2014
ended with very few flights for me, yet I went to some new places, flew new airlines
and aircraft. Even before the year was to end, I had booked for a short trip to
Nagpur for a wedding, followed by a short family holiday in Tadoba Tiger
Reserve. As always the trip had some last minute scare due to work, but I made
it!
Trip Planning &
Flight History– The first of many favorite parts of
a trip
We
booked the ticket in October’14. The
sector has traditionally seen flight operations from IndiGo. If my memory is
right, the airline started basing its second A320 in Pune sometime in October
2009, with base departures to Chennai – Kolkata with one aircraft and Nagpur –
Delhi with another. In 2013-14 when the airfield saw closure due to MAFI
(Modernization of Airfield Infrastructure) project of Indian Air Force, the
schedules were changed and when the airfield opened for normal operations,
IndiGo chose to continue its base departures to Chennai and Kolkata – thus
starting a non-stop Kolkata flight, terminating the early morning Nagpur flight.
Currently,
Go Air flies an early morning departure to Nagpur, which operates as Bengaluru
– Pune – Nagpur – Kolkata in the morning and reverse in the evening along with
two departures of IndiGo, first at 11:05 and the later at 18:25.
In
the past, Jet Airways has tried this route, when they operated a Pune – Nagpur
– Indore and vice versa routing on a B737 (Kolkata – Mumbai – Pune – Nagpur –
Indore and return) and prior to that Kingfisher had a popular Nagpur – Pune
connection via Indore on ATR-72
Booking
It
was a breeze as usual on the official IndiGo website. Hassle free, with options
of choosing seats, meals and excess baggage – none of which was booked by us.
Few
days prior to the flight, I checked what the availability of seats is, most of
the paid seats were snapped up, which meant the chances of getting emergency
row or first row was rare, so I purchased the seats.
Airport Information
Enough
has been covered in my previous trip reports about Pune and hence I will update
only the latest. The canopy structure is now complete, so vehicles now come in
and stand underneath the canopy. Also complete is a building in the old parking
area, which was supposed to house ticketing offices and Air Asia has been
allotted space there, the rest of the airlines are protesting to move there.
The hangers meant for private jets parked in Pune are in final stages of
completion.
Nagpur
Airport – famous for the over a decade old MIHAN project now has a Work in
progress hanger which will soon be for Air India MRO along with 7 bays and one
operational runway – 14-32 which is 10500 feet long. The airport has been
renamed as Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in 2005 from its earlier
name of Sonegaon.
Rotation
IndiGo’s
two A320s parked at Pune typically operate as Pune – Chennai – Pune – Nagpur –
Delhi – Goa – Delhi – Bengaluru (Subject to change once it reaches its hub in
Delhi) and Pune – Kolkata – Dibrugarh – Kolkata – Ahmedabad – Pune – Nagpur –
Delhi, making it easier to predict the registration a day in advance !
Pune
– Nagpur is a distance of 605 kms ( 800 announced by the pilot) which is
scheduled to be covered in 1hour and 20 minutes. The flight would typically fly
overhead Aurangabad (IXU) before setting course for Nagpur.
The
return rotation typically works as Delhi – Vadodara – Delhi – Kolkata –
Dibrugarh – Kolkata – Delhi – Nagpur - Pune
Pune
- Nagpur
Check-in &
Airport Experience
We
reached the airport well in time for our 1825 departure. The cab situation in
Pune has improved after Meru cabs entered the scene. Quickly going through the
standard CISF – double check at Pune, we made our way to a quick baggage
screening and to the counters of IndiGo. An IndiGo aircraft was pushing back
for Delhi – their 5th daily and another (VT-IDD ex-Tiger Air) was at
the bay waiting to go to Bengaluru as 6E-105.
Check
in was quick and pleasant, followed by a very quick security as we went and
waited at the first floor departure gate. No new options have been added in
terms of shopping or eating at this level.
Unfortunately
there was no air force activity in this clear winter weather as we waited for
our flight to arrive from Ahmedabad.
Boarding &
In-flight
The
incoming aircraft landed before time at 1750 hours from Ahmedabad (AMD) and
docked at bay 4. About 100 passengers seemed to have got down at Pune. I
hurried to stand first in queue so that I could find a place for cabin luggage
as well as see the loads on AMD-NAG sector.
 |
| Hello 6E had this interesting information |
Boarding
commenced at 1805 and was done in the next 5-7 mins, helped by light load of 78
pax boarding at Pune with around 25 already inside the aircraft transiting. That
is indeed a very light load of just over 50%!
