LUNN
01-19-2005, 09:37 AM
ED is the newest private airline in Pakistan, they started flying in June 2004, operating a fleet of A320's and offering true international standard service on domestic routes, so I was most keen to try them out as everything was relatively new, my trip began by arriving a bit late at the airport for the 17.30 flight ED240, everyone travelling by the airline had checked in, so there were just three other people at the counter, two others besides me at Y class and one at C class, the female staff were young but looked too casual and unprofessional, not right for the type of image the airline want to portray they have printed uniforms of grey/navy blue stripes with plain navy blue scarf and traditional trousers, cockpit crew wear dark grey shirts with black trousers, dont know what tie they wear.
Proceeded to the departure lounge after check-in, going through one more security and hand baggage/tag check, an escalator leads to the place which is located on the top level of the ground plus one story structure that forms Islamabad International Airport, the lounge was clean, simple and functional at best, TV sets showing local programmes and flight timings were fitted at some points, ISB is usually quite busy at this time of the day with domestic traffic, but the only aircraft at that time were a PIA 737-300 in the airlines new colour scheme, the Air Blue A320 and An-24 of a local courier company TCS sporting a bright Red/White combo livery, along the lines of PIA's new design, an Aero Asia 737-200 arrived a little while later.
The flight was announced and passengers asked to proceed to the aircraft via the gate, I doubt if it had a number, as there is only one for domestic flights and you have to walk down to it on the ground level via a flat walkway, the type that is meant for trolley's and wheel chairs, I noticed some of the passengers boarding cards were being checked via pocket PC's, perhaps they had e-tickets.
All of my domestic trips by air have featured foreign passengers onboard, and this flight was no exception, there were about seven in total both from the east and the west, we were transported via bus to the aircraft, the airlines ground handling is done by Dubai based DNATA's Pakistani subsidiary Gerry's/DNATA who also handle Emirates and other major airlines, so the busses were good but the air conditioning was not working which made it very stuffy and to make things worse the bus moved literally at snail's pace to get to the aircraft, I guess it was the speed limit for the ramp, or DNATA's company limits set at Dubai which were being enforced here as well, as I did see PIA's busses wizzing by quite fast.
As we headed for our aircraft I noticed some other planes, a Shaheen Air TU-154, some Air Force aircraft, as the airport shares its facilities with an Air Base, some General Aviation aircraft were also parked at a distance featuring Dash-6, Beech, Cessna, some are in service with the UN for Afghanistan services, we got to our aircraft and parked near the rear exit, got off to a long que ahead of me, baggage tags were being re-checked and the pace was slow, finally got onto the plane, to me it was the first time on an A320, I found it a bit cramped and darker compared with the 737 which I have flown many times, I dont know if the airlines dark Blue interior had anything to do with it, but then again the airlines who 737's I have been on had the same, one of the stewardesses who was standing at the enterance just stood there, no welcome, no smile no guiding passengrs to their seats, and she happened to be the most attractive of the five or six that were on the flight, not that they were bad, all were young and smart in their plain navy blue uniforms with light green chiffon scarfs around the shoulders, initially I mistook her for a passenger waiting for a family member who may have dropped behind a few others while boarding. Air Blue do not have male cabin staff.
As we proceeded towards our seats, the other stewardesses started asking people about their seat numbers, one seemd to be extra helpful and picked me out of three other people ahead of me and told me where to go, she mistook my number for another and so I had to get to my seat myself, but it was nice of her, I got a window seat situated right next to the first emergency exit, on the port side, plenty of legroom, and luckily no one seated in betweenme and the other person, layout on the aircraft was 3-3 in Y class and 2-2 in C class, seats seemd quite spacious too, dont know what their pitch was.
Soon afterwards announcements were made welcoming us onboard, the English version was in fluent American accent, but in both Urdu and English the flight number was wrong and misread as something else, the lead stewardess introduced the entire staff by name, which was a nice touch, surprisingly she wore the exact same uniform as the rest of the crew, so you couldnt make her out from the others, she remained in C class throughout, the plane seemed to be 95% full in both sections, in no time we were being pushed back and the safety video started playing on drop down LCD screens throughout the aircraft, it featured a generic animated film, with blonde, western characters, and was of better standard than on some other carriers I have been on.
