Air India's Rare B744 First BLR to DEL
Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2017 4:52 pm
Last week I was on my business trip to Bangalore (Bengaluru they call it nowadays) and on the return while I was searching for a good flight back I realized one of Air India flights were scheduled to be operated by B747-400. Air India's 747s are becoming more and more rare as they are replaced by 777s. Without being hesitant I decided to book a seat on this - initially I was booked in Economy but then soon realized that Business and First fares were about 1/3 the price of other aircraft (ironically A321s which have equivalent to US domestic first seats) while having much more comfortable seats than the usual domestic aircraft. I paid a cancellation fee and instead re-booked for First. Air India's B747-400 First. How cool is that!
Before posting my pictures, I apologize for the quality of the photos - I just carried a cheap mobile/cell phone with me with not-so-good photo quality. Hope you still enjoy the review.
Check-in counters at BLR
There was no separate check-in counter for First. Rather, it was Business and First combined. When I reached the counter, an agent asked me if I was REALLY flying First Class. Was it not updated in the system? I was a bit worried but the agent confirmed me I was booked for First and my pre-assigned seat of 2A was allocated. The agent apologized to me that they didn't have any boarding pass for First Class.
"Sir, you're the first First Class flying customer originating from Bengaluru by Air India. No one in the past checked in for First Class before."
Interesting! Actually B744 was only operating on a temporary basis (like for a week?) and usually only A321s fly. Once in a while they fly B787s which don't have First Class. I felt so privileged!
So here is what the boarding pass looked like:
AI boarding pass
And if you look closely.
Hand-written change to "FIRST"
Well I appreciated their hospitality
I was also presented with the lounge coupon. Interestingly though this is solely domestic flight without extending into international destination, the flight operated from International Terminal and also later arrived in Delhi to International Terminal. The reason being this would ease the transit process at Delhi to international destinations and passengers can clear immigration in Bengaluru instead of having the same done in Delhi.
Lounge coupon
Lounge entrance
Inside lounge
The lounge was quite decent. It had some good spread of hot/cold meals as well as a bar with a bartender. There is also a solo-seat section. Since BLR can be quite crowded this was a calm oasis.
Solo seating
Bartender
My meal
The food was so-so (mostly due to the fact that hot meals were not heated well). As a sweets lover I was glad they had some fruit tarts as well as cakes. The dessert items were actually pretty good.
After the lounge I headed straight to the boarding gate. 90% of Air India flights I have taken in the past were either delayed/re-scheduled by at least half an hour but this flight seemed to be pretty much on time.
BLR departure area
And here comes the nice looking jumbo! How cool is B747. It's sad B747s are retiring from many airlines except for those who operate the new -8s.
Air India's 747!
One more!
Now it was time to board.
------------------------------------------------
Flight Number: AI 87
Sector: Bengaluru - Delhi
Date: 27/Feb/2017
ETD: 21:40
ATD: 22:05 (Take-off)
ETA: 00:25+1
ATA: 00:19+1 (Landing)
Block Time: 2hrs 45mins
Actual Flying Time: 2hrs 14mins
Class: First
Seat Number: 2A
Plane Registration: VT-ESO
Delivery Date: 10/Dec/1993
------------------------------------------------
When I entered from L1 door Cabin Manager named Sanjay greeted me and guided me to my seat 2A.
AI 747 First cabin
AI 747 First cabin
My seat 2A
View from my seat
Love the massive space!
Soon, another senior crew Deepak came to ask me for a welcome drink. Since this was a domestic flight alcohol was not served, otherwise I could have chosen a glass of champagne! He brought me two glasses of juice - one apple and one orange.
Welcome drink
Cheers to all
With Cabin Manager Sanjay
With senior crew Deepak
Soon the aircraft started to taxi. I was the only passenger in the cabin, whoo-hoo!
Some more photos from the cabin.
4-window space
Love the ceiling
So classy!
Seat controller
Now the meal time. Unfortunately, not sure because I was the only passenger in the cabin but the meal was actually a Business Class one. Not that I complained - because Deepak tried best to get me everything. Amazing for just over a two-hour flight, there were 4 meal choices - Indian veg. & non-veg., as well Western veg. & non-veg. I chose the Western non-veg which consisted of boiled vegetables and meat-sauce spaghetti. Out of my expectation the pasta was quite good, and the noodles were not over-boiled. I knew Air India has the BEST curry and I love their Indian dishes but these you can try them in Economy also. That's the reason why I went for Western as it's not offered in Economy on domestic flights.
Dinner
The main came along with simple salad and gulab jamoon (Indian sweet) but these are also usually served in Economy also. A bread roll was served warm.
After I competed my pasta Deepak came to me with a second plate - this time, a chicken curry with rice. I didn't ask for it, but he brought it. Yes, this is what I call First Class service. Actually the pasta portion was a bit small so I gladly took the offer for the second main.
Chicken curry (sorry for the blur)
No, this was not it! Deepak brought a tray with other two veg main dishes. He said I should at least try the Indian mixed-veg. I would not be able to eat that much but he insisted it so I took the offer.
