Namaste everyone !
Today Im flying from my homebase, Lucknow (LKO) to the beautiful city of Nagpur (NAG),in the Indian state of Maharashtra, which is known for its heavy production of oranges. Im flying with one of the world's largest low cost airlines,IndiGo and this particular flight is the first sector of my planned route which is till Nashik (ISK).
YOUTUBE LINK to this Flight Report -:
https://youtu.be/PkiPgFpl3r8
Welcome to my homebase,Lucknow (LKO) Terminal 3 Departures.My flight no. is 6E 7462 and this flight originates from my homebase to Goa (GOI - Dabolim) [Goa has two airports GOI and GOX], it makes a stop at NAG & ISK before finally concluding its journey at GOI.Im flying to ISK via NAG so this is the first sector of my flight and given this aircraft flies to GOI, I dont have to change aircrafts at NAG.
My homebase's new terminal 3 is very beautiful and I can't resist taking some pics to show you all.The "Valley of Flowers" below is basically the corridor or pathway to main shops and departure gates area and its decorated with these colorful glass flowers and this is only available on the domestic side so on the international side you dont go through such a beautiful corridor
We have a lot of shopping stores at the departures and there are a few that are coming up soon so a lot of souvenir,clothing stores,toy stores and many restaurants (The Irish Hub,Subway etc) for you to buy stuff or have meals aa you wait for your flight.There is also a lounge and a spa service for those who are intrested
My flight is an ATR operated flight so the boarding is from the ground floor gate no.2 which means it is a shuttle bus boarding and the boarding started On Time.This particular aircraft is registered (VT-IRG) and had flown in from Jaipur (JAI) as 6E7319 and will be operating as 6E7462 from LKO - NAG - ISK - GOI.
IndiGo has a extremely swift ground staff and no sooner had the aircraft arrived the ground crew began the boarding of passengers to the shuttle bus and I was amongst the first batch of pax that boarded the first bus and as we were approaching the aircraft I could see the pax from JAI were still deboarding but within 5 or so min our shuttle parked in front of the gate and we were allowed to board the airrcaft.
My seat is 10F and I really prefer seat 10(A or F) on any of my ATR flights because I just love the window allignment of this seat also the engine is placed in a position from this seat where you get a great unobstructed view of the wing,the engine and the ground so its the vantage point for me on an ATR 72-600 aircraft and you will see on most of my ATR 76 flights its either 10F or 10A lolz.
Talking about the seat comfort and accesories then its the basic seat pocket contents comprising of a safety instructions card and a 6E menu for on board sales.The legspace has never been an issue for me on any of the IndiGo aircrafts so far and so was the case aboard this one.
My flight Captain is Manas Gupta asissted by First Officer Rohan in the cockpit and two crew members who will be taking care of the passengers on this 1 hour and 45 Minutes flight.The load on this particular sector was 70 passengers and after a quick boarding we made our way to the mid turn pad on RWY 27 and took off On Time.
Its the month March and as summers approach the haze in the skies is back however,the weather has been quite sporadic with rain and chilly wind spells especially today morning as we boarded it was raining and right after boarding it was sunny again.
After takeoff we turned south towards NAG as we climbed to our cruising altitude of 17000 FT and as we climbed we flew over India's holiest river the mighty Ganga and as I bowed my head paying obeisance the thick haze faded the ground as we approached the cruising altitude.
Cabin Crew prompted their inflight services serving the pre booked meals first following the opening on board sales for the rest.Im fasting today so neither did I book a meal or purchase any food items however,I love IndiGo's Cashew nut tin box and suger free cookies tin box and I oftenly purchase 'em on my flights with 6E.
But for this particular flight I opted for a cup of water and I do appreciate IndiGo for AT LEAST offering FREE WATER to its passengers when so called "WORLD'S BEST LOW COST AIRLINES" have so much shortage of funds that they can't even afford to offer complimentary water to its pax even on a 5 hour flight.
So I highly respect IndiGo and other Indian airlines for offering complimentary water to all its pax.
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful and just a little but of turbulence but I always book a window seat because for me the best entertainment is the window view of the clouds and the vast beauty of our planet so thats all I need.
After about an hour we began our descent into NAG and soon we were on our final approach on RWY 32 and as we landed I was not surprised that we were on time, actually two minutes before time so Im super impressed with IndiGo and Im glad they are finding ways to come back to their "ON TIME" mojo that once use to be their motto.
I hope you all enjoyed this flight with me from Lucknow to Nagpur,Thank you for flying with me see you soon on another flight.
