Flight Details:
Airline: Air IndiaFlight number: AI-810
STD: 1610 IST
ATD: 1612 IST
Aircraft: Airbus A321-211
Registration: VT-PPN
Seating configuration: 12J + 170Y
Load factor: 100% in J and Y
I needed to travel from Delhi to Mumbai and decided to fly Air India on one of their hourly flights on this route. The fares on this route were pretty much the same on all the other airlines (including low-cost carriers). Since, this flight offered me miles, free food and a convenient departure time, I selected it over others. I took the Delhi Airport Express Metro and reached the Indira Gandhi International Airport (T3) in just under 15 minutes from the New Delhi Metro station.
Air India operates an Airbus A321 on this route and the aircraft I flew was VT-PPN. This particular aircraft (VT-PPN) of the fleet was earlier configured in Air India's usual 20J + 152Y seating. However, later on it was changed to a more efficient 12J+170Y configuration.
The Delhi to Mumbai leg is in continuation of the Ranchi-Delhi-Mumbai sector that this flight operates. A quick check on the internet and I come to know that the aircraft is on final approach to Delhi. I slowly proceeded towards the assigned gate and sat down in one of the available seats.
Indians love to be first in everything, and it was pretty soon evident here. The incoming aircraft had just taxied-in and was being connected to the aerobridge when passengers bound on my flight started getting up and forming a line for boarding. The airline staff at the counter kept saying that it would take them atleast 15 minutes to start boarding, yet no-one left the queue.
Boarding was indeed announced after 15 minutes and we entered the aircraft from door L1. A young flight attendant at the gate greeted me with a smile and a 'Namaste'. There were 3 rows of 2 X 2 seats in the Business class cabin, making 12J seats. The economy seating is 3 X 3 with ABC on the port and DEF on the starboard side. Since the flight was fully booked, and I did not web check-in, I was assigned a middle seat on the starboard side of the aircraft; 10E
Air India is the only domestic carrier in India that offers Inflight Entertainment System onboard. The IFE system on this flight was operational (on my previous flight it was not) and had about 5 channels of video entertainment along with around 10-12 audio channels. There was also a moving map showing various flight details.
Crew details:
Captian Sunil Pillai
First Officer Ashok Narang
Cabin Incharge: Ms. Gauri
Pretty soon, boarding was completed and all doors were closed. The captain came on the intercom and announced flight details and thanked us for choosing Air India. The flight safety video was then switched on and then an announcement was made by the flight attendants detailing flight time and other important information. We took off from Runway 11, after having to wait in line for 6 previous take offs. Post take off, we experienced a bit of turbulence and the seat belt sign remained on until we reached a cruising altitude of 7100 metres.
Immediately after the seat belt signs went off, the flight attendants swung into action. Food trolleys were rolled out and hot snacks were served with a choice of vegetarian or non-vegetarian meals.
Menu:
Achari Paneer Tikka
Non-Veg:
Achari Chicken Tikka
Common:
Potato fried tikki
Veg stuffed puff
Coleslaw sandwich
Desert:
Carrot payasam
A round of Tea/Coffee followed and pretty soon the service was concluded. I visited the lavatory after the meal trays were collected and found it to be neat and clean. After I returned, I watched a bit of 'Bang Bang' - a Bollywood movie until I got fed up of the overacting and decided to stick to the moving map.
Seat belts were then turned on indicating our descend into Mumbai. There wasn't much holding over Mumbai and we landed pretty much without any delay. We landed on runway 27 and exited into a taxiway and then finally parked onto an aerobridge.
I only had a hand bag so didn't need to wait for any check-in luggage. Exited the airport and took a prepaid taxi to my home in Navi Mumbai.
Positives:
- Ontime flight
- Decent meal service
- Good Legroom
Negatives:
- Middle seat
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