TR- BOM-MAA-BOM (With Pictures) - Airliners-India

the_380 · Member

TR- BOM-MAA-BOM (With Pictures)

the_380 · Member

Return trip...

Sector: MAA (Chennai)-BOM (Mumbai)
Airline: Indian (IC)
Aircraft Registration: VT-EPE
Flight number: IC 572
Seat: 4C
Class: Executive Class
Scheduled Time of Departure from MAA:08.40PM
Actual Time of Departure from MAA:11.10PM
Scheduled Time of Arrival at BOM:09.30PM
Actual Time of Arrival at BOM:12.40AM
Cause of delay:Late arrival of aircraft and combined routes.
Flight Duration: 1hr and 30mins

Date: 27th Nov '06

There are usually 3 flights from MAA to BOM directly in IC. But the evening flight which was IC 555 MAA-SIN-MAA was operated in a A320 normally its an A300.The A300 had been deployed in the Hajj route. And the flight MAA-BOM which was an extension of this route was cancelled. So naturally all passengers in that flight were transferred to the last flight. As a result of this 156 bookings were there for the last flight. We had a SOL ticket for my mom and me so there were slim chances of us getting a flight that day. Karatecatman and myself were in constant contact through phone calls and SMS.

Mine was third from bottom... reads delayed to 22.30

But then the delay was announed as the flight was operating BOM-BLR-MAA-BOM. So a sudden shock as 40 tickets were cancelled and passengers opted for 9W. lucky for me... I got my ticket. The delay didn't bother me much because I was busy in discussions with my dad, hearing songs and the best of it--- seeing a small girl of about 2 years of age... the most beautiful and cutest baby girl i had seen in my life! God bless her.

My boarding card... MAA-BOM

As the flight was delayed dinner was announced against boarding cards for passengers in flight 572 at Taj restaurant in the airport. MAA boasts of facilities like "free trolley"! What a shame!

Security at MAA is back to same old standards of sleeping men. Checking just a formality. None of the passengers removed their cell phones, watches, wallets etc and the security was not even bothered to ask them to.

Here we had a simultaneous DN and IT flight both to BLR. I tried to do some spotting but could click only this one A320. Finally boarding was announced for our flight and we were given an aerobridge. At the aircraft entrance we were welcomed by a middle aged good looking female crew with their special "namashkar". My seat 4C again was an aisle seat and i swapped with my dad this time.I managed to click a 9W 737.

IC A320 parked for maintenance (sorry for the quality)

Mom and dad ahead of me in the aerobridge

IC executive class

9W B737-800 (sorry about the quality)

Pushback started at around 11.00PM. As we taxied to the runway I saw 3 A320s (IC), 1 B737-800 (9W) and a B777 (SQ). We took off at around 11.10PM. With nothing more to do than seeing the city lights I started reading the 'Swagat'- iC's in-flight magazine. Soon dinner was announced inspite of a dinner at Taj. But since my ticket was not confirmed I didn't have anything at Taj. Was damn hungry now. This is where others lose to IC! What a grand meal! A 2 course option veg or nonveg. but before that warm bread and a vegetable soup was offered. There was also a dahi-raita given in advance.

This was followed by the main course. The veg option included paneer in a chinese preparation and Veg. Fried Rice and something. Mine as usual was the non-veg menu. The options were chicken biryani with chicken gravy and chicken in a chinese preparation. The one i took was the chicken i a Chinese preparation . It consisted Veg. fried rice, chicken manchurian and a veg mix of carrots, capsicum, spring onions and baby corn in white sauce. This was again followed by options warm breads and rotis. Then the deserts were brought. It was either a mixed fruit salad or a Bengali sweet. I took the Bengali sweet- very fond of them!

Veg. soup hot breads and dahi raita

Veg fried rice, chicken manchurian and a veg mix of carrots, capsicum, spring onions and baby corn in white sauce along with dahi raita and a sweet dish (not pictured)

After the meals hot towels were given to the Executive class passengers. The weather slowly started getting cloudy and the aircraft started to shake. Seatbelt signs were again switched on. After a few moments landing was announced by the Captain and we landed on the rwy 27 in BOM at around 12.40AM.

Once again we were given a far away bay but i should say I was lucky because i got a chance to click. IC's special bus with leather seats only for Exec class passengers transferred us to the terminal bldg. And thus ended my delayed flight from MAA.

