Trip Reports - Any experiences on domestic India and India/Nepal flights?

I'm making my first trip to india for a "vacation" this summer and was looking into flights around the country and to Nepal. Does anyone have any experiences/recommendations/warnings about Air India - domestic and to Nepal, Royal Nepal Airlines, and Jet Airways? They all have similar fares and my schedule is flexible. Who should I fly?

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ToddDeck:
Does anyone have any experiences/recommendations/warnings about Air India - domestic and to Nepal, Royal Nepal Airlines, and Jet Airways? </font>

Air India is the long-haul international carrier. They fly only a handful of domestic feeder routes and do not serve Nepal. They operate a fleet of 742s, 743s, 744s, A300s and A310s.

Indian Airlines is the domestic and short-haul international carrier. They operate a fleet of A300s and A320s, plus a low-cost subsidiary Alliance Air who operate 732s.

Jet Airways is the private domestic operator and operates a fleet of 734s, 735s, 73Gs, 738s and ATRs.

From a service standpoint, all three provide service FAR better than anything you will receive from a domestic US carrier

Some Air India trip reports are below :

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/13752/

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/12468/

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/229788/

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/229800/

You better check SAFETY in NEPAL. Maoist rebels quite active there!

I've flown around India a bit and can say with 100% confidence that Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines are a LOT better than either Air India or Indian Airlines. From the planes they fly, to the cabin crew, on-time performance, safety records etc.

Jet Airways, particularly, are regarded as a world-class airline. Air India and Indian Airlines, are, well... not.

The following thread in the Star Alliance forum will be of use to you:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum82/HTML/000506.html

Enjoy India - Truly one of the most amazing places I have ever been.

MD

I flew Jet Airways about 8 months ago from Delhi to Calcutta and it a spanking new 737. Great crew and nice flight. Pretty decent food too from what I remember.

Flip

I concur that Jet (9W) is the best of the lot. Their service is excellent, and definitely above IA. But I notice that food on IA often trumps that on 9W.

Flights on 9W tend to be crowded because they're so popular, in my experience (BOM&lt;-&gt;BLR, COK&lt;-&gt;BLR, MAA&lt;-&gt;BLR). But then on the main trunk routes (between DEL, BOM, CCU, MAA and BLR) nearly every flight is crowded, no matter what airline.

Despite having flown them many times, I've never really experienced a major delay on any Indian domestic flight that wasn't because of really adverse weather (e.g. gale force winds and rain during monsoon in COK).

flew Jet Airways and was pleased

I flew from Delhi to Kathmandu & return last November on Indian Airlines. Had been thinking of Royal Nepal, but heard horror stories about major delays, etc. The experience on Indian Airlines was flawless--left on time, arrived on time. Really not one complaint at all. One bit of advice: spend the extra $50 or so and opt for the "Executive Class". The little extra room and boarding preference really mean a lot, especially in that part of the world.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MilesDependent:
I've flown around India a bit and can say with 100% confidence that Jet Airways and Sahara Airlines are a LOT better than either Air India or Indian Airlines. From the planes they fly, to the cabin crew, on-time performance, safety records etc.</font>

Safety records? I don't suppose you recall the Sahara incident in 1994 at Delhi where their 737 veered off the runway in a crosswind and crashed into the Aeroflot IL-86 parked at the terminal?

Sorry, but Sahara has a question mark in my book. Financials are also very shaky to put it politely. I'd pick 9W over S2 any day of the week.



[This message has been edited by B747-437B (edited 12-16-2001).]

My wife and I once took a flight on Indian Airlines from Bombay to Aurangabad (sp?). We flew an MD-11 if I remember correctly. On the plane, in addition to the flight crew and the two of us, there were 3 other people. The plane landed at Aurangabad, and was to continue on to Delhi. Turns out the plane landed ONLY FOR US! No one else got off and no one got on! We had paid around $50 each for the tickets. I wonder how much that landing/take off cost.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by aflyer:
We flew an MD-11 if I remember correctly.</font>

You do not remember correctly. No product of the McDonnell Douglas Corporation has EVER been registered in India.

