Sunday, August 13, 2006

My two bits on Kingfisher Airlines

"The king of good times", as their motto goes, so does the Airline. I have been flying since i was 6 years old (tagging on with my parents ofcourse) and have travelled on all domestic and a variety of international airliners (including European and US) over the past 23 years and i have never been more thrilled on any airlines, more so a domestic airline as i was when i flew down from Goa to Bangalore this summer on the KingFisher airline. I had flown down to Goa in an Air Deccan. The deccan is good in its own way, rates and hassle free online booking, sector connectivity, promt sms intimation on delays, cancellation, transfer etc. But i think it was just the contrast in the experience which must have accentuated the thrill i had when i flew back on the King. I dont believe that anyone needs to wait hand and foot on me to give me a good experience so even the bad news of flight delays by Air Deccan given with an apology is acceptable to me as i never travel on just-in-time trips. So sometimes even with a 4 hour delay i have never missed a meeting and that way they have transported me on time, everytime. Cost wise both ways on Air Deccan is lesser than one way on Indian Airlines (Bangalore-Trivandrum) and if i had taken ground transport (short sectors) at 3/4 the cost, it would have taken 12-14 hours to reach so a couple of hours knocked off at the airport is not so bad after all.

Getting back to the topic of my first experience with the King. I had flown down to goa in an Air Deccan which was delayed by 2 hours (intimated to us in the morning itself) for an afternoon flight and a 1 hour delay at the airport. The free seating on air deccan is quite interesting and i so far have never seen anyone fight for a seat. But the cabin was hot and we had to sit in the plane for 10 mins before it hit the runway and everyone had started to sweat because of the scorching heat outside on that particular friday afternoon. Everything else was smooth sailing and nothing to write home about.

On our way back, we had booked the King as it was falling in the same price range as the Air Deccan and wanted to check it out as well. The King also got delayed by 2 hours which we were intimated over phone, but that gave us time to have a no-rush lunch at the Bagga beach before heading for the airport. The minute we arrived at the airport and headed for the King Fisher counter, and identified as potential King Fisher travellers, the service begins. There were King’s men to help us with unloading the bags from the car. The lady at the counter was very courteous and handed us our e-tickets based on the PNR in a jiffy, we had excellent service and choice of seats at the check-in counter. We boarded an airbus with lavish designer color-coordinated interiors and the best part was that the cabin was chilled and sweet smelling; such a pleasure after 2 and half days of hot sweaty Goa sun. We were just amazingly glad that we had not booked our return on Air Deccan. (Also because that day’s Air Deccan we were told had got cancelled.)

But the experience just doesnt stop there. Every seat has inflight entertainment screen, we got a pouch with King Fisher goodies and a menu card on what was to be served onboard. The hostesses on our aisle were stunning; infact and i could see everyone around me had "Tamanna" in their eyes. Even my lady friend with me did not object to me admiring her beauty, though she asked me not to over do it. No, its not that i have a loose eyes (well sometimes) but maybe the sun got to me and if there is one thing that air travel has ensured in the past (and not excepting the early days of Air India & Indian Airlines) is the beauties that serve the travellers on their flight. Back then beauty was associated with Air hostesses and not "go-on become a model". Anyways, too much on that, lets just say they complimented the entire King Fisher charm. The captain apologised for the delay in the most honest sounding tone. The entertainment onboard kept us occupied till the choice of meals arrived and an hour and a half later landed at bangalore. It was one of the best experience i have ever had and standing up to both the Srilankan and the Emirates. (King Fisher did not win the Asia’s best new aircraft award for nothing)

All said, i dont intend to say everyone go jump on a King Fisher, as we indians are cost sensitive. So take the best route and the right price and if you can choose the King over the Pawns, then you can come back and tell everyone the good times you have had, flying onboard the King of Good Times.

2 comments:

Pradeep Nair said...

Very balanced narration of your experience.

Christelle Pinto Desai said...

Brilliant!