I must admit, for a liquor baron, he carried the KF Airline launch with panache . . . . What impressed me more was his bringing in the A380 on display. For a very new airline that started sometime in end of April~ Early May 2005, this flying carrier has definitely captured its fair share of the sky. I have been on their flights very regularly and have never had a problem. At least nothing that made the flight unpleasant. Every airline has its share of delayed flights, stale food and lousy attendants however, those things though existing in K.F. Airlines has not been a major concern for me.
The most important thing I am looking forward to is the introduction of their proposed in-flight Mobile Phone and Internet Services which will be hosted by OnAir for them, for long haul trips. This will be one great feature that I sorely miss on Indian flights and will be welcome to see in effect. Also, I was taken in by their In-Flight Entertainment System which kept my long haul jumps very occupied when I travelled with them. The frequent flyer club called Club King with its three tiers are quite well rounded off in their services and I have been told, they have tie-ups with Air-France and KLM for international carriers.
Here are a few things I find good with them:
1) The pricing is fair enough for most flights and dates and I have never seen excessive costs.
2) They have their services in some of the most remote and least used air destinations. Ex: Cochin to Agatti(Lakshadweep), K.F. is the only one after Indian to serve this route on what is a mainly shipped based destination
3) The flight times are quite well planned and in many ways, I find them perfectly feasible for my schedules
4) The in flight service is good enough to live with
5) The planes themselves are well maintained and are quite comfortable.
A couple of things I would like to see them change:
1) Train their ground crews on baggage handling, especially electronic equipment. The ground crew should have basic know-how on how to handle servers and stuff if being transported.
2) Try and reduce the super-imposing red in their livery and paper work. It sometimes hurts my eyes to see so much red.
All in all, it is a well rounded of service and in our sky standards, is a contender for the top slot airline.