9W 737 as we taxi to parking

IT A320

Go Air A320 (blue tail) on our right

IT A320 on our left

The same aircraft IT A320

Our aircraft (clicked from the bus)

I have a proof that Kingfisher uses IC's step ladders... An IT A320 with an "Indian" step ladder

9W VT-JGK

S2 old and new livery in one shot

Fire trucks at BOM

IC A319

IC A320... looks same eh? but it isn't

Since this is my first TR please correct me if im wrong anywhere. Suggestions, comments and queries are also welcome.
I would also like to thank karatecatman for being in touch with me throughout my trip. Though we couldn't meet we had some chat over the phone and through SMS

-- Edited by the_380 at 19:49, 2006-11-30

karatecatman · Member

Hey 380,

Lucky you. So much space in IA's J.

TR. Details are fine. Pictures are fine. You seem to have picked up half the traffic into and out of MAA.

Nice time to arrive and you have made good use of it. Great about that. And you do have agile fingers esp, under the nose of the CISF!!

IA's catering looks nice in J. More variety and some order in the tray setting at last.

***

Just saw the return TR. Pics are fine again

You seem to have spotted a quarter of MAA's night traffic as well!! Great again!!

IA's catering is without doubt the best. Filling and good. Not posting this in A-net?

Many thanks for the acknowledgement!!! Too bad Anet-I's highest posters (!!) could only have an SMS/Tele-call meet!!!! (An almost never ending official trip to blame.)

***

Note: Can vouch for the tough time 380 had on the return sector. Really didn;t know whether he would make it back to BOM. So we had another round of SMS/calls on possible hotels to stay near the airport.

Anyway, the 40 pax who cancelled solved the problem.

Was updated every second on what was happening!!!!!

... IA may have lost a bit of goodwill with that A300 pullout for Hajj. Explains why it has been missing for a few days. Usually "touches" the rooftop, and waking up the neighbourhood, as it blasts across the Bay of Bengal on its way to Changi at 0134 am (STD 0055 am as IC 555).

380 wrote:

"I had to travel to Chennai to learn professional music sequencing there. He had taken time with Harris Jayraj for me."

India Today and CNN-IBN will soon be interviewing India's newest composer!

-- Edited by karatecatman at 23:00, 2006-11-28

the_380 · Member

karatecatman wrote:

380,

Lucky you. So much space in IA's J.

TR. Details are fine. Pictures are fine. You seem to have picked up half the traffic into and out of MAA.

Nice time to arrive and you have made good use of it. Great about that. And you do have agile fingers esp, under the nose of the CISF!!

IA's catering looks nice in J. Some order in the tray setting at last.

Thanx for the compliment

-- Edited by the_380 at 18:01, 2006-12-03

COUGAR · Member

Good TR Avijeet!!!

While its true that IC is miles ahead of the others in the food dept, their J-Class service seems to have taken a dip for the worse if you are to go by the pics with this TR.

While the meal service in J is multi-course and served as such, and the crockery is pure ceramic, However the entree looks like it is in semi-ceramic casseroles of the kind found in economy as well. Now either they were scrimping by loading common entree's for J and Y for the MAA flights (some unnamed snooty private carriers do that for their south flights) or the standard has been set lower for saving costs and simplifying logistics.

There was a time when the entree in J was also served in a "proper" china plate. The plate was typically sealed in with aluminium foil which was supposed to be opened up by the FA in the galley, though in IC they usually opened it up after placing it in front of the passenger!

Sad to see this go!! Anyways good service otherwise!

the_380 · Member

COUGAR wrote:

There was a time when the entree in J was also served in a "proper" china plate. The plate was typically sealed in with aluminium foil which was supposed to be opened up by the FA in the galley, though in IC they usually opened it up after placing it in front of the passenger!

No COUGAR...the foil were brought open to the passengers...

Thankx for the compliment

-- Edited by the_380 at 10:17, 2006-11-29

JumboJet · Member

Nice TR, enjoyed watching the pictures.

COUGAR · Member

the_380 wrote:

No COUGAR...the foil were brought open to the passengers...

Thankx for the compliment

-- Edited by the_380 at 10:17, 2006-11-29

Yeah but the meal itself was in a casserole not a proper china dish.

VOTV · Member

Nice trip report 380.

HAWK21M · Member

Nice TR.

Especially the Pics.

regds

MEL

the_380 · Member

Thanx for the compliments everybody... however please tell me if you have any suggestions too

DELAPPROACH · Member

Nice TR Avijeet.

Regards

Mayank

Seat 13A · Member

Nice report.

