SpiceJet B737-800 Economy

Flight Review for India domestic

Spice Jet 885, 10.40am
Bagdogra to New Delhi July 20th 2012.

Price 4593Rs/ £53. Same price whether 2 weeks or 2 months in advance.
Less than 2 weeks in advance, price is 6593 RS/£76

CHECK IN:
A small-scale airport, we weren’t allowed into the main building until 8am as not enough staff had arrived.

Luggage was not weighed, as scales were jammed at ‘9’ kilos. The queue for the baggage-scanning machine was farcical with the guard asleep. After waiting some time at the front of the line, we made eye contact with another airport official who pointing at the sleeping man telling us ‘Sona’ Hindi for ‘sleep’ to explain the delay. Waking him up did not seem an option.

Check in opened at 8.30am. At the check-in desk, 10 staff were milling around the one Spice Jet counter. The seated staff member printing my boarding card was in training so this took about 10 minutes. My bank card was checked; passport cover glanced at but not opened. My bag had a small rip in the lining, so was asked to sign an airline liability release form to confirm that the airline was not responsible for the damage.

Two dining options, one before and one after security offered reasonably priced chapattis- 40Rs (50p) omelettes 100Rs (£1.15), a host of cheaply priced Indian cuisine or cardamom tea 60Rs (80p).

A toyshop and herbal store featured before security, although the former was closed. We were also told that the restaurant after security was closed, which was untrue. Perhaps this was to fend off competition.

Bathrooms: Several for such a small airport, they were Indian Style and the floor in both was completely flooded as a tap had been left on, meaning one had to wade ankle deep to use the facilities.

Security was uneventful; no queues at all, the staff were either not looking at their screens as bags were passing through or chatting to each other. The usual men and women’s separate queue followed and we were each patted down but had no liquid restrictions to contend with.

BOARDING:
Passengers were called early at 9am to board and five minutes later an announcement sounded for all remaining passengers to move through security.

We boarded at 9.25am when they made a last call announcement and stopped my friend from visiting the bathroom.
The gate was immediately next to the security zone, and the small airport had only a few other gates within equally close proximity.
We were put on an airport bus to go the 100 metres to the plane.

Bagdogra airport has a military training base attached, so it might have been normal to hear shooting practise a field away as we boarded the plane.

At 9.55am the plane was taxing alone the runway and had taken off 45 minutes before its original leaving time. Mostly full flight with no other Western tourists.

THE SEAT:
27B and 27C, a middle seat and window.
Configuration 3-3 with 32 rows and no 1st class.

WHICH SEAT TO CHOOSE?
It’s a short enough flight not to be overly concerned, but double check if you have requested extra legroom. We were offered emergency exit row extra legroom seating for my tall friend and then given normal seats.

THE FLIGHT:
Paid 400Rs in advance for 2 vegetarian meals, which arrived 30 minutes after take off. There was a decent array of hot snacks in the lunch pack including pakora, samosa, fried cauliflower, cheese pastry and a coconut dessert with a carton of juice.

Good food until I found a thick hair tangled in the pakora. It was also possible to buy very reasonably priced soft drinks, snack foods such as crisps and crackers from the trolley, though meals had to be pre ordered.

No alcohol is allowed on Spice Jet domestic flights. We noticed an Indian family brought their own pot noodles ‘Masala magic’ flavour and were given hot water by the stewardess without hesitation. The seats were of average comfort with no inflight magazine or newspapers on offer.

ARRIVAL:
Flight landed at 11.45am when the pilot announced we were 58 minutes ahead of schedule. Disembarked the aircraft promptly, passengers were in the overhead lockers retrieving bags before the plane had stopped moving and within 5 minutes we were walking into domestic arrivals. The luggage followed 10 minutes later.

VERDICT:
All in all a very speedy flight with peculiar timings- airport mentality at Bagdogra seemed to be ‘if you’re here early enough you’ll get on the flight’ not entirely honouring the normal reservation system that we might be used to.

Airline staffs were very polite and courteous, and the relaxed bag checks, absence of queues and early arrival made for an easy journey.