CHECK-IN I arrived at Delhi’s Terminal 1D at 16.40 for my 17.50 flight to Mumbai. The check-in area was very busy with the economy queues snaking outside of the official waiting area. I looked in desperation and a member of Kingfisher staff lead me over to the one of a handful of self check-in kiosks. This was simple to use but the screen was not that sensitive so it took some time. The helpful member of staff told me to wait where I was and he ran off with my bag returning five minutes later with my luggage tag. Delighted to have avoided the queue and feeling that he had helped me skip it I gave him a tip.
DEPARTURE AREA The terminal is modern and there were plenty of seats and lots of places to eat or get a drink.
BOARDING Five minutes before boarding was due to take place I made my way to the gate. There was no sign of life until 25 minutes later when a member of staff arrived at the gate and we were on the buses. As we were late everyone was rushing to get on the plane, it was chaos. Despite this, boarding was relatively quick and the crew did a good job, even to taking the jackets of people sitting in economy.
THE SEAT The Airbus A320 was fitted in a 3-3 configuration starting in row 12 (2-2 in business – rows one to five). It was a modern plane with a comfortable cloth-covered seat. A TV screen was in the seatback in front. The only thing that felt tight was the legroom. When the seat in front reclined slightly my legs were stuck.
To see the seat plan, click here.
THE FLIGHT Before take-off the crew gave out earphones for the IFE and, to some passengers, water before they ran out of time. About 30 minutes late, we pulled away from the gate but were airborne quickly.
As soon as the seat belt lights went out the crew were in the aisles giving out the food trays. This consisted of three vegetarian cakes in chick pea curry, a very small rice pudding and a small bottle of water. This was followed up by more water services and tea and coffee.
The IFE consisted of ten music channels, 16 live TV channels and five TV channels (Lifestyle, Entertainment, Bollywood, Hollywood and cartoons). Well, this is what should have been showing – all worked well apart from the live TV where most channels were either unavailable or frozen.
ARRIVAL The flight landed at 2010, about fifteen minutes late. We arrived at a jet bridge and walked to baggage reclaim. Bags started to arrive soon after arriving at the belt. Unfortunately, mine was one of the last out some thirty minutes or so after landing.
VERDICT The service was enthusiastic but customers were demanding which meant that some things were a bit hit or miss. Patchy IFE but good to have it on two-hour flight. Despite any negative comments, at INR3882 the flight was great value.
PRICE A mid-week return in November from Kingfisher’s website starts at INR8,700 (£123).
CONTACT flykingfisher.com