Veg options
So now, I have both chicken curry and the mixed veg. I was totally stuffed! You could never go wrong with Indian dishes on Air India. I really like their Indian meals more than I do at top-end restaurants in Delhi, because usually their in-flight food isn't oily or salty and it feels more like home-cooked food. This I'm talking about Economy.
Mixed veg.
After the meal I ordered a cup of tea. To my shock it tasted the same as the one served in Economy with cheap tea bags, and the only difference was how it was presented. I'm not sure if it's the same in international First, but if so, it'll be a huge blow to India's image as "tea-producing nation" and I'm sure Air India won't like that either. Dear Air India, you can at least serve some decent quality Darjeeling, Assamese, or Nilgiri tea!
Cheap tasting tea
Now I played around with seat. This is how full-flat position looks like:
Fully flat seat
Fully flat seat
Fully flat seat
First cabin
First cabin
While the product is outdated it's still extremely comfortable. Those were the days when this product was the cutting-edge.
Now I decided to explore the cabin. Cabin Manager Sanjay actually escorted me throughout and guided me.
Just behind First Class is Economy - but look at the following closely and see if you can find any difference with Economy on other airlines.
Air India B744 Economy
Air India B744 Economy
Did you find the answer? Yes, the seating arrangement is only 3-3-3 as opposed to usual 3-4-3. Moreover, Air India never had Premium Economy so this is normal Economy cabin. Interestingly, this spacious arrangement is only on the forward Economy cabin, and behind L2 doors the Economy seating would be standard 3-4-3. I wonder why AI did this - until I tried sitting in one of these 3-3-3 seats, I found a likely answer. While the width may be wider the seat pitch was terrible! It was so cramped and probably that was the reason why to substitute that the airline has reduced one seat in a row? Don't know.
Sanjay continued to show me around and next he took me to the upper-deck - which is solely used as Business Class cabin.
Air India B744 Business
Seat pitch
Air India B744 Business
Air India B744 Business
Air India B744 Business
There were only 3 passengers in Business Class cabin. No wonder why Air India slashed the premium class fares by 2/3. I think if they've advertized more they could have filled in for sure - since there wasn't much fare difference with the lowest Economy fare. Too bad for this.
Back in my seat. There was one hour left till landing so I decided to take a nap. I must say this old-school seat was really comfortable.
Making my seat flat
The plane landed on-time - actually for the twelfth time I've taken Air India in the past it landed before the scheduled arrival. Well done! Hope I won't face more frequent delays in future as I need to keep flying with them to collect *A miles
Delhi Airport
There are mixed reviews on Air India but I must say that while they may not be very smiling some crew members are very genuine without going fake. This time, I was disappointed that I could not get wagon-style First Class meal service but I that disappointment was overcome by Deepak trying best to give me the first class service in whatever resources they had onboard. I do feel it has great potential to become a much better airline.
Before posting my pictures, I apologize for the quality of the photos - I just carried a cheap mobile/cell phone with me with not-so-good photo quality. Hope you still enjoy the review.
Check-in counters at BLR
There was no separate check-in counter for First. Rather, it was Business and First combined. When I reached the counter, an agent asked me if I was REALLY flying First Class. Was it not updated in the system? I was a bit worried but the agent confirmed me I was booked for First and my pre-assigned seat of 2A was allocated. The agent apologized to me that they didn't have any boarding pass for First Class.
"Sir, you're the first First Class flying customer originating from Bengaluru by Air India. No one in the past checked in for First Class before."
Interesting! Actually B744 was only operating on a temporary basis (like for a week?) and usually only A321s fly. Once in a while they fly B787s which don't have First Class. I felt so privileged!
So here is what the boarding pass looked like:
AI boarding pass
And if you look closely.
Hand-written change to "FIRST"
Well I appreciated their hospitality
I was also presented with the lounge coupon. Interestingly though this is solely domestic flight without extending into international destination, the flight operated from International Terminal and also later arrived in Delhi to International Terminal. The reason being this would ease the transit process at Delhi to international destinations and passengers can clear immigration in Bengaluru instead of having the same done in Delhi.Lounge coupon
Lounge entrance
Inside lounge
The lounge was quite decent. It had some good spread of hot/cold meals as well as a bar with a bartender. There is also a solo-seat section. Since BLR can be quite crowded this was a calm oasis.
Solo seating
Bartender
My meal
The food was so-so (mostly due to the fact that hot meals were not heated well). As a sweets lover I was glad they had some fruit tarts as well as cakes. The dessert items were actually pretty good.
After the lounge I headed straight to the boarding gate. 90% of Air India flights I have taken in the past were either delayed/re-scheduled by at least half an hour but this flight seemed to be pretty much on time.
BLR departure area
And here comes the nice looking jumbo! How cool is B747. It's sad B747s are retiring from many airlines except for those who operate the new -8s.
Air India's 747!
One more!
Now it was time to board.