Indian Airlines has operated 737-200s, A300B2s, A300B4s and A320s.

Indian Airlines' last crash was in 1993, at Aurangabad, when one of their 732s went down. Their subsidiary Alliance Air had a crash in Patna in 1999 (or was it 2000). They also lost one of their A320s at BLR in 1990. IIRC no A300 has crashed.

Sahara did lose a plane, as B747-437B mentioned.

9W has not exactly been in the pink of financial health recently but they are still much better off than S2. They have not had a crash since inception. But I remember how their inaugural flight landed at the military base in Madras instead of the civilian airport, since I was living in that city then. The local politicians even suggested that the American pilot on the controls of that flight was a CIA spy http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by BlrGuy (edited 12-16-2001).]

I am not sure if you have an itinerary planned out already - but please, please, to experience India - do not fly. Take the trains.

The trains are the one thing I miss about India quite desparately. Sometimes exasperating, but on the whole much more reliable than the flights within India, the Indian Railway has character - you know you have travelled. Not like these new fangled aeroplanes. The AC First Class is really great service, and if you want to soak in some local culture - AC second is also pretty OK (Alas, the soot enhanced First Class cabins are gone!).

Costs are less than the flights, you do need reservations (you NEED to have CONFIRMED reservations - though of course a Rs 100 could get you a berth at the last moment- that was some time ago, the conductors price may have increased).

Indian Railways is now online - though my last experience of the online booking site was not the best. I am sure someone here at Flyertalk, in India, could help out with your reservations.

I spent two months at the beginning of this year travelling through India, and I'd have to agree that Jet is the best domestic airline I travelled on (had one experience each with Jet, Indian, and Sahara). Honestly not a huge difference between them all, just a level of professionalism at Jet that is reassuring. And as ticket prices are rather regulated, there's no price penalty for buying one-way tickets as you go, as long as seats are available.

But I'd also have to agree with alka12 - take the train! I only used planes for big hops (BOM-CCU, COK-BOM, GOI-DEL). If you stick with AC class (air-conditioned) and above, it's quite comfortable, and definitely a better way to see the country and its people. The Rajdhani Express from various points in the country to Delhi is quite luxurious, really, with all meals included even at the lowest ticket prices. And the Konkan railway from Bombay to Goa is really beautiful, I remember leaning out of the open door early in the morning as we flashed across rice paddies, over valleys and through endless bright red cuts through the Ghats.

On a practical note, the trains are nearly always reserved out far in advance, but, major train stations such as Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai, even Goa, have special reservations 'cells' for foreign tourists, where you have access to tourist quotas on trains leaving from that station. It was quite easy to make up an itinerary on the fly with this availability. They also sell a very handy train schedule of all the major trains in the country - invaluable. Sometimes the lines could be quite long though.

Have an excellent time, and a bit of unsolicited advice - don't miss the backwaters and beaches of Kerala.

Cheers,
puck

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BlrGuy:
Indian Airlines' last crash was in 1993, at Aurangabad, when one of their 732s went down. IIRC no A300 has crashed. </font>

IC has lost 2 A300s.

VT-EDV was lost at Tirupati in 1993 when they were forced to land in a paddy field due to fuel exhaustion.

VT-ELV was lost at Madras in 1986 when she ingested a bird on takeoff and crashed into the airport perimeter wall.

Additionally, IC lost a 732 VT-ECS in 1995 when she overran the runway at Delhi.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by puck:
Have an excellent time, and a bit of unsolicited advice - don't miss the backwaters and beaches of Kerala.

Cheers,
puck</font>

I second this piece of advice, as a native of Kerala and having grown up in those picturesque environs http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thank you so much to all of you that posted advice for me. This should save me a great deal of grief on the rails and in the air.