"...free trolleys..."

Well a time might come when they start charging us for that as well. Most North American airports charge a $1 or so for a trolley and if you care to return it, the machine even gives you a refund ($0.25). So probably they highlight the fact that it is free at MAA.

So how did the thing with Harris Jayaraj go? Are you into composing film music? Did he not do "Laysa Laysa"? That was a good one.

tenvsrini · Member

That was a good report, 380. Loved the pics from MAA. Can you also put in the aircraft type and travel dates for each of your sectors? While some of us might be able to figure them out from the pictures, registration, etc, it always helps to have the details up there.

Incidentally I was at MAA too on 27 Nov, waiting to catch the IT flight to BLR. Of course I wouldn't have recognized you even if we had bumped into each other - I didn't know what you looked like! Maybe we can have a thread on this forum for posting members' travel schedules.

Regards,

Ten V

JumboJet · Member

tenvsrini wrote:

That was a good report, 380. Loved the pics from MAA. Can you also put in the aircraft type and travel dates for each of your sectors? While some of us might be able to figure them out from the pictures, registration, etc, it always helps to have the details up there.

Incidentally I was at MAA too on 27 Nov, waiting to catch the IT flight to BLR. Of course I wouldn't have recognized you even if we had bumped into each other - I didn't know what you looked like! Maybe we can have a thread on this forum for posting members' travel schedules.

Regards,

Ten V

Idea accha hai

Nimish · Member

Great report 380 - it was a pleasure to read! Your picture certainly helps putting a face to the many posts I see.

I would definitely encourage you to use a proper digital camera for your photography - I'm guessing you've used a mobile phone for these shots?

"Veg fried rice, chicken manchurian and a veg mix of carrots, capsicum, spring onions and baby corn in white sauce along with dahi raita and a sweet dish (not pictured)" - this is an extremely silly menu (IMO). VFR and Chicken Manchurian are fine - but veges in a white sauce - that sounds Continental! And dahi raita with chinese food - sacrilege. I'm guessing that IC has only one tray of accompaniments (with the dahi raita), or you got the tray meant for the chicken biryani dinner.

Was there any lounge at either BOM or MAA for J class pax? If not, why not - is there no lounge, or was there no time to access the lounge?

the_380 · Member

Thanx for the compliment Nimish, Seat 13A, Mayank and Ten V...

Sorry i forgot to mention the dates Ten V... have added them now. Even i think there should be a section where members can post their dates of travel.... by the way when was your flight? In the evening? Can you yell me what you were wearing or where you were seated while waiting? Maybe we could have been quite closeby. Indeed the world is such a small place

Yes nimish i have used a mobile camera since i didnt have a digital camera... Regarding the lounge at BOM its nothin gr8... just another room with a bit of privacy from everyone else and nothin else but a restaurant that offers food at payment unlike international lounges...about the food the dahi raita was meant actually for the biryani even i feel the same... however i preffered the chinese menu... and about the combination i seriously dont know the exact name for the dish but the crew told me "vegetables in whites sauce"... however it didnt matter much just like having a pizza and dosa together when both are extremely delicious.. just my opinion

Seat 13A i had a good time discussing and learning from Harris Jayraj... he spent quite some time teaching me... nice man he is...

-- Edited by the_380 at 19:56, 2006-11-30

-- Edited by the_380 at 19:59, 2006-11-30

tenvsrini · Member

380, I was in the ground floor of the departure area, green t-shirt. I suppose you would have been in the first floor, seeing as you used the aerobridge? Mine was the 2215 departure to BLR. That has become pretty much my weekend routine these days - Friday evenings at BLR, Sundays at MAA. Hoping to meet some a.netters soon

Ten V

the_380 · Member

tenvsrini wrote:

380, I was in the ground floor of the departure area, green t-shirt. I suppose you would have been in the first floor, seeing as you used the aerobridge? Mine was the 2215 departure to BLR. That has become pretty much my weekend routine these days - Friday evenings at BLR, Sundays at MAA. Hoping to meet some a.netters soon

Ten V

Sad even though we were so nearby yet we couldn't meet...

Mods can we extend the My Postings section to details of our trips we'll be making so that if we're flying then we can catch up with other members if we're together?

Aseem · Member

the_380 wrote:

Mods can we extend the My Postings section to details of our trips we'll be making so that if we're flying then we can catch up with other members if we're together?

in My Postings you can post whatever you like asking members to contact you off-list.