An encounter

The other day when I was at Mumbai Domestic Arrival terminal, I got to see Rahul Gandhi passing by. Not much security except for 2 cops which were part of the airport security force and were keeping their distance from him (around 15 metres). Also 2 bodyguards were with him, who were dressed like businessmen, but I guess the give away was the ear pieces they had in their left ears. Though Rahul Gandhi sat for 10 minutes at the baggage collection area, not many people realised his presence in the area. In one such case, two youth most probably some MNC professionals with their laptops hanging on their sides sat next to Rahul Gandhi and his friend. They didnot realise until Rahul got up and left with his baggages which were brought to him by his bodyguards. I guess people are generally busy collecting their baggages and making their way to the arrival terminal. I am told that if someone spends couple of hours at the Mumbai arrival terminal, you will get to see many celebs, politicians and businessmen. That could be really true, but I am not sure whether these stats are hard proof.

Airport TV Service

When returning from Delhi, I had to check into the domestic departure terminal. My check-in counter was supposed to open in sometime, so I has some time to kill. I wanted to check for the updates on the flight status, so went to one of these TVs. Now since it is Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, the TV installed is a Samsung Plasma screen TV (I think it is a 32 inch). There was no information available due to some access problems. But I know that for the 1 hour and above I spent there, I never saw it once functioning properly like displaying flight status. If that was not enough, the TV was being accompanied by 2 pigeons sitting over it. At one point, the pigeons flew above me and their droppings missed me by a small distance while I was seated waiting for my counter to be open. I am pretty sure that AAI (Airport Authority of India) has been working very hard in expanding the IGI airport for the 2010 Commonwealth Games that they miss these small things.

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.

Mumbai Airport's Int. Terminal

Last time when I was traveling from Mumbai Airport's International Terminal, I found the seating arrangement pretty comfortable. These seats were better as it gave people complete rest compared to any of the seats I have come across on other airports terminals. First of all many flights are scheduled at late nights or early dawn. The thing about International flights are the check-in time is 2-3 hours prior to the flight takeoff due to luggage check-in and immigration clearance. Therefore lots of passengers are deprived of their sleep. This kind of seating arrangement atleast give people some shut eye. Apart from these seating arrangements, there are plenty of food joints like Subway, Little China and many more. I hope other airports around the country and the world come up with some of these seating arrangements so as to assist the already exhausted passengers.

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.

Bad condition of some Highways

A few days ago I made a road trip from Bangalore to Mangalore. The route taken was National Highway 48 (NH-48). The amount of time taken to get out of Bangalore itself was amazing. Once on the two way highway, the ride was smooth when passing Hassan. But the moment we reached Shaklespur Ghat were the road goes downhill all the way for 40 kms was a horrible experience. The quality of the road was so bad that people needed to go a 20 kmph. Lots of potholes, forget potholes... I would say the roads would be missing from the middle as the whole Base layer of the road was destroyed. At every small distance you will find some truck or the other on the side of the road having problems with the tyres or axles. I guess if I had known earlier about the bad conditions of the road, I might have flown to Mangalore or atleast taken an alternate route. I am sure lots of transport companies have been suffering because of that section of the highway. The government should start spending some time fixing up the essential highways.

Performance of Shatabdi Trains

These are the train tickets from Bangalore to Katpadi and back. I had gone to visit my college VIT and had taken Shatabdi Express.

The only thing I needed to understand was why the prices varied as the distance was same. For Shatabdi, the place from where the ticket is purchased is also taken into consideration. Anyways Shatabdi services are good, as the whole train is A/C and has Chair car and Executive chair class only. Food is provided accordingly, like breakfast for the morning trains and dinner for the night train. Drinking water bottles are also provided which are kept cold. The new features introduced were the announcement of the upcoming stations over the speakers which have been provided in each car. This has helped a lot for passengers. Also people have been using the Mobile Charging sockets a lot as you can find them crowded, who knows the railway people might have to put up more sockets.

Finally the only thing I can say about the travelling experience by Shatabdi is that it was good and nice experience. I guess the trains still have lot of competition with the airline industry but still the railways have not been making any loses.

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.

Trip to college

Today I made a trip to my college VIT for which I had to leave early from my home to catch a train. Since I had already checked up on the internet that seats were available on the Shatabdi Express leaving Bangalore at 6 am and reaching Katpadi at 9 am, so I left my house early intending on catching a BMTC bus or an auto. Funny as it may sound, I kept waiting from 5 am till 5:30 am in search for a BMTC bus or an auto, neither of which were available. The road on which I was waiting is actually having heavy traffic of buses and autos throughout the day. So it looked like my day wasn't starting of well.

Anyways I did get an auto who was charging me 1.5 times the meter. Since it was way before 6 am I accepted, as if I had a choice due to the scarcity of autos (This is were I keep trying to figure out where are the 1 lakh autos in this city disappearing to). I reached the station around 5:45 am and was happy that I will make it. Now when I stood infornt of the current reservation counter, that was it. A large queue of people waiting for booking ticket or cancelling existing ones. There were 3 trains going to leave in the next 45 minutes. Shatabdi at 6 am, Intercity Exp at 6:15 am and Lalbagh at 6:30 am. Now I was hoping to get my tickets by then. The person sitting at the counter said 'stay in a queue and wait for your turn' which I had to do to get a ticket. The only difference is that I got my ticket at 6:15 am that also for Lalbagh as Shatabdi had left the station as I was waiting for the tickets. I kept guessing that the priority for trains should be given at some point but looks like the person behind the counter just cares about doing his job comfortably without any problems or doesn't care if one misses his train or not. Lucky for me I got one of the last seats on Lalbagh Exp. while Shatabdi had a lot of free seats. The system at some point sucks.

I reached my college at 10 am and finished up my work at the student's records and then met up with some of my juniors. They all were busy with there exams or project reviews. The temperature at the college was soring high. Some things had changed at the college since I had last visited like infrastructure. After all this, I planned to return back to Bangalore by the 4 pm bus. The bus was an A/C Volvo run by a private agency group. The buses are always amazing, well maintained and the roads have improved. The road on which we were travelling is part of the 'Golden Quadrilateral' project so the quality is good, not only that I guess it could be due to the newly built roads. Anyways the journey was comfortable, only thing to find was the amount of vehicles moving on the roads. Large quantities of Trucks were travelling and the process of overtaking keeps occuring frequently.

The bus was able to cover the distance until Hosur town without any interruptions as not much traffic on the roads. This town being just 40 kms from Bangalore is very easy to reach in 45 minutes. When travelling from Hosur to Bangalore usually the trip will be 1 hour due to the major checkpoints for vehicles by the Karnataka Transportation check post. After this when we pass the famous Electronic city which can get the roads to a standstill due to traffic problems can get anyone in 1.5 to 2.5 hours. But today being a saturday was comfortable enough to get through to the town without any jams. I was able to get down at the dropping point and then hired an auto after bargining as all were quoting there own price.

This is how a trip can go by. Sometimes the days are worse than all this. One comes to know about it when you see the person cursing or dead sleeping after arriving. What can one do to improve the system and make it more efficient.