Air Sahara: An Indian Experience
Written: Feb 29 '04 (Updated Mar 02 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A very service oriented, and efficient airline.
Cons: Network not as wide as Jet Airways.
The Bottom Line: I highly recommend Air Sahara for domestic air travel in India.
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| arathi's Full Review: Air Sahara |
On a recent vacation to India, my original itinerary was to fly through Air India, from Chicago to Mumbai, India and thereafter take their connecting flight to Bangalore, India, which was my final destination. However due to a delay of the Air India flight from Chicago to Mumbai; I had missed their connecting flight to Bangalore. Air India put me up with a domestic Indian carrier called Air Sahara, and so I had a chance to fly Air Sahara from Mumbai to Bangalore.
A Little Bit of History:
I have fond memories of flying Indian Airlines as a child, when I was growing up in India. The government -run mammoth Air India for International flights, and its cousin Indian Airlines for domestic flights, were the only options available for air travel. But, over the years, these national carriers of India have steadily lost ground and have come to be regarded as two sick airlines, due to their shabby planes, and a shabbier work culture.
So, it is no surprise that when the Government of India announced its “open-sky” policy, and allowed private airlines to compete with the national carriers ( in the domestic market only), the private airlines started doing well in the market almost instantaneously.
Jet Airways with its Dubai based financing, and Emirates Airline collaboration came to be regarded as the number one airline in the Indian domestic skies.
Even the spiffiest airline needs stiff competition to keep its high standards in place. Air Sahara, an indigenous venture, has been this stiff competition to Jet Airways for some years now in India.
Check-In:
The checking-in process is a little different when you travel through Air Sahara. An airline personnel (a valet service) is with you as soon as get into the line to check-into your flight. In our case, we had a lady who insisted on pushing our luggage cart, made pleasant conversation(not fake) with us as we checked in, and she was with us through the security check and up until we reached our gate. Don’t mistake these personnel for porters and try to tip them; they will not take any money from you. These people are just a part of the service of this extremely service oriented airline. By the way, I was just traveling by their economy class, so this service is for all the passengers.
After my extremely unpleasant flight with Air India, this lady had already started making me feel much better. The lady at the check-in counter was also very pleasant, and handed us a box of toffees along with our boarding passes; the tamarind toffee in the box was just to die for.
The Plane:
Our plane was a Boeing 737-700 with immaculate interiors. The color scheme was a standard blue, gray, and white, but the plane was positively sparkling. The seats and leg space were the standard economy size, and posed no discomfort to us on this short 1.75 hour flight. I was extremely impressed with the cleanliness of this plane, which was in stark contrast with my earlier AirIndia flight.
In-Flight Service:
We did not expect any meal on the flight, since the flight time was so short. However, in the spirit of true Indian hospitality, we were served the most delicious piping hot breakfast that we have ever had on an airline. My son, who is an extremely picky eater, cleaned up his entire tray in a short time. Even though the meal and beverage service was very efficient, it did not make us feel rushed during this short flight.
The in-flight crew was the nicest I have seen on any flight, and went out of their way to take care of the passengers. My son got a packet which had a coloring book, crayons, a book, and an audio tape, all based on the Panchatantra (ancient Indian social stories) series. I think that this an extremely innovative way of introducing Indian culture to kids, who are otherwise immersed in their action figures, and video games.
There was a “Bid n Win” in-flight auction program. People could bid for a range of different things like TV’s, and other electronics down to celebrity autographed key chains out of a brochure given to passengers while boarding the flight. The name of highest bidder for each product was announced just before the plane landed, and we saw passengers happily walking away with their loot when the plane landed in Bangalore.
An Indian Experience:
Whenever I go on a vacation to India, I expect my Indian experience to begin in the plane itself. I was happy to see the crew dressed in silk saris, as opposed to the blue skirted personnel on Jet Airways. Right from the traditional Indian breakfast, the piped Indian classical music, and the Panchatantra kit for kids, and down to the tamarind toffee, Air Sahara is a true ambassador of Indian culture.
Other details:
Our flight took of on time, and landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule in Bangalore. Air Sahara has various attractively priced packages and schemes that make air travel a little more accessible to everyone.
The only issue with Air Sahara is that their network is not as wide the Jet Airways network, and is small compared to the Indian Airlines network.
Final Note:
I highly recommend Air Sahara for domestic air travel in India. Jet Airways is ranked number one on Indian skies right now, but Air Sahara is a very close second, and I think that is why they are trying so hard to please right now. And, anyways I always like to vouch for the underdog.
Even though Jet Airways (I have flown with them a couple of times) is a very good option for air travel within India, traveling on Air Sahara is a far more memorable experience. I really hope that Government of India allows Air Sahara to fly on International sectors too; the airline will very quickly rectify the bad image that Air India has managed to create in the world.
Namaste.
A big thank you to Kate(Lyagushka) for adding Air Sahara to the Epinions database.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
arathi
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Arathi Srikantaiah
Reviews written: 66
Trusted by: 44 members
About Me:
Aditi was born on Oct 9, 2004.
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