had given some shockingly weird
directions, and a partially correct address. As time went by,
there were four other phone calls, as the driver refused to take
my brother's directions, and try some navigation himself. As time
went by, so did my brother's temper.
A Ford Fiesta came up in front of his house at 6:35 am.
I thought I would see a mushroom cloud come up, as he angrily
went to the driver, and gave him a piece of his mind.
Lest this piece of mind destroy his peace of mind,
I calmed him down, and boarded the vehicle.

This would be an ordinary fare vehicle.
I would not need an AC, as the chilly weather was simply
fantastic. First, he announced that his bill-book had run out of
pages. My anxiety grew as he started taking some strange
turns, which were new to me. He took a long route via a congested
K. R. Puram, stopping to ask for directions. I kept quiet.
I broke my silence when at a crossing which said Hebbala to the
left, he took a right.
No, he assured me, this would be a short-cut.
I had earlier been on what was known as `the village road' in
2008, from the city to Devanahalli. Was this the same route,
which had been developed with a proper metalled MacAdamised road,
or was this a new one?
Anyway, I caught sight of the familiar road to the airport, as we
hit it close to the Yelahanka air base.
Yes, there was construction along the road, and at the
terminal premises, as well.

The check-in was quick and efficient.
Much to my delight, I noticed four power-port stations in the
domestic waiting area. No longer would I have to hunt for my
three favoured locations: one beside the snack bar (which was
usually occupied by those that patronised the joint), one two-pin
outlet amidst the foliage on the third greenery point from the
left, one beside the weighing machine, and two beside the
Domestic-International divide. I used to lament that the old HAL
airport in the city had more power ports in the small waiting
area. We boarded on time.

The plane was PE: the `healthy plane', VT-PPE.
As the name would indicate, loads were extremely healthy.
There were very few seats empty in the Economy section, five or
so. Captain Ranbir Arora was in command. The International
section had a SilkAir A320, and beside it, an Emirates A330-200.



We pushed back from beside the SilkAir plane, and took off from
runway 27. I counted some 5 Kingfisher planes (an A320, and 4
ATR-72s) beyond the cargo section, and an A320 and an ATR at
remote stands. The arm-rest control was not working, so I used
the touch-screen on the PTV itself. Channel 1 had the 1971 Hindi
film `Anand', starring the late Jatin (`Rajesh') Khanna and
Amitabh. This was Hrishikesh Mukherjee's tribute to Raj Kapoor,
who was very ill at that time, and Hrishi-da based Amitabh's
character, Dr. Bhaskar Banerjee, on Raj Kapoor, who used to call
him `babumoshai'. Shades of this reverberated through the film,
for instance the part where Anand did not want to leave Bombay,
saying he would like to live and die there, a reference to the
famous song in the Raj Kapoor movie, Mera Naam Joker.
I had never seen this film before, though I
have admired Salil Chowdhury's lovely music for the film.
No, not just the songs, but the background scores as well, such
as the bars of `Koi hota jisko apna' at a point in the film where
the character of Anand first develops breathlessness.

The snack service started.
It was from the Taj group.
It started with a small and ordinary coleslaw sandwich.
The main course was similar to the onward leg, with the lovely
spinach-and-sweet-corn cheese quiche, and three pieces of skewered
marinated chicken, but done a bit conventionally, with very
little oil. The dessert was a heavenly jalebi in a dessicated
milk (`rabri') base, which was mildly sweet, and generously
garnished with dry fruit shreds, primarily pistachios/pista.
A very plain Jane instant Nescafe coffee completed the affair.
The coffee was representative of the rest of the journey.
There was nothing much to write about, as Captain Arora made a
smooth landing on the new runway, the luggage came out on time,
and I reached home in a pre-paid taxi.
---
Links to my previous trip reports:

38. 2012: Jabalpur in July
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic13001.html

37. Calcutta: A Short and Sweet Trip, June 2012
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12982.html

36. Indore again in 2012, April
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12937.html

35. Can't Cut Calcutta Calls! CCU, Mar'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12909.html

34. Tinsel-town ahoy! Mumbai, Mar'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12885.html

33. Indoor/Indore in 2012
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12835.html

32. Colour Range over the Orange City: NAG, Jan'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12803.html

31. AI strike(,) PAT in the back: Patna, Jan'12
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12781.html

30. Regressive TR: Shuttling between Delhi and Mumbai
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12742.html

29. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part II: Mysore Memories; HAL Museum
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12730.html

28. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part I: Mysore
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12686.html

27. Hampi Hamper, Part 2: Hampi!
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12661.html

26. Hampi Hamper, Part I: Banashankari, Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12623.html

25. JAI Ho! Jaipur, Sep'12, My Double Standards?
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12592.html
(This is out of sequence, only to report on something that is
very recent, circa Sep'12)