While we were postioned for the taxiway awaiting clearence, a PIA A300 arrived from Karachi, also in the airlines new colours, after it cleared the runway we started moving and in moments were racing down it and finally took off very smoothly, it was clear beautiful day in Islamabad and had rained earlier in on, clouds had cleared and the sun was out by now and you could see for miles around, especially the air field, great for photography but I didnt have a camera with me.
After we turned to head for Karachi, and the view below started fading I shut my window and barely peeked out during the rest of the flight, the times I did there were magnificent formations of clouds with hues of gold and orange outside, IFE was truned on after a good wait, and we were given head phones, there were only two channels one for Audio on which the Holy Quran was being recited with translation in Urdu, the other was for video but even though they were showing stuff the sound didnt come through for a while, on inquiring the stewadess said there was a malfunction, but it started working fine in a moment, there was nothing missed, they showed a few local song video's, traditional and pop, followed by a popular local comedy show, which I had seen before on TV, so it was a disappointment, the show was followed by a English documentry on Astronomy, hosted by Leonard Nemoy(of the original TV series 'Star Trek' fame), it was interesting and kept one occupied.
Meal was served shortly, a choice of local and Chinese, I opted for the latter, featuring "Sweet and Sour Chicken with Vegetable Rice", accompanied by a "Cucumber and Tomato Salad with a wedge of Lemon", a traditional Pakistani dessert made with milk and Vermicelli called "Sawai" followed by tea only, the best part of the meal was that not only was it good but it was served on china ware (the main dish, the tea cup, desert and salad bowls were all made of china), with the Air Blue tail design of tiny light blue cresents printed on a dark blue border, the tray the meal was served on was a flat blue square like the type used to serve sushi in, it barely had handles on two sides to hold it with, they served the dual task of helping in slide the trays on racks in the trolley, a silver plastic liner was at the bottom with the Air Blue title and their website address on it, the extras were a really soft bun and butter served on a small grey plastic tray on the side, keeping with the airlines colour scheme of grey, navy blue, light blue and white, a seperate sachet made out of recycleable paper in anvy blue contained milk, sugar(powdered and just the right amount), a fresh mint, perfumed wet tissue, tooth pick(in its own paper casing), salt and pepper, the contents were also printed on the sachet for added convinience, cutlery was superior quality clear plastic with frosted hadles, sealed in a clear plastic packet bearing the Air Blue title, and wrapped in a thick large paper napkin with intricate designs embossed on the border, these too came in their own paper sachet, impressive, never experienced such a meal service on a domsetic flight in Y class on any Pakistani airline, thanks to the airlines decision to choose Gate Gourmet(set up by Swissair) as their caterers, therefore the water, butter, milk, juices onboard were by Nestle the Swiss food giant, only soft drinks were Coca Cola, Fanta and Sprite, those too were served in superior quality, small clear plastic glasses/cups.
Crew were efficient but reserved, the meal was delicious but not restaurant fare, tasted more like the stuff cooked at home, which is not exactly there, I ate every bit even though I had been treated to a hefty lunch earlier in Islamabad by relatives, then came the tea, I have to say this, it was the best cup I have ever had on any ailrine, at home or abroad, everything about it was just perfect, including the amount of milk and sugar in their packets, it turned into a wonderful blend, mid flight the Captain made an announcement informing us of the weather etc. and after awhile we gradually started descending, during that the documentry was cut short abruptly and the TV screems rolled back into position, disappointing, perphaps they should cut down on the local songs and show the full documentry, songs can be played at the end so even if they're cut it wont matter.
Approach to Karachi was a little bumpy but landing was smooth, A320 reverse thrusts are really loud, we arrived at dusk after flying for almost two hours, lots of PIA planes parked every where most in the new colours, a few in the old scheme, we headed towards the terminal which seemed for ever, interestingly all passengers remained seated till the aircraft stopped completely, another Air Blue A320 was getting ready for a flight to Lahore, unlike the other private Pakistani airlines, Air Blue aircraft hook upto the jetways, so no stairs, while getting off, we had to pass through C class section, it looked great with wide blue leather bound seats, even though one was torn a bit, loads of arm and leg room, I can only imagine what kind of meal service they got, if we were treated so well back in Y class.
