Air India 787 Business Class

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NinnyPoo

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Air India currently have cheap J fares from Singapore to Rome via Delhi. The fares are 50 percent cheaper than SQ.

With Air India now flying the 787 on a number of routes, including to Australia any feedback on the service and how reliable they are?

thanks
 
I flew Air India as per trip report at half that price. Look at Sri Lankan too. They are often around $2000 but not to Rome.
 
Thanks Dajop. Just checked Sri Lankan's website, and yes they are around 2000 SGD. Will definitely explore that option, as same price as SQ economy.
 
It wasn't my first choice, but I will be flying them in Oct 2015 CDG-DEL-MEL as a way of using Lifemiles to get home from France. They wouldn't have been my first choice, but although I haven't flown them before, my low expectations are more on delays and poor service than specific safety concerns.
 
Air India currently have cheap J fares from Singapore to Rome via Delhi. The fares are 50 percent cheaper than SQ.

With Air India now flying the 787 on a number of routes, including to Australia any feedback on the service and how reliable they are?

thanks

there are limited trip reports out there of the Air India 787. Australian Business Traveller has one, but worth noting since that report AI has upgraded their meal service.

For the price - a full flat bed, and genuine (if not polished) service - I think it's hard to beat.

In the same category would be Sri Lankan, but there are also carriers such as Qatar and Finnair with special ex Asia to Europe in the $200-$2500 range - although those fares are 'sales' rather than regular year-round pricing.
 
I recently flew AI MEL-DEL return and both legs were exactly on time and there was nothing wrong with the service. I did fly Y and found the entertainment choice a bit too small for the long flights. The food was ok - I would have preferred another meal service as felt 2 meals were not enough.
 
I have no idea what they are like in the cabin...but I watched one of their 787s come very close to a taxying accident just recently...so that part was unimpressive.
 
I have no idea what they are like in the cabin...but I watched one of their 787s come very close to a taxying accident just recently...so that part was unimpressive.

What did it do wrong? Too fast, too close, didn't follow atc/ground directions? Or all of the above?

Which airport?
 
What did it do wrong? Too fast, too close, didn't follow atc/ground directions? Or all of the above?

Which airport?

Virgin ATR was stopped with tail infringing. 787 went off the centreline to go 'around' it. United tried the same trick on a QF 767 a few years ago, and it did not end well. In this case, the 787 went 2-3 metres off the centreline, and that's about how much they missed by.

His safe options were to either stop, or to tell ATC and have them move the ATR forward, or both. I wouldn't consider them at any price.
 
Virgin ATR was stopped with tail infringing. 787 went off the centreline to go 'around' it. United tried the same trick on a QF 767 a few years ago, and it did not end well. In this case, the 787 went 2-3 metres off the centreline, and that's about how much they missed by.

His safe options were to either stop, or to tell ATC and have them move the ATR forward, or both. I wouldn't consider them at any price.

Wow. Just wow.

That's very impatient.
 
Virgin ATR was stopped with tail infringing. 787 went off the centreline to go 'around' it. United tried the same trick on a QF 767 a few years ago, and it did not end well. In this case, the 787 went 2-3 metres off the centreline, and that's about how much they missed by.

His safe options were to either stop, or to tell ATC and have them move the ATR forward, or both. I wouldn't consider them at any price.

Does that qualify as a reportable incident. Will someone with "official" in their title look into it?.

Which prompts another question, with CCTV just about everywhere you go these days, do they have wide angle CCTV at any airports so that things like this can be reviewed?

Mods feel free to move this to the Ask the pilot thread.
 
Having just done a couple flights on Air India (787s), my views are this...

As I mentioned in another thread - I'm not so partial to the 787 itself. It's rather noisy! The cabin is also small and AI's seat pitch suffers accordingly.

However - if you are 6'1 or less you'll have no trouble sleeping full flat, and if you are 6'2 or '3 you'll just fit.

The seats are full flat and wide.

Service is good. The champagne is good is perfectly chilled. The cabin is well presented (if not a little worn). There are no more amenity kits, but the WCs are stocked with what you might need. Socks and eye-shades are handed out, but the quality of the eye-shade is poor, so take your own. Contrary to some trip reports, there are no 'slippers' (the crew tell you 'slippers' but they are the socks). So for bathroom visits, grab a pair of slippers from your hotel or another airline.

We had menus on the long sectors from Australia, and PJs are available, but only on request, even on night flights.

The food was 'ok' rather than being memorable. I'd rate it about equal to TG in terms of presentation and quality.

IFE... the moving map doesn't work well and while there are about 20 western movies to choose from, there isn't a description of what they're about. So unless you know the film, you just need to suck it and see. Headsets are just passable, and not noise cancelling.

however, as others have said, while service is not polished, it is genuine, and the crew go to great lengths to make sure the cabin is well presented. If you are flying to Delhi with a transit stop in MEL or SYD (depending on the day of the week), you will not be allowed off the plane at the Australian transit stop. So be prepared for an hour or so of cleaners on board. And the food for the domestic sector is best left untouched!

Would I fly them on the ultra cheap fares from Asia? if you want to arrive with a good sleep, and are not too fussed about all the bells and whistles - then sure (and for the price you can't really go wrong).

The transit in Delhi is easily doable in one hour. Worth noting that while gates can be a long walk (think BKK 'long' and then add a bit more for some gates) ... there are buggies plying back and forth. These are advertised as 'free' and provided by the airport. Hop on one of those if you see one.
 
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I asked the original question and I have now booked Sri Lankan Airlines for $2100 SGD from SIN to FCO (Rome) in Business. It is actually $200 less than SQ economy in September. Connections in Colombo are around two to three hours.
 
I asked the original question and I have now booked Sri Lankan Airlines for $2100 SGD from SIN to FCO (Rome) in Business. It is actually $200 less than SQ economy in September. Connections in Colombo are around two to three hours.
Looking forward to the trip report ... :)
 
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