Airliners-India.com

harshwcam3 · Member Joined: 18 Oct 2012 Posts: 114

Since, this is my first trip report, it may be a bit long and inaccuracies could be present.

BLR-HYD-PNQ AI, A319 Y

The morning of 27th June begun red eyed as my overnight train from Coimbatore pulled into Bangalore City Rly Stn(SBC) at an unearthly 4:30am. A coolie started rousing everyone in the coach and slowly, the entire coach came to life with an assortments of sounds with the occasional flatulence thrown in between.

At 4:30am, I decided to sit it out on the platform for an hour as the flight was 8:15. In addition to my aviation hobby, I also have a keen interest in all things moving on rails. So, I spent the next 1 hour watching the movements in the station. Since, it was time for the overnights from various places to pull in bangalore, the platform was filled with groggy eyed people making their way out of the station.

Having had enough of the platform scenes, I started to move out towards the Majestic bus stand located opposite to the station. As any Banglorean would know, getting in and around majestic is a daunting task and one can easily get lost within the place if they're not familiar with the layout. I made my way to the waiting BIA-9 number bus which departed at 5:30. The bus made short work of the empty roads and by 6:15 we pulled into BIA.

There was a small queue outside the departure entrance to get inside. I made my way inside to the deserted AI counters. Now, at the time of booking I blocked seat 4A and during check-in it got changed to 8A which was a non reclining seat. Tried OLCI the previous night but the system showed an error, so had to abandon the idea.

Security took some time as it was the morning rush hour period and by 6:45 I was airside. A delayed VT-JGV working BLR-BOM pushed back at 7:00. A couple of 6E birds were working services to DEL and BOM. The blue dart B752 taxied to the active and took off. Later in the day, I spotted the same bird at HYD.

At 7:30, VT-SCF in the 'Indian' livery pulled up to Gate 5 which was to be my ride to PNQ. Boarding commenced at 7:40, 35 mins prior to departure. The loads for the day looked to be around 85%. Was greeted at the entrance by the IC aunty. Todays flight had 3 aunty's and 1 young male FA.

Pushback commenced at 8:00, 15 mins before schedule. While taxiing to the active, I saw an old Alliance Air AT42 boarding passengers on the ramp. Any idea what service is this A/C operating and what is its frequency. Capt V. Dutta powered down runway 27 at 8:05 and flew in a westerly direction before turning right towards HYD. Sadly, the flight crew on this leg did not address the cabin, so could not catch the flight details like altitude, airspeed etc.

As soon as seatbelt signs were taken off, the food trolley made its presence in the aisle. The fare on offer was a slice of a sweet bread, a bun, jam, butter, upma and chutney and no Non Veg option. Damn it, there goes my wish of having the omelette, sausage and baked beans breakfast down the drain. This was the only disappointment of a largely uneventful flight.

Landed in HYD by 9:05 and pulled up to the aerobridge. A 6E A320 pulled up beside us and a few mins later EK's A343 parked at the international dock. At HYD, the entire A/C deplaned except for 7(6 in Y and 1 in J) people including me who were bound for PNQ and not even a single person to GOI. There was a crew change and the new set of crews had only 1 aunty and the rest of them were young male FA's.

Boarding started at 9:30 and the aircraft looked 80% full for the leg to PNQ. Pushback commenced at 9:50am and were No 3 in line for takeoff. A 6E A320 and a 9W B738 were in front of us. All 3 A/C's held short of the runway for a 6E bird.

We finally took were airborne at 10:00. The food trolley made its presence in the aisle for a second time and by the heavenly aroma coming out of it, I knew that I was in for a treat. The snack tray consisted of a casserole containing samosa-choley. Along with it was a mayo sandwich and a mint chutney sandwich. The desert was a heavenly tasting chocolate walnut brownie which alongwith the rest of the contents of the tray was polished off within minutes washed down with some DIY coffee. The FA's collected the trash as soon as decent began.

We descended into some choppy skies around PNQ and the aircraft was shuddering due to the turbulence. We were put into a holding pattern and had to circle twice as the Sukhoi's were flying that time. After 5 mins of holding and circling, the decent to PNQ began in even more choppy skies and we finally touched down on runway 28 and veered off the active and stopped on the taxiway.

