Namaste and Hello from my homebase Lucknow (LKO) Departures area, Terminal 3.Today we are flying from my homebase to the ancient and historical city of Pune (PNQ) with my favourite airline,IndiGo.Our flight today is 6E 118 which will be operated by a brand new Airbus A321Neo (VT-IWR) which is just an 11 month old aircraft as of Sep 2025.The flight duration is expected to be 1 Hour and 45 minutes covering a distance of about 1400 KMs.


My homebase is a hub for IndiGo so we have around 6-7 IndiGo aircrafts parked here overnight.Our aircraft today is a regular bird here and from LKO 6E has many A321neo routes like LKO-GOI,LKO-BLR,LKO-AUH,LKO-PNQ and few others.This particular aircraft (VT-IWR) is coming back from Goa(GOI) as 6E 811 and will operate as 6E 118 for my flight to Pune (PNQ).The arrival of the aircraft was a little before time and the boarding commenced right on time which is usually the case when flying with IndiGo.Im flying to perform pilgrimage at Sri Bhimashankar Ji which is an auspicious Jyotirling situated high up in the UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE Western Ghats of Maharashtra,so I did'nt really have any heavy luggage just a small satchel as I have to fly back the next day.



Passengers are warmly welcomed by the cabin crew at the entry and I swiftly made my way to my seat 25F and tthe best part is that I got the entire row to myself.This aircraft's interior is little different than IndiGo's other A321Neos thats because the seats on this one and a few other A321Neos are by a brand named "RECARDO" and honestly I like these seats and seat pocket better than IndiGo's other A321Neo seats.The seats are comfortable with ample legspace and the headrests are also good in size and not too small as I had percieved 'em to be.Overall a very impressive cabin seating aboard VT-IWR.
The boarding was complete fairly quick as tonight's flight was just half full and the passenger load was just a little over 100 and once everyone was boarded the captain of our flight came on the PA and briefed us about the flight tonight including the distance and duration and the weather enroute.Soon we pushed back right on time and taxied our way to runway 27 for takeoff.Intresntingly though,we tookoff from mid turnpad of RWY 27 and thats perhaps because of the flight being not fully loaded but its my first time experiencing a mid runway takeoff onboard an A321neo so its quite fun.

Soon after takeoff we turned left towards south west following our route to Pune and within minutes we were flying over the holy river Ganga and the city of Kanpur (KNU) as we continued our ascent to our cruising altitude.Seat belt signs were turned off shortly after the takeoff and the cabin crew prompted the inflight services serving passengers with pre booked meals first followed by the on board sales for the rest of the passengers.
Im super excited for the meal service as I have pre booked IndiGo's newly launched meal option i.e a Pesto Bocconcini Vegetable Croissant and Im eager to try it.IndiGo offers complimentary water service on all its flights which is a luxury if you have flown with AirAsia,Scoot etc I hope AirAsia tskes some lessons from IndiGo.
Talking about the meal service I was given this green snack box that contained a fairly large size croissant which was very soft,fluffy and had freshly cut ingredients in it.I was not really expecting it to be much good but Im certainly amazed by how fresh it was and truly deletable.Overall its a great vegetarian meal option if you are flying with IndiGo.



Along with the meal there is a complimentary beverage option of either a fruit juice,coke/sprite etx or tea or coffee and I opted for a hot coffee which was delayed due to turbulence but the crew made sure they did give me my coffee despite being a very turbulent flight and I love the 6E coffee and their tea is also very good.Overall a wholesome meal for this nearly 2 hours flight and I was full as we cruised at 36,000 FT.



Cabin lights were dimmed following the inflight service and soon we were on descent towards PNQ over the western ghats and the Pune night lights came in the view as we prepared for final approach into PNQ towards RWY 28.
Now Pune Intl Airport is a little different than other airports because its actually a civil enclave thats basically built on Indian Air Force's Airfield so basically the Airports Authority of India is using it partially for civil operations and thats why its one of the most space constrained airport in India where the parking bay is extremely small for the number of flights this airport recieves and even on this flight after landing we were made to hold at taxiway before one of the aircrafts vacated the parking bay/gate so that we could then proceed to park.
Though it is my first time ever experiencing a hold during taxing cause usually I've been on flights where holding for takeoff etc is the usual norm but at PNQ you have to even wait to get space at the gate after landing lolz. Finally after a wait of nearly 10-12 minutes after landing and holding at taxiway we got clearance to park at Gate 5 which was vacated by an Akasa 737-8.

The best part about this flight which has been a norm on most of my flights with IndiGo is that it was yet again a before time arrival and this time we landed 9 minutes before schedule arrival time but yeah the waiting at taxiway for parking bay to get vacant was a downer neverthless it was a fantastic flight and I hope Pune either gets a new airport or an extended parking bay cause a city the size of Pune definitely deserves a better infrastructure at its airport.
I hope you all enjoyed this flight report and I hope to see you again on yet another flight.Thank you for flying with me.