Air India Express

Traveled SHJ-COK-SHJ last month. I have selected this flight because the holiday season started and IX was the cheapest available from UAE to Kochi. After my disastrous trip by Air India last month on the same sector I was not expecting much from IX but I should admit that I was surprised. Nice and clean aircraft with enough legroom polite cabin crew who were attending the passengers with a smile and on time take off and landing was part of the surprise package. And all these were for half the price of the next available airline.

DXB-PNQ-DXB. Check in was smooth at DXB T2 and I managed to get 1C. The plane from the inside looked a bit shabby as most AI aircraft somehow do but I was happy for the extra legroom for my 6'3" frame. A very overweight couple took seats 1A and B after smiling sheepishly at me. The man was overflowing into my seat. I saw that 1D was empty and moved over. AIX served a flimsy cardboard box containing a sandwich a small packet of banana chips something fried and inedible and a muffin. Strange assortment but better than nothing and welcome on a low cost carrier. Unlimited water as well. Drinks are chargeable. Flight left about 30 minutes late but arriving into PNQ was a breeze and I was home in 10 minutes after leaving the airport. Check-in in PNQ for the return leg was chaotic as usual and the woman insisted my bags were overweight. I smiled a lot and finally after I removed my laptop from my hand luggage she let me go through and even gave me a reclining exit row seat. The seat bottom was worn out and the metal bar kept poking my rear. When I asked for a blanket (even a used blanket) I was told they had run out of them. I avoided serious long term damage to my tailbone by moving and shifting through the flight. Same food was served on this leg. Overall it was good value for money. But basic maintenance a word missing in India's lexicon could be better. Sitting on metal for 3 hours is no fun.

DXB-IXE. Boarded with apprehension but quite pleasantly surprised. Reasonably clean aircraft pleasant crew and food! Not bad for a budget airline and way better than Air India (the so called full service airline). Have flown them a couple of times again on the same sector.

I am regular passenger in UAE-Kerala route. Flights seems to be fairly reasonable compared to the fare structure and clean. Crew helpful. But the snacks to be supplied as per the timing. On mid night flights supplying banana chips and cakes really upset the stomach. Any toasted bread sandwiches (veg or non-veg) would be more ideal which will not add up the cost to the airlines. The fare calculation methods seems strange. Sometimes a person buying an online ticket far earlier before 1 or two months pays more than someone take it on the day or previous day of the flight. Also the taxes calculation. More basic fare is with less tax and vice versa. Recently the cancellation charges have been increased to 35% which is really unbearable. It should be reversed to 10% before 10 days and 15% prior to 24 hrs at least.

Singapore to Calcutta return. An adequate performance from this budget carrier. The flights were on time the comfort was adequate and the staff generally reasonably friendly. The only slight downside was the quality of food offered in the snackbox - barely edible pastries and deep fried cookies. However the flight is only about 4 hours so having little to eat wasn't a big problem. The tickets were 50% cheaper than the only other carrier to offer non-stop flights on this route (Singapore Air) so overall I was extremely pleased with Air India Express.

TRZ to KUL via Chennai return. The aircraft was relatively clean on both sectors. Since this was the only flight to Trichy from Kuala Lumpur I thought it would be more practical to just take this flight since there is no hassle of getting out into Chennai. However the transit procedure in Chennai is terrible. We had to get on bus queue up till everyone got off the plane and go though security check again. For the price you pay the service is not at all worthwhile.

I paid INR 13000 on IX flight from Kolkata to Singapore compared to about 21000 in SQ. The aircraft was clean crew reasonably friendly. They served snacks on the flight. I would say if they keep the aircraft clean and maintains time it's good value for money. I would have to fly few more times to see if they are reliable!

Used IX for a domestic flight from BOM-COK. I have to say for the fare I paid I was not expecting much. A spotless aircraft and a hospitable crew. Overall a very average airline which offers value for money.

My third flight on IX (from Dubai to Cochin) and quite possibly my last. It appears that there is no cabin maintenance at all. Most seat cushions badly soiled - as if the plane had been used to carry livestock. No paper or cloth covers for the head rests. Carpet in a filthy and lamentable state throughout the cabin. At first I thought the window I was sitting next to was covered in a layer of condensation. I then found out it was a film of grease and grime with the window frame covered in a brownish substance containing lots of human hair.

Air India Express from Cochin to Dubai on 25/11/05. Aircraft quite new and thanks to being seated in one of two emergency exit rows lots of leg room. Despite travelling on a low cost airline you nevertheless are served a snack consisting of sandwich cake fruit juice water coffee or tea. On the downside the passenger next to me was allowed boarding in a clearly less than sober state and the crew continued to serve him hard liquor throughout the flight (alcoholic beverages available on a for sale basis). He even managed to complete the entire flight without ever having availed of the seat belt. Also despite being a non-smoking flight crew were quite relaxed at seeing the lavatories being used continuously as smoking rooms - with the obvious and objectionable result of extremely bad air quality in the cabin throughout the flight.