24. PNQ: PeNning Queued Reports, Dec 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12557.html

23. Little BHO-Peep, Nov 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12496.html

22. The Call of the Vaigai! Madurai, Oct 2011
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12465.html

21. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: Beijing, 2011 Part 3
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12452.html

20. No Panda-monium: Beijing, 2011 Part 2
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12389.html

19. North By Northwest...er, AI and CA: Beijing, 2011 Part 1
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12348.html

18. Going Bananas over Oranges: Nagpur, Aug'11
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12333.html

17. To the City of Joy and back, on Air India: Aug'11
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12238.html

16. To Chennai, Mar'12 with a Celebrity Captain!
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12196.html
(This is out of sequence owing to sheer excitement, and nothing
else!)

15. Marble Rocks, Marbles Rock; Jul 2011
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12157.html

14. The Fish-Eye Beckons! Madurai, on Air India. Jul 2011
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12136.html

13. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 3: Monino!
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12091.html

12. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 2: The Central Museum
of the Armed Forces
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12016.html

11. To Russia, with Awe: Moscow, 2011, Part 1: The Overall Trip
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11717.html

10. The City of Lakes: Mother's Heart, Heart of the Motherland
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11556.html

9. Mostly Indoors, in Indore:
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11533.html

8. Inter-metro Shuttling on AI: DEL-BOM on AI810, BOM-DEL on AI888
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11449.html

7. On the cusp: DEL-BOM on IC863, BOM-DEL on AI660
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic11160.html

6. DEL-BOM on IT308, BOM-DEL on IC166
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10986.html

5. DEL-MAA on IC439, MAA-DEL on IC802
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10809.html

4. DEL-PNQ on IC849, PNQ-DEL on IC850
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10510.html

3. DEL-MAA on IC429 (A321), MAA-DEL on IC7602 (CRJ7)
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10401.html

2. DEL-NAG-NDC, NDC-BOM-DEL on G8
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10169.html

1. IGI T3, AI 314 DEL-HKG and AI 311 HKG-DEL
http://airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic10018.html
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sri_bom
Member


Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 2365
Location: Singapore

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 12:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another nice, short, sweet report.

India is one country where giving directions is not simple as our cities are not build in a grid system unlike most of the developed countries. (Chandigarh is an exception). So I can imagine how your brothers converstaion would have been with the cab driver:

Turn left at MG Road, Once you see the Raymond shop turn right, Once you see the traffic light turn left, On the right you will see " Gopal Dosa Restaurant then turn right, keeping going straight, on the right wath out for an apartment painted yellow........

When I visit friends in any part of India I typically get directions as above, and nobody wants to give the complete official address Smile

Anand is a great movie one of my favorites hope you enjoyed it.

Sri_Bom
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 1:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sri_bom wrote:
...On the right you will see " Gopal Dosa Restaurant then turn right, keeping going straight, on the right watch out for an apartment painted yellow........
Ha ha - that is a fantastic description Srinivas - you have described it really well. Add to it a plethora of languages one has to use often. In my brother's case, it was a mix of Hindi and English with some Tamil thrown in, for good measure! Thanks once again - I really appreciate you going through my reports, and writing back.
Cheers, Sumantra.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ameya
Member


Joined: 09 May 2007
Posts: 3671
Location: Pune,Maharashtra

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 6:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Excellent TR, as always.
Some comments, my 2cents as always, not sure how much they make sense.
The comparison between B77L and A330 for a domestic / short international run in current economic + AI scenario will result in A330 turning out to be cheaper always. However, it’s a peculiar problem, do you want to look at margins or revenue. At times, airlines in india are actually going in to get the revenue, albeit at a loss because they need cash and Air India lately has been trying that model quite a number of times.
As for BLR – its only recently that they have had those power points done across the waiting area islands. It always was irritating to not have charging points and the ones were very limited in number. Once I have had to use one charging point near the dustbin and keep the laptop on top of the dust bin and work.


As for directions, I have seen this Pune style of giving directions for last decade and its always funny to hear that.
And here is a demo,
Keep going straight, on the left you will see PNG store, keep going straight from there, on the right is the telephone exchange, keep going straight ... .... , at the signal, take right.
Then why did you tell all the buildings and shops and what not if the signal was the landmark !
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks a lot, Sir!
ameya wrote:
At times, airlines in India are actually going in to get the revenue, albeit at a loss because they need cash and Air India lately has been trying that model quite a number of times.