A great flight on a very good airline, highly recommended to every one especially for domestic travel, as the airline has cheaper fares then the rest with some flights offering a 25% discount, and 50% off on inaugural flights to new destinations for a month, at present they only serve four cities in Pakistan but plan on starting international flights in 2005 mainly with in the region.
Wish them success and hope they maintain their excellent standards, will definitely fly them again.
Proceeded to the departure lounge after check-in, going through one more security and hand baggage/tag check, an escalator leads to the place which is located on the top level of the ground plus one story structure that forms Islamabad International Airport, the lounge was clean, simple and functional at best, TV sets showing local programmes and flight timings were fitted at some points, ISB is usually quite busy at this time of the day with domestic traffic, but the only aircraft at that time were a PIA 737-300 in the airlines new colour scheme, the Air Blue A320 and An-24 of a local courier company TCS sporting a bright Red/White combo livery, along the lines of PIA's new design, an Aero Asia 737-200 arrived a little while later.
The flight was announced and passengers asked to proceed to the aircraft via the gate, I doubt if it had a number, as there is only one for domestic flights and you have to walk down to it on the ground level via a flat walkway, the type that is meant for trolley's and wheel chairs, I noticed some of the passengers boarding cards were being checked via pocket PC's, perhaps they had e-tickets.
All of my domestic trips by air have featured foreign passengers onboard, and this flight was no exception, there were about seven in total both from the east and the west, we were transported via bus to the aircraft, the airlines ground handling is done by Dubai based DNATA's Pakistani subsidiary Gerry's/DNATA who also handle Emirates and other major airlines, so the busses were good but the air conditioning was not working which made it very stuffy and to make things worse the bus moved literally at snail's pace to get to the aircraft, I guess it was the speed limit for the ramp, or DNATA's company limits set at Dubai which were being enforced here as well, as I did see PIA's busses wizzing by quite fast.
As we headed for our aircraft I noticed some other planes, a Shaheen Air TU-154, some Air Force aircraft, as the airport shares its facilities with an Air Base, some General Aviation aircraft were also parked at a distance featuring Dash-6, Beech, Cessna, some are in service with the UN for Afghanistan services, we got to our aircraft and parked near the rear exit, got off to a long que ahead of me, baggage tags were being re-checked and the pace was slow, finally got onto the plane, to me it was the first time on an A320, I found it a bit cramped and darker compared with the 737 which I have flown many times, I dont know if the airlines dark Blue interior had anything to do with it, but then again the airlines who 737's I have been on had the same, one of the stewardesses who was standing at the enterance just stood there, no welcome, no smile no guiding passengrs to their seats, and she happened to be the most attractive of the five or six that were on the flight, not that they were bad, all were young and smart in their plain navy blue uniforms with light green chiffon scarfs around the shoulders, initially I mistook her for a passenger waiting for a family member who may have dropped behind a few others while boarding. Air Blue do not have male cabin staff.
As we proceeded towards our seats, the other stewardesses started asking people about their seat numbers, one seemd to be extra helpful and picked me out of three other people ahead of me and told me where to go, she mistook my number for another and so I had to get to my seat myself, but it was nice of her, I got a window seat situated right next to the first emergency exit, on the port side, plenty of legroom, and luckily no one seated in betweenme and the other person, layout on the aircraft was 3-3 in Y class and 2-2 in C class, seats seemd quite spacious too, dont know what their pitch was.
Soon afterwards announcements were made welcoming us onboard, the English version was in fluent American accent, but in both Urdu and English the flight number was wrong and misread as something else, the lead stewardess introduced the entire staff by name, which was a nice touch, surprisingly she wore the exact same uniform as the rest of the crew, so you couldnt make her out from the others, she remained in C class throughout, the plane seemed to be 95% full in both sections, in no time we were being pushed back and the safety video started playing on drop down LCD screens throughout the aircraft, it featured a generic animated film, with blonde, western characters, and was of better standard than on some other carriers I have been on.
While we were postioned for the taxiway awaiting clearence, a PIA A300 arrived from Karachi, also in the airlines new colours, after it cleared the runway we started moving and in moments were racing down it and finally took off very smoothly, it was clear beautiful day in Islamabad and had rained earlier in on, clouds had cleared and the sun was out by now and you could see for miles around, especially the air field, great for photography but I didnt have a camera with me.