------------------------------------------------
Flight Number: AI 87
Sector: Bengaluru - Delhi
Date: 27/Feb/2017
ETD: 21:40
ATD: 22:05 (Take-off)
ETA: 00:25+1
ATA: 00:19+1 (Landing)
Block Time: 2hrs 45mins
Actual Flying Time: 2hrs 14mins
Class: First
Seat Number: 2A
Plane Registration: VT-ESO
Delivery Date: 10/Dec/1993
------------------------------------------------
When I entered from L1 door Cabin Manager named Sanjay greeted me and guided me to my seat 2A.
AI 747 First cabin
AI 747 First cabin
My seat 2A
View from my seat
Love the massive space!
Soon, another senior crew Deepak came to ask me for a welcome drink. Since this was a domestic flight alcohol was not served, otherwise I could have chosen a glass of champagne! He brought me two glasses of juice - one apple and one orange.
Welcome drink
Cheers to all
With Cabin Manager Sanjay
With senior crew Deepak
Soon the aircraft started to taxi. I was the only passenger in the cabin, whoo-hoo!
Some more photos from the cabin.
4-window space
Love the ceiling
So classy!
Seat controller
Now the meal time. Unfortunately, not sure because I was the only passenger in the cabin but the meal was actually a Business Class one. Not that I complained - because Deepak tried best to get me everything. Amazing for just over a two-hour flight, there were 4 meal choices - Indian veg. & non-veg., as well Western veg. & non-veg. I chose the Western non-veg which consisted of boiled vegetables and meat-sauce spaghetti. Out of my expectation the pasta was quite good, and the noodles were not over-boiled. I knew Air India has the BEST curry and I love their Indian dishes but these you can try them in Economy also. That's the reason why I went for Western as it's not offered in Economy on domestic flights.
Dinner
The main came along with simple salad and gulab jamoon (Indian sweet) but these are also usually served in Economy also. A bread roll was served warm.
After I competed my pasta Deepak came to me with a second plate - this time, a chicken curry with rice. I didn't ask for it, but he brought it. Yes, this is what I call First Class service
. Actually the pasta portion was a bit small so I gladly took the offer for the second main.Chicken curry (sorry for the blur)
No, this was not it! Deepak brought a tray with other two veg main dishes. He said I should at least try the Indian mixed-veg. I would not be able to eat that much but he insisted it so I took the offer.
Veg options
So now, I have both chicken curry and the mixed veg. I was totally stuffed! You could never go wrong with Indian dishes on Air India. I really like their Indian meals more than I do at top-end restaurants in Delhi, because usually their in-flight food isn't oily or salty and it feels more like home-cooked food. This I'm talking about Economy.
Mixed veg.
After the meal I ordered a cup of tea. To my shock it tasted the same as the one served in Economy with cheap tea bags, and the only difference was how it was presented. I'm not sure if it's the same in international First, but if so, it'll be a huge blow to India's image as "tea-producing nation" and I'm sure Air India won't like that either. Dear Air India, you can at least serve some decent quality Darjeeling, Assamese, or Nilgiri tea!
Cheap tasting tea
Now I played around with seat. This is how full-flat position looks like:
Fully flat seat
Fully flat seat
Fully flat seat
First cabin
First cabin
While the product is outdated it's still extremely comfortable. Those were the days when this product was the cutting-edge.
Now I decided to explore the cabin. Cabin Manager Sanjay actually escorted me throughout and guided me.
Just behind First Class is Economy - but look at the following closely and see if you can find any difference with Economy on other airlines.
Air India B744 Economy
Air India B744 Economy
Did you find the answer? Yes, the seating arrangement is only 3-3-3 as opposed to usual 3-4-3. Moreover, Air India never had Premium Economy so this is normal Economy cabin. Interestingly, this spacious arrangement is only on the forward Economy cabin, and behind L2 doors the Economy seating would be standard 3-4-3. I wonder why AI did this - until I tried sitting in one of these 3-3-3 seats, I found a likely answer. While the width may be wider the seat pitch was terrible! It was so cramped and probably that was the reason why to substitute that the airline has reduced one seat in a row? Don't know.
Sanjay continued to show me around and next he took me to the upper-deck - which is solely used as Business Class cabin.
Air India B744 Business
Seat pitch
Air India B744 Business
Air India B744 Business
Air India B744 Business
There were only 3 passengers in Business Class cabin. No wonder why Air India slashed the premium class fares by 2/3. I think if they've advertized more they could have filled in for sure - since there wasn't much fare difference with the lowest Economy fare. Too bad for this.
Back in my seat. There was one hour left till landing so I decided to take a nap. I must say this old-school seat was really comfortable.
Making my seat flat
The plane landed on-time - actually for the twelfth time I've taken Air India in the past it landed before the scheduled arrival. Well done! Hope I won't face more frequent delays in future as I need to keep flying with them to collect *A miles
Delhi Airport
There are mixed reviews on Air India but I must say that while they may not be very smiling some crew members are very genuine without going fake. This time, I was disappointed that I could not get wagon-style First Class meal service but I that disappointment was overcome by Deepak trying best to give me the first class service in whatever resources they had onboard. I do feel it has great potential to become a much better airline.
