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Date of Journey : 25 – 11 - 2009, Flight No : 236, Route : Coimbatore – Delhi
Duration of Flight : 3 hours, Passengers :Sony V Mathew, Airline Company : SpiceJet

The sweet evening breeze blew around me, as I reached the Coimbatore Airport to board the flight to Delhi on Oct 25, 2009. The small size of the airport made the queue at the frisking booths look long, but the formalities were relatively less tedious. The Boeing 737 -800 aircraft landed on time, to take us with it to its next destination.

I walked across the bay to board the SpiceJet airline, #236. A lady with slender features welcomed us at the entrance with a pleasant smile, which was as broad as the meaning of its punch line – flying for everyone. The ambience inside the aircraft gave me the freshness I was longing for after a tedious journey from Kochi to Coimbatore by car.

The logo positioned at the front cooled my senses…like soft music coming out of a bugle …like bubbles coming out of a straw. The airhostess in charge of the routine-demos went through the motions and later the flight captain welcomed all on board. The flight took off smoothly, at 7.45 PM as mentioned in the e-ticket. But still, the freshness attached with the logo continued to rain in my heart. By the time the plane took to 4000 meters above sea level, I had quietly slipped into sleep.

' The size of the bottle appeared ideal for the palms of my 1.5 yr old baby, who was enthused at such little things 'When I woke up I saw the crew moving to and fro with trolleys filled with food packets and soft drinks. As I found the cost of food not in line with the airline's category (which is 'Low-cost Airlines'), I decided to remain hungry until I reached my destination. The most precious commodity on certain parts of earth, water, was the only thing that I got free on air. After the take off, on both occasions(the aircraft had a stop over at Hyderabad), the steward had come up with small bottles of mineral water and handed it over to us with a smile. The size of the bottle appeared ideal for the palms of my 1.5 yr old baby who gets excited at such little things. The space between the 3-3 seat arrangement was not comfortable enough for walking. Moreover, the crew allowed the passengers to use both the washrooms at the front and the rear, which was not always the norm in some other airlines.

We spent almost 45 minutes at the Hyderabad airport. The staff utilized the time for cleaning and scrutinizing the vacant seats. After the second take off I decided to get engrossed in Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children’, which I felt deserved the title the ‘booker of the bookers’. Frequent announcements made by the crew helped the passengers know the progress of their journey and exactly where they had reached. The seat-table was broad enough for a comfortable reading, with torch lights providing spot illumination.

At 11.45 PM the 189-seater Boeing landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Even though the landing was not as smooth as expected, it was the turn of the passengers to thank Captain Yadav and the 1^st officer Vyas for having given us a comfortable journey.

Sony V Mathew
Head - Corporate Communications
ESAF Microfinance

Over-all Impression:
Check in - Smooth, Welcome - Good
Seating - Good Food - Good
Landing - Soft, Check out - Smooth

© travelbird