maem

A few months back, there was a lot of hype and noise around airlines (at leas in India) deliberately publishing flight timings and durations that would then make it appear that the actual flight was on time, or in some cases, even ahead of time. For instance, if the actual flying time from BLR to DEL was say 2h10m, these would be published as 2h30m. So any flight that was within 2h30m was considered on or ahead of time. Airlines defended this approach on the grounds of traffic congestion and consequent ATC delays. And over time, this issue seems to have faded away in public memory. Yesterday, however, all of this came back to me on a short flight from MAA to BLR that I was on. This was published as a 60 minutes flight, from 1620 hrs to 1720 hours. Admittedly, we pushed back about 5 minutes earlier than schedule (leaving one or two pax stranded at the MAA airport, including a colleague of mine). Net result, was that we arrived in BLR, almost 25 minutes early at the point of touchdown, a...

The Park Hyatt Chennai is a rather new property, and to my mind, very centrally located (at least, as far as my work in MAA goes). They are now running a promotion called "Weekend at the Park", which offers the following, for a weekend booking: breakfast for two 1 hour spa treatment for two INR 2000 F&B credit I think this is a rather good deal, considering the room rates. Here is the landing page for this promo . They have at least 5 room types that I'm aware of, including 3 suite types (though the number of suites are limited). I also find the suites quite pricey, but I managed to summarise the rates for the coming weekend (this seems to be the general flavour or rates). Mind you, these are in INR. Room type Weekend spa offer Hyatt Daily rate Awaken the Park Business at the Park Park King 7,900 7,500 8,000 8,500 Park Twin 7,900 7,500 8,000 8,500 Park View King 9,400 9,000 9,500 Park View Twin 9,400 9,000 9,500 Park Suite 16,900 16,500 17,000 Park Executive Suite 21,...

A little over a year and a half ago, Jet Airways launched a promotion for 20% and 25% off on domestic and select international JP miles redemptions, respectively. A few months back, this was renewed up until September 2013. Now, these offers have been extended till March 31, 2014. There's a small issue, however, which I'll come to. But first, some quick and important details. First up, the landing pages are here for domestic , and here for international redemptions . You naturally need to be a JP member with sufficient miles (at least 4000 are required to make a redemption). The offer is only on 9W operated flights, and not on codeshare flights operated by partner airlines (that includes JetLite). JetKonnect, however, is valid for redemptions under this offer. Secondly, the redemption will have to be done online. That means, no agent, no calling the 9W call center (not that anybody is eager to do THAT). Just go online to the redemption page , and do your searches. No point requ...

Last week, I had the opportunity to stay at The Oberoi Grand, Kolkata. This is a heritage property, with a history of its own (I’ll probably write about that separately). Now, there's some part of me which really wants to be living in the early 1900s (strange, but true), and so the words "heritage" and "colonial" make me sit up and take notice. Which was why I had mailed the hotel prior to my arrival and made some specific requests in relation to my stay, as I was keen on taking some photographs. I landed in CCU just after noon ( trip report here ) but had to get straight to work. So it was evening by the time I reached the hotel. After the mandatory security check and baggage screening (most hotels in India now do this), this was the sight that my eyes met! At check-in, I was greeted by the usual staff, along with Aatreyi Dhar, the Assistant Manager – Front Office. I’ve rarely met such an engaging member of the hotel staff! Check-in was as smooth as could be, a...

Today, the Hindustan Times published an article titled  India’s air safety rating could fall after AI crew complain . What they have said, is that the All India Cabin Crew Association has written to the ICAO, complaining about insufficient cabin crew and non-compliance of norms regarding crew operation timings, among other things. Apparently they had reported this earlier to the Director General of Civil Aviation (the aviation regulator in India, but there was no response). The Association represents Air India pilots, who may have enough bones to pick with the airline. There is also an FAA (US) audit expected to commence in early September 2013, which may also explain the timing of this complaint by the Association to the ICAO. Given all of this, I believe there may be more than meets the eye as regards this complaint, and so it would be too early to offer any comments. On a related note, three Asian airports - SIN, HKG and DPS (Bali) - have banned Indian chartered flights from lan...

Here's a quick one...Etihad is offering some good deals on flights ex-India, to many of their destinations. Naturally, these are for economy class bookings only. Tickets need to be booked before 15 September 2013, for travel between 8 September and 10 December (1 October to 10 December for travel to NYC).  Here's the landing page for this offer. According to their advert, here's the sort of fares you can expect. Destination Coral Economy Class (from INR**) Frankfurt 20,502 Paris 23,454 Milan 23,871 Manchester 25,561 Washington DC 36,956 New York 37,572 I find these quite attractive. However, I have my doubts regarding availability, from what I've tested online. YMMV.

For the longest time, Kolkata (CCU) had pathetic terminals – both for domestic and international flights – and it was high time they did something about it. Now, the Airports Authority of India must be complimented on the new Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. The airport is really fresh, swanky, and actually makes the flying experience in and out of CCU a whole lot better. The new terminal is an integrated terminal for domestic and international flights, and set out in an wide “V” with unequal arms, the longer arm being the domestic side. The terminal building itself is at one end of the runway, and is to the right of the old terminal, when viewed from the city side (left from airside). This picture, courtesy Wikipedia, shows it quite clearly. I flew in on SG 323 ( trip report here ), and on reaching CCU, we parked at the apron, though sufficient aerobridges appeared available. Cost cutting I suppose. The bus then took us to the terminal building, and this is what greet...