After we turned to head for Karachi, and the view below started fading I shut my window and barely peeked out during the rest of the flight, the times I did there were magnificent formations of clouds with hues of gold and orange outside, IFE was truned on after a good wait, and we were given head phones, there were only two channels one for Audio on which the Holy Quran was being recited with translation in Urdu, the other was for video but even though they were showing stuff the sound didnt come through for a while, on inquiring the stewadess said there was a malfunction, but it started working fine in a moment, there was nothing missed, they showed a few local song video's, traditional and pop, followed by a popular local comedy show, which I had seen before on TV, so it was a disappointment, the show was followed by a English documentry on Astronomy, hosted by Leonard Nemoy(of the original TV series 'Star Trek' fame), it was interesting and kept one occupied.
Meal was served shortly, a choice of local and Chinese, I opted for the latter, featuring "Sweet and Sour Chicken with Vegetable Rice", accompanied by a "Cucumber and Tomato Salad with a wedge of Lemon", a traditional Pakistani dessert made with milk and Vermicelli called "Sawai" followed by tea only, the best part of the meal was that not only was it good but it was served on china ware (the main dish, the tea cup, desert and salad bowls were all made of china), with the Air Blue tail design of tiny light blue cresents printed on a dark blue border, the tray the meal was served on was a flat blue square like the type used to serve sushi in, it barely had handles on two sides to hold it with, they served the dual task of helping in slide the trays on racks in the trolley, a silver plastic liner was at the bottom with the Air Blue title and their website address on it, the extras were a really soft bun and butter served on a small grey plastic tray on the side, keeping with the airlines colour scheme of grey, navy blue, light blue and white, a seperate sachet made out of recycleable paper in anvy blue contained milk, sugar(powdered and just the right amount), a fresh mint, perfumed wet tissue, tooth pick(in its own paper casing), salt and pepper, the contents were also printed on the sachet for added convinience, cutlery was superior quality clear plastic with frosted hadles, sealed in a clear plastic packet bearing the Air Blue title, and wrapped in a thick large paper napkin with intricate designs embossed on the border, these too came in their own paper sachet, impressive, never experienced such a meal service on a domsetic flight in Y class on any Pakistani airline, thanks to the airlines decision to choose Gate Gourmet(set up by Swissair) as their caterers, therefore the water, butter, milk, juices onboard were by Nestle the Swiss food giant, only soft drinks were Coca Cola, Fanta and Sprite, those too were served in superior quality, small clear plastic glasses/cups.
Crew were efficient but reserved, the meal was delicious but not restaurant fare, tasted more like the stuff cooked at home, which is not exactly there, I ate every bit even though I had been treated to a hefty lunch earlier in Islamabad by relatives, then came the tea, I have to say this, it was the best cup I have ever had on any ailrine, at home or abroad, everything about it was just perfect, including the amount of milk and sugar in their packets, it turned into a wonderful blend, mid flight the Captain made an announcement informing us of the weather etc. and after awhile we gradually started descending, during that the documentry was cut short abruptly and the TV screems rolled back into position, disappointing, perphaps they should cut down on the local songs and show the full documentry, songs can be played at the end so even if they're cut it wont matter.
Approach to Karachi was a little bumpy but landing was smooth, A320 reverse thrusts are really loud, we arrived at dusk after flying for almost two hours, lots of PIA planes parked every where most in the new colours, a few in the old scheme, we headed towards the terminal which seemed for ever, interestingly all passengers remained seated till the aircraft stopped completely, another Air Blue A320 was getting ready for a flight to Lahore, unlike the other private Pakistani airlines, Air Blue aircraft hook upto the jetways, so no stairs, while getting off, we had to pass through C class section, it looked great with wide blue leather bound seats, even though one was torn a bit, loads of arm and leg room, I can only imagine what kind of meal service they got, if we were treated so well back in Y class.
A great flight on a very good airline, highly recommended to every one especially for domestic travel, as the airline has cheaper fares then the rest with some flights offering a 25% discount, and 50% off on inaugural flights to new destinations for a month, at present they only serve four cities in Pakistan but plan on starting international flights in 2005 mainly with in the region.
Wish them success and hope they maintain their excellent standards, will definitely fly them again.