Tuesday 13 December 2016

India's youngest-at-heart airline Air Carnival plans flights to Bengaluru, Hyderabad in 2017

Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
                              / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone





The reporter of this travel news medium embarked on his inaugural flight to Coimbatore from Chennai with Air Carnival on 10 December 2016 to discover the world of Air Carnival.



Airline and Routes : Air Carnival is India's youngest scheduled passenger airline headquartered in Coimbatore. As a subsidiary of Coimbatore Marine College (CMC) Group, it launches its first domestic scheduled flight from Coimbatore to Chennai and to Madurai on 18 July 2016 using its only ATR72-500 aircraft. On 17 November 2016, it adds the temple town of Tirupati to its Coimbatore route network. Prior to operating scheduled flights, Air Carnival was a local chartered flight operator based in Delhi in the name of Air Carnival Charter Services using another Indian airline's aircraft for charter flights for three years. 



News : Air Carnival plans to introduce new scheduled flights from Coimbatore to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Trivandrum and Tuticorin in 2017 once the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has approved the flight plans and as soon as it has gained the landing slots. Another ATR72 aircraft may be added to meet flight network expansion requirements.*****



Livery : The airline logo is too simple and pretty straight forward. It consists of the words "Air Carnival" and a stylized "A" design. Pink is the predominant colour of the livery. It represents youth, gentleness and the stage at the pink of health. However, the colour does not relate to the achievement of flight safety which is one of the goals of Air Carnival.***



Aircraft : The ATR72 seat legroom is not spacious. There is no inflight entertainment. **.

Baggage Requirements : In India, a carry-on baggage measuring 115 cm in total is not accepted on an ATR72 domestic flight. One baggage up to 7 kg only can be carried onboard. There is free 15 kg check-in allowance for Economy Class passengers on each Indian domestic flight.***




Safety Demonstrations : Adequate.  *****




Inflight Magazine  : There is no official inflight magazine of Air Carnival. However, passengers can browse a Tamil children magazine named Dilamani as well as major Indian newspapers such as Coimbatore Express. Air Carnival should consider introducing its inflight newsletter or magazine highlighting travel news of the airline and travel stories of its destinations and Tamil Nadu to attract new customers. **










Inflight Service / Entertainment / Onboard Meals and Refreshments : Pros are the crew provide very good service for a budget flight. Free sandwich and mineral water are served in the 1 hour 10 minutes flight. They also do not scold passengers for snapshots of crew onboard, unlike IndiGo staff. They are friendly. At the end of the flight in December this year, they give each passenger a complimentary gift of chocolate to celebrate Christmas. It is an unforgettable moment.**** 

Postcard / Stationery : None. You can write on the white barf bags.*** 


Sky Shop : Not Available.**

Surcharges :  No. *****

Bookings : International customers cannot complete booking online for Air Carnival tickets at www.aircarnival.in as an Indian state is to be specified in the booking details. Book at MakeMyTrip, i.e. www.makemytrip.com where there is no need for foreigners to indicate Indian state in their booking details and where debit card / credit card payments from Singapore are welcome.**





Check-In and Departures : Check-in at the relevant airports two hours before departures. Flights may not depart on time although it is Air Carnival's objective to depart on-time, every time. ***

Ground service in  response  to passengers' requests and enquiries : Very Good in Coimbatore. Average in Chennai.***

Overall Impression :  Air Carnival needs to improve its public service image and provide marketing and inflight products. The airline may attract more business if it were renamed as Air Coimbatore. At the present moment. Air Carnival is a three-star youngest-at-heart airline that can do more to serve its passengers.

** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)

No comments:

Post a Comment