The ramp at PNQ had all 6 bays occupied. There was a 9W ATR and B738. Next to it was a 6E 320 with an SG B737 standing next to it and a G8 320 on the last bay. The 9W B738 pushed back and we took its place. As soon as we stopped, the aerobridge promptly came forward and docked with the left side door. This was the first time I was de-planing at PNQ via an aerobridge. Just behind us, the AI flight from MAA landed. Made my way to baggage claim and in the arrival hall, I saw 8 immigration counters with 2 chaps sitting in 2 of them. Not bad for an airport that see only 2 international flights. Bags took 10mins to show up on the belt.

Overall, it was a decent AI flight. Only disappointment was the lack of options for the food served on board. No complaints about the taste though. I wonder how much loads they get on the GOI leg as the entire plane deplaned at PNQ. Any idea about their GOI loads?

Congratulations if you have made it this far down. Thumbs up to your patience.

H

sukritmunjal · Member Joined: 23 Jan 2013 Posts: 178 Location: FMO

ameya · Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:30 pm Post subject:

Welcome to Pune. Pune mein aapka swagat hai.

Thanks for the nice TR. I have been an inactive member of irfca for last 10+ yrs and have seen you active there. Nice to see you active here as well.
Some quick questions,
1.What made you select a one stop over a non stop on BLR-PNQ ?

Some quick answers
1.The Alliance AT42 is the sole AT42 which is based in the south. It came there after AI-R returned their wet leased B1900D which was used to operate on COK-AGX. This one does BLR-COK-AGX and v.v along with serving IXE, from BLR to the best of my knowledge.

2.PNQ-GOI-PNQ has seen 70% avg occupancy for the last year or so with peak season flights seeing 100% loads

3.PNQ has 8 active bays for aircraft but depending on the private jet movement the availability varies

The time you landed is one of the peak times at PNQ and hence the congestion. Have observed the AI bags coming out late many times now.

Incase you are flying out again and not pursuing your other hobby and go by Udyan Exp, suggest you take the seat on port side window and observe the King Air wreckage behind the private aircraft parking area, just when you get airborne.

harshwcam3 · Member Joined: 18 Oct 2012 Posts: 114

ameya · Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 5:49 pm Post subject:

Well this is behind the private aircraft parking, so you see it, only if you taxi to rwy 10 or take off from rwy 28 and keep looking for it.
Since you landed on 28, you would have turned towards the terminal before you can spot this.

Interesting bit about the selection of flight. Was this cheaper than the direct option ? If you could elaborate more ?

I would have suggested 9W 445 BLR-PNQ on this leg to get a full service meal but not Air india style.

harshwcam3 · Member Joined: 18 Oct 2012 Posts: 114

shivendrashukla · Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2013 6:49 pm Post subject:

Nice and Interesting TR. I took 11014 CBE to Lonavala a few months back. Preferred train as it would leave me straight at Lonavala stn rather than flight which I either had to get down at Pune or Mumbai and take a cab/train to Lonavala.

Cheers
Shivendra

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

jbalonso777 · Posted: Sat Jun 29, 2013 10:10 am Post subject:

When I travel on rails, I see the lively compartment quiet down, stay quiet for about 6 or 7 hours, (other than a few who go to the washroom), and then see it get back into live again. Yes, I don't get much sleep on rails.
Well, I guess you like the WCAM-3 loco, as suggested by your username? Its really unique, especially because of its AC/DC capabilities!

I guessing you saw VT-JGV in its new colours?

I doubt if AI has any food options on these rather short flights, which is why you maybe disappointed!

Nice TR! I look ahead for more from you!

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

Nimish · Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:53 pm Post subject:

Hi Harsh - very nice TR - thanks for posting. And quite the #avgeek and #foodie if you took the connecting flight to enjoy AI's culinary skills Smile

_________________
We miss you Nalini!

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

Very nice TR.
I get the fascination with trains, I love train rides but sadly don't do them very often nowadays...
I'm surprised the counters were deserted at 0615, I thought that was the busy period? Maybe the early morning rush had just ended?

You really chose a hopping flight for the food .... respect Razz

_________________
eP007

harshwcam3 · Member Joined: 18 Oct 2012 Posts: 114

Just after this trip I wrote in to AI about the OLCI problem for PNQ. SUrprisingly, got a call from one Mr Santosh from AI who asked me to elaborate further on the problem. I explained the situation to him and he said he will look into it. Got a call today saing that his IT team tried a dummy OLCI for AI 517 and they succeeded. Has anyone tried OLCI to PNQ of late as I told him I will try OLCI on an upcoming AI 849 journey.

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

ameya · Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:22 pm Post subject: