The Go Air experience

I was travelling from Bangalore to Mumbai by Go Air as its flight timings are in the evening and suite my needs. Their boarding and processing of passengers were done as per schedule but ofcourse being Bangalore HAL airport, the flight took off 30 minutes late due to traffic congestion. We reached Mumbai airspace on time as the pilot had increase the speed of the flight to 810km/hr, which he announced before reaching Mumbai on time. But as one has it, we circled around Mumbai for 20 minutes till we got clearance to land. I dozed off in the flight as nothing much was their to do, but enjoyed my leg space as I was seated at the emergency exit doors. Ofcourse I was given instructions by the cabin crew twice in English and Hindi, that in case of emergency I may have to open that door which by the way weighs 15 kgs which also brought the next question whether I could lift that much. The cabin crew were so thoughtful ;) that they woke me up for refreshments and snacks. The first thing I came up was with the answer a bottle of water. After I had a sip of it, they asked me for Rs 10 for the bottle. I was slightly shocked but thankful that it was 500 ml not a 200 ml bottle otherwise it would have been baffling (fyi --> Rs 50 is charged for a bottle of 1 litre drinking/mineral water at 4-Star hotels in India).

Domestic Airlines tax increase

The prices of domestic airline's tax have again increased from the start of December. Now one has to pay Rs 2025 as tax for domestic flights. This rise in prices have been done gradually over a period of time. In 2006 one used to pay in 3 digits and by start of 2007 the prices went into 4 digits. If this continues one has to be ready to pay an increase in airline tax every 2-3 months. The best reasons either the government or the airlines justify for the increase is the surcharge on the fuel, construction of new airports or expansion of existing ones.

Airline taxes

Nowadays everyone uses airlines either to cut on their travel time or due to the prices closeness of second/third class air-conditioned compartments of the Indian railways. This is why the domestic air sector in India is booming. Now due to the large varieties of airlines available the price competition has also become fierce. Due to these, tickets are coming cheap. Ofcourse that is what the advertisements show. Tickets for Zero, 99, 199, 299 etc.. The catch part is the taxes that are paid at the time of purchase of the ticket. Now these prices have risen a lot in the past few years. Just starting this month the tax was increased by Rs 150. Anyways, let me show you how the break-up of the taxes take place. For each ticket one purchases for a journey, the tax collected are divided as follow:

• Passenger Service fee: Rs 225.
• Fuel Surcharge: Rs 1100 (This got increased from 950 since August 2007).
• Transaction surcharge: Rs 100.
• Congestion fee: Rs 150.

Now donot get misled by the word 'Taxes'. People in general will consider that taxes are collected by the government. But in this case, except for the Rs 225 for the passenger service fee which is taken by the Airport Authority of India (AAI), the rest is taken by the airlines. The government still charges 0.62% on the base fare of the ticket. That is if the base fare is Rs 100 then the government gets 62 Paise. Anyways, the one of the reason what the airlines give for the so called taxes are that the Jet Fuel prices are high so Fuel Surcharge is increased. The above break up when added will come to Rs 1575.

When we take the same tax's price list to the International sector, we get the amounts roughly Rs 3600+. Here we have to consider that the charges put by different countries, both the source and destination and also the airports at both places. That is why I have to be mentally prepared before purchasing any ticket after looking at all the awesome dirt cheap prices different airlines offer. So this is what flying is all about.

Indigo Air

My latest journey took me to NCR (National Capital Region : Delhi) from Bangalore and back. For this trip I chose Indigo Airlines as it suited both - time of travel and my pocket. The prices are reasonable when compared with other low cost airlines. I was able to book the ticket 2 days before my flight. So I guess everything was pretty much convenient. As usual one should check into the airport with their luggage atleast an hour before their flight. But in my case I needed 2 hours before my flight as two things are important for Bangalore's public. One, you cannot trust the traffic and second, the amount of people that show up at Bangalore's HAL airport.

Anyways, the luggage limit that Indigo permit for travel is 8kgs hand luggage and 20kg check-in luggage. The only thing was that my flight was delayed by 25 minutes from Bangalore as the incoming flight was late. The funny thing is that the same kind of delay happened from Delhi but the a delay time was 45 minutes. Now the fun part, as usual the flight provides water on the house while the other eatables come for a cost. Example, Vegetarian and Non-veg sandwich are Rs 100, Soft drink cans for Rs 25, Freshly Baked cookies (2 pieces) for Rs 20 (by the way this is the cheapest thing available). All the fleet of Indigo Air are new Airbus 320 planes. There are total of 6 crew members on each flight: 2 Pilots and 4 Air Hostesses.

Low cost Airlines

Recently I went on an air journey and chose the low cost Airlines to travel and what an experience I had. I had to take a domestic flight and also an international one. Both the flights were low cost airlines. I will even give some info on the airport taxes that were charged.

My domestic flight was an Air Deccan flight. It was my first time on an Air Deccan. When getting my baggages checked I came to know that the allowed luggage for check-in was 15kgs and 10kgs for the hand baggages. It was shocking for me as the international standard and other domestic airline's charge is 20kgs for check-in baggages and 5kgs for hand baggages. Even after tell them that they could work out the maths that the total is 25 going through their Air-Deccan plane, they still charged me with extra for above 15kgs. The rates for the extra are Rs 70 per kg. Here I wish to point out that the airport taxes for domestic flights were Rs 1250 per flight and is supposed to be hiked. It really messes up with people's heads when airlines announce ticket fares of Rs 500 and one has to add the airport tax to dish out from their pockets. The other amazing thing is the Shotgun technique used for getting seats. The boarding passes issued at the Check-in counter doesnot contain a Seat number so whoever reaches first on the plane gets the seat. And everyone knows how human we are when we want seats, be it a plane or a bus.

Also when traveling abroad, I chose a low cost airline as it has become popular. Jazeera Airways is the one. The prices on the tickets compared to the normal fares of other airlines is atleast half or even more less. The fleet is all new Airbus 320's, currently having 5 planes and 6 are in order and are awaiting delivery. In this case also when I was flying out of Mumbai airport, the airport taxes were atleast Rs 3600 while on my way back the airport tax in Kuwait was hiked to the amount after conversion of Rs 2500. This tax was also more than the price of the ticket I had purchased for in both cases (to and fro).

Here is the fun fact, since the prices of the tickets are low as ofcourse it is called Low cost Airlines, there will be no entertainment or food given to the passengers as it is not included in the ticket. The only way to get the food would be to purchase it from the flight crew that is the Steward and Stewardess. I agree that these flight members are professionals but this makes them look like Salesmen selling items on board. The price of these items will be costly making one feel to bring things from home. A coffee or tea also costs amazing. In Jazeera Airways as the journey was long, there were screens provided overhead for watching. The only catch was that for the sound one has to purchase a headset. The other thing was that since it was late night travel, usually the lights are dimmed so that people could sleep. But here the lights were kept on full as the salesmen went on to work and wanted the passengers to be awake throughout their sales pitch. Eventually just some time before landing the lights were switched off for people to take some rest. I was even worried if I could ask for water thinking they will charge heavy prices for it. But I am really grateful that was the only thing that was not charged.

I guess eventually for every good there is something bad. If one wants to cut down on the prices of the air tickets then they should be understanding enough to handle the pressure of all that which will be thrown by the Low cost Airlines.

Air traffic jam

The other day I was at HAL airport or generally known as Bangalore airport. They have been quite busy in modifying the international departure terminal, making it look better and moving the luggage check-in counters to the ground floor. Anyways that doesn't change the fact that the airport is under heavy pressure for upgradation. Unlike most airports around the country, this airport has one runway which has to bear the load of Domestic and International flights, Cargo, Chartered flights used by politicans and businessmen and ofcourse you cannot forget the main users to whom the airport belongs to HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited).

On that beautiful day when the weather was plesant, the Airbus 320 which was scheduled to leave on time at 10 am was asked to wait for 15-20 minutes as they were put on a queue for takeoff. There position was number 9 on the queue. By the way this particular Airbus belonged to the Srilankan Airlines fleet which was headed from Bangalore to Columbo. When the 20 minutes were up, the pilot agained announced that there would be another 15-20 minutes delay as the air traffic was heavy. This did make me realise one thing that Bangalore has made itself well known for Traffic delays on road and now ofcourse even in air. Finally when these 20 minutes ended, the plane was reversed and asked to wait on the supporting runway behind 2 other planes - one AirDeccan and the other Jet Airways. Anyways it took another 15 minutes for takeoff during which 3 planes were landed and the preceding 2 planes were made to takeoff. When this plane taxied the runway, I could see another 4 flights waiting on the supporting runway for takeoff.

Even with the heavy pressure for the completion of the new Bangalore International Airport since the early 90s is showing slow progress. Atleast I really appreciate the work the Air Traffic Controllers at Bangalore HAL Airport are doing to keep things moving under so much pressure. I am hoping that day will come soon when their pressure is reduced with the completion of the International airport.

Gulf Air travel

I have travelled on many airlines and this time my travel agent suggested to give a try on Gulf Air. At each airport an airlines is allowed usually to stay upto 2 hours after which they have to pay rent for the time they stay at the airport. Therefore most of the airlines belonging to a country make return trips. Example: The British Airways flight from London to Bangalore makes a trip from London to Bangalore and then picks up passengers at the Bangalore airport and makes a return trip back to London. 2 hours is usually very much sufficient for Re-fuelling, Caterers, luggage transportation and other services. Each flight returns to their country where the flight originated and is then sent to the hangers for re-checking or maintenance depending upon the hours of air travel.

Timings of flights are put in so many ways like Long journey flights take off during night hours as more passengers (naturally after duty hours) can be expected and also the flight travel time is long leading the flight to reach in the early morning in the destination country. It is ofcourse great for the pilot and also passengers. For short journeys usually flights are kept throughout the day.

Back to the topic, I will give details about each airport in separate posts. My journey originated in Bangalore from HAL airport. I travelled through 3 aircrafts before reaching my destination. All the aircrafts I travelled were Airbus 320s. My first flight took me from Bangalore to Muscat at Seeb Airport. My next flight was from Muscat to Bahrain and then another flight to Kuwait. The whole journey took nearly 12 hours excluding the long awaiting time at the originating airport of Bangalore.

Talking about the Gulf Air, the outer look is attractive as they have the front half of the plane painted in gold colour. The inflight services are alright for a Airbus 320. Lunch is provided at the transit Airport if the transit stay is long. So I can say the service is worthwhile. But the best service I received was when I landed in Kuwait as I came to know that my luggage had not arrived with my flight. I placed a complaint in the Baggage claim department at Kuwait Airport. The next day when I enquired over the phone regarding my baggages, I was informed that my luggage was at Muscat airport and would be sent that night. Therefore I had to pick up my baggages the next day. The interesting thing was that since I am one of the very few to pick up my baggages at the baggage claim office in the Cargo terminal, they took their sweet time in going through my things. I think I must have spend half an hour and had to explain anything and everything he thought could be confiscated.