I had to travel from Bangalore to Delhi on a short notice and while finding good deal tickets, I came across Indigo airlines. I had a mental block against low cost carriers after hearing numerous accounts of delays and cancellations from my friends, but had no choice as the deal was quite lucrative considering just over 3K for a one-way flight. I searched internet and mouthshut, but couldn’t find any review, except for the interview of the CEO which stated some good points about the flight.
I booked directly from the website. Ticket was e-mailed to my account almost instantly. I would like to mention something great about the site that I can choose my seat while booking, which gives me confidence that airline is not over-booking, so I WILL get a seat in aircraft. Although website is a little less professional and clumsy which gives not a feel-good feeling to the customer, anyways, I was geared to go within a couple of days.
I reached airport well in time and was greeted by a nice young lady at check-in counter and was handed over my boarding pass after showing e-ticket print out and a valid identity proof. I didn’t had any check-in luggage, so can’t comment about handling of the same.
Except the paranoid airport authority staff, considering the "liquid threat", everything else seemed cool.
I was prepared for a slight delay as was told about India’s first low-cost airlines, which almost always gets delayed and due to repeated announcements of "that airlines" getting delayed on almost every route. But to my utter surprise, my flight was announced to be departed perfectly on-time. My first battle was won over other low cost carriers.
The fleet was very new and there was enough leg-room for the passenger. There is no separate economy and business class, and there’s only 1 type of class for whole fleet. On-board staff was quite courteous and fresh looking. But not that attractive as compared to other "brewery group" airline. ;o).
Only thing I found unappealing was the lack of any reading material available on board. The flight duration was 2 hours 40 minutes and not a single newspaper or magazine was available for reading.
Before boarding, I read in the interview of CEO that no food is served on-board with Indigo, not even for purchase (cost-cutting in maintenance) and just tea/coffee and water is served free of cost, but if you would like to purchase any other beverages, they cost you. But, there was no tea/coffee available, not even for purchase. Anyways they served free water in 500 ml bottles and then other beverages were available for purchase.
The flight was smooth without any major hiccups and another surprise was in store for me. The flight landed at Delhi airport 5 minutes before scheduled arrival time. I reached my near and dear ones on-time.
I am highly impressed with the airline and punctuality.
Definitely highly recommended!!!
Enjoy!!!
Bhupesh Gahrotra