As
we made ourselves comfortable, IFE Poonam briefed us on the safety procedures
since we were seated on the emergency exit row and the reason why I’m
mentioning the name here is because these were the most crisp and clear
instructions I have ever had in over 50 flights which I Have sat on the
emergency exit row. Indeed the airline should ensure that the IFE trains their
other crew for this.
Doors
closed at 1812 and we pushed back at 1815 for a long taxi to runway 28. The
instructions by the crew were very clear except for one part where the crew
mentioned that Capt. Peter was from Czechoslovakia. Well, he can either be from
Czech Republic or Slovakia! It would be a 1:15hr journey to Nagpur. Vacant
premium seats were available on sale inflight.
As
we taxied out, my wife wondered if IndiGo has taken my last Trip Report seriously and stopped announcing “समयपर रहना अनिवर्य है”/“ Samay
par rehna aniwarya hai” ( It is mandatory to be on time). I wondered that too since there was no announcement to this effect.
We
waited for an 9W ATR to land (arrival from Indore) and were cleared to taxi on
active, where we made a powerful westwards takeoff from runway 28 at 1820,
banked right headed to Nagpur.
Service
started soon after we stabilized and I saw that the non-veg options have
substantially reduced in the menu. We ordered for Corn & Spinach sandwich
(Quality improved over last time), Non-Veg noodles (Out of stock) – hence asked
for Veg Noodles and two coffee.
Cockpit
crew did not announce the flight details like altitude, speed and route
in-flight but Capt.Devraj, the First Officer came on PA as we started our
descent and announced that our ETA would be 1928, 17 mins before schedule and
outside temperature being 21 degree Celsius with clear skies.
We
landed before time on runway 32 and went till the end to turn and park at one
of the aerobridges. The airport is a huge building with flights concentrated at
few times, like many other airports.
Deplaning &
Baggage
The
baggage was quick to come out and the staff was around to check if we are
taking our own baggage or not. We were out in no time being welcomed by
infinite horns at the airport and chaos that ruled the exit lanes.
Nagpur
– Pune
Check-in &
Airport Experience
We
reached Nagpur airport, fairly early for the 2145 departure, which I was sure
would depart early. As we entered, we saw crowds boarding flights for Mumbai,
Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune on IndiGo, Air India and Go Air.
Check-in
was quick and pleasant experience but the security lines were long and we
waited for lines to be cleared before we crossed Security. The Security Hold
Area (SHA) is divided into ground floor and first floor sections. I think
Nagpur is the only airport, where I have purchased a bottle of water for
Maximum Retail Price (MRP)
Boarding &
In-flight
The
incoming flight arrived at 2105 and about a 100 passengers deplaned before row
wise boarding was announced and enforced. We boarded in the second lot and made
our way to the emergency exit row. The briefing on emergency procedures seemed
dull and not up to the mark, obviously compared to the inbound flight.
 |
| Hello 6E was missing from my seat |
Boarding
was complete for this flight which had about 12 empty seats and push back
commenced at 2134 as we taxied to runway 32 and were airborne at 2041. Capt.
Puneet Kaushik was in command with First Officer Capt. Dhillon for this 800 km
journey which was announced to take an hour and 10 minutes. We banked left and
set course for Pune cruising at FL340 (34000 feet).
Between boarding and
push back – came the twist, the familiar and amusing announcement in auto mode
- “समयपर रहना अनिवर्य है”/“ followed by “समयपर रहना महत्वपुर्णा है”/“Samay par rehna mahatwapurna hai” ( It is important to
be on-time)
Now
I am confused on why this was not played in the inbound flight ! Standardization
anybody ?
Inflight
service was quick owning to this time of the day not being the perfect time for
Buy on Board. We asked for two cups of coffee which were promptly delivered.
The
pilot came on PA and announced the commencement of descent (somewhere over
Aurangabad) at 2215 and expected time of arrival being 2240. A steep descent
later, we flew in really smooth with
flaps extended, reduced thrust as we made a feather touch landing on runway
two-eight at Pune at 2234 and exited the runway after light braking to reach
the bay at 2235. This indeed was one of the best landings I have had for a long
time!
Deplaning &
Baggage
The
step ladder at the rear took a lot of time to come thus the majority of the
crowd rushed towards the forward exit as we deplaned and made our way to Baggage
belt 4 to collect our luggage. As we walked towards the arrivals gate, VT-GOQ
of Go Air taxied in followed by a Jet Airways aircraft.
Overall Rating
Booking
– 5/5
Web
Check in / Website – 5/5
Airport
Experience – 5/5
On-Time
– 5/5
In-Flight
service 4/5 (Inconsistent)
Meals
– 3/5 (Still needs improvement)
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