Of course, you would know better. From what I heard, AI was trying to reduce the use of the 77Ls as much as possible (possibly now they also have an optimal number, what they had always wanted: 3). The 744 is doing the BOM-MAA-SIN route because the number of 787 commanders converting back to the 777 was still not enough for many legs. The 332s have crew issues with the senior ones on the 787, and the conversion back to the 332 would not be worth it both in terms of time, and money. Hence this peculiar problem for AI deputing aircraft on routes not really meant for them. The 332 anyway does well on the 2 hours and beyond domestic routes with heavy traffic, and cargo, of course, doing the best on the 2.5 hour ones DEL-MAA/BLR.

ameya wrote:
As for directions, I have seen this Pune style of giving directions for last decade and its always funny to hear that.
Is that Pune-style? If that is so, a Delhi-style one would be worse, since distance is measured in units of time, and often directions are blatantly incorrect!
Cheers, Sumantra.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Nimish
Member


Joined: 16 Dec 2006
Posts: 9757
Location: Bangalore, India

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR Sumantra. You took my favorite bus of all - the 335E - it passes directly by in front of my house, and so does the BIAS6 Very Happy. My dad took the BIAS6 yesterday from the airport to come home, and it was fairly quick and painless. Perhaps next time you're passing by my place, we can meet up!
_________________
We miss you Nalini!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
jbalonso777
Member


Joined: 05 Jul 2012
Posts: 1501
Location: Never, never land

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 8:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Super TR as always!
I was also quite surprised to see T3 International empty!
All descriptions are great as always!

Although I'll be honest, I was reading through TR no. 20 in great depth and detail for 'some reason' all this time.

I will get back to you on this TR once I have read through properly!

EDIT- Super TR! I loved the parts where 2 movies and the 'red' coloor were shown, in a very realistic manner! The descriptions of directions in Bangalore were amazing! It brought back a few memories of the stay I had there, long time back. Surely they have changed a lot! Lovely descriptions of the food as well!
I think this the first TR of yours in which I have seen a picture of my favourite airline!
IFE well, at least its better than nothing. IT is gone, 9W shows 'Thank you for flying with Jet Airways.' Times have changed drastically since 2010.

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


Last edited by jbalonso777 on Thu Feb 21, 2013 9:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nimish wrote:
Perhaps next time you're passing by my place, we can meet up!
Thank you Nimish, for your kind words, as well as the invitation! I'll keep you informed. Cheers, Sumantra.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jbalonso777 wrote:
I will get back to you on this TR once I have read through properly!
Thank you, Jishnu - I look forward to your comments on this one. Cheers, Sumantra.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Theairplaneguy4ever
Member


Joined: 26 Sep 2012
Posts: 191
Location: Kochi, Kerala, India

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great TR Sumantra sir!

But, please don't follow the airline industry trend of downsizing and put out the classic & descriptive 'huge' TRs that you used to do.

I guess though, that such a typical everyday DEL-BLR-DEL run would not really have much vibrance to showcase.

AI meals seem of pretty good quality (and taste from your descriptions!).

The IFE selection is pretty scarce I hear with few English programmes, is this true?

Awaiting your next one.

Theairplaneguy4ever
_________________
India's first HD Video Trip Report Channel : www.youtube.com/Theairplaneguy4ever
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
sumantra
Member


Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 4685
Location: New Delhi

PostPosted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Theairplaneguy4ever wrote:
But, please don't follow the airline industry trend of downsizing and put out the classic & descriptive 'huge' TRs that you used to do.I guess though, that such a typical everyday DEL-BLR-DEL run would not really have much vibrance to showcase.
Ha ha, good one, Adi! Very Happy You must have seen Mr. Pal's response to his `Portugal and Spain: No snow, no rain' report. Yes, I also like this style. Whenever I find time, I also love to roam about, and post pictures of the same. My last TR on a Bengaluru trip was circa December 2011, where I put together some old memories (as I sat daydreaming in a rick in the city traffic), and also saw the HAL museum for the first time, shockingly for someone who has been to the city not that irregularly, since 1998.

28. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part I: Mysore
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12686.html

29. No Eyesore in Mysore; Part II: Mysore Memories; HAL Museum
http://www.airlinersindia.s4.bizhat.com/airlinersindia-ftopic12730.html

Theairplaneguy4ever wrote:
AI meals seem of pretty good quality (and taste from your descriptions!).
Yes, in most cases, although Air India has disappointed on a few occasions. I do not fail to express my lament over this!

Theairplaneguy4ever wrote:
The IFE selection is pretty scarce I hear with few English programmes, is this true?
The Thales i3000 has 5 video channels - yes, the English programmes are a bit scarce. At one time, Kingfisher had live TV on some of its planes, and Jet's IFE was possibly the only AVOD offering. I like Air India's audio selection better than the video one, on the i3000.

Thanks a lot once again for your kind words, Adi - looking forward to another trip report from you!
Cheers, Sumantra.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Airliners-India.com Forum Index -> Trip Reports All times are GMT + 5.5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group. Hosted by phpBB.BizHat.com