Air India

AI 863 on IXC-DEL-BOM. Airbus 321 with decent leg space but poorly maintained. Two overhead bins had been taped shut one of our video screens did not work and the seat reclining mechanism did not work on some seats. Flight was on time but average food and standard non-smiling crew does not make it exactly a pleasant experience.

Return trip to Hyderabad India from London Heathrow. Overall I was extremely satisfied with Air India. They improved service a lot. May 17th 12.30pm from London Heathrow to Delhi and connecting to Hyderabad reaching 18th May 2013 at 9am. Flight was a bit old. Interiors were dull but the leg space was really good and better than many other airlines. Food was fantastic and the entertainment was excellent as well. Flight started on time and reached Delhi on time. Domestic from Delhi to Hyderabad was OK. Return trip on 24th May 2013 at 9.30 am from Hyderabad to Delhi and to LHR. Domestic was OK. Flight from Delhi to LHR was excellent. New Boeing 777. Food average and reached London 1 hour early.

AI 864 from BOM-IXC via DEL. A321 with decent leg space slightly lacking in maintenance (one panel in a toilet would not latch) personal video screens but a choice of only 5 channels standard breakfast fare. ground staff and cabin crew efficient but absolutely no smiles. lovely touchdown at DEL but shaky approach to IXC.

LHR-DEL-KOL and back. Staff were helpful and I did get a seat with extra legroom on one sector. I don't find this airline good. Toilets are not kept clean during the flight. There were no seat covers on any flight sector. Problems with website on smart phone many options simply don't work. Online check in was therefore not possible for me. My seat area also wasn't up to Western standards of cleanliness. There is no menu for food. 'Continental chicken Indian lamb or Indian vegetarian' isn't really enough info. Drinks selection is very limited. Only one beer choice only 4 spirits (no rum). Entertainment: Of the 10 buttons on my console 5 were ripped out and so using the console was tricky. TV selection doesn't exist at all if your language is English movie selection is very limited. Games are so badly produced they are not fun to play at all. The inflight entertainment system is about where it should have been 15-20 years ago.

Early morning departure from Delhi to Chennai. Aircraft was old A330-200. Interiors looked worn but were clean. A surprising part was that my seat and the one next to it had a safety instruction card for the Boeing Dreamliner! Wonder how that happened and who is responsible for ensuring that safety parameters are adhered to? Hot breakfast served in flight. Landed on time in Chennai. Good value for money.

LHR-DEL round trip in Executive (Business) Class and was most impressed and perplexed at the same time. The seats are truly lie flat on the outbound we were given comfortable cotton PJs but strangely no amenity kit I mean nothing but a sincere apology from the crew. The cabin seating is 2x3x2 unlike most carriers which have 2x4x2 on 777s so seats are comfortable and wide. Crew were happy to make fresh pots of coffee and tea and serve with a smile. The food is rather decent if you like a curry. Great planes clean toilets excellent service tasty food and a more than competitive pricing. The inflight is great if you like Hindi films but well wide of the mark if you want Brit or Hollywood entertainment. I paid for my ticket and would fly them again!

I flew LHR-DEL return in Business Class both ways and was distinctly unimpressed. My ticket was bought for me so I did not have a choice other than Air India. Other than the fact there was a flat bed seat everything else was pretty mediocre. Other than being served on china the meals were economy class standard complete with clingfilm wrap and yoghurt that was 4 days past its sell by date. There were 4 or 5 English- language movies in total but the TV choice was extremely poor - only Hindi language. Cabin crew were friendly but pretty useless - repeated requests for things that only came the 4th time of asking. Given who is up against Air India on this route I definitely would not choose Air India again nor recommend them to anyone.

Kolkata-Silchar-Kolkata3. Kolkata Silchar flight was ATR-42 which does not have much spaces for cabin luggage. However staff helpful to put it in other places. The return flight was A319. As the travelling time was around 1hr minimal food was served.

I traveled from Kolkata to Port Blair in March 2013. Flight was on time. The breakfast served was of good quality. Cabin crew as well as ground staff were helpful.

To and from Kathmandu via New Delhi. I would never use this airline again. The planes are cramped and uncomfortable the seat booking arrangements are chaotic and staff seemed unable or unwilling to explain what the problems were. We had problems both on the outwards and return trips. I had pre-booked seats online - do not do this as it causes all sorts of problems which the airport systems seem unable to override. For example when we asked to change to extra legroom seats at the airport in Kathmandu - we were given a boarding card for the Delhi-London flight but in fact our seats had been cancelled - as we discovered when we came to board. We were bumped off the flight and forced to spend a night in transit hotel limbo. This might have been fine if we had known what was happening and been kept informed but the staff kept us standing like idiots by the boarding gates while they went into huddles over the computer - for hours!