Background:

I had to travel to Calgary in the month of September for a 3 day presentation. This is a TR of the onward leg from India to Calgary. The leg from BLR-DEL has been left out as that was your typical 9W domestic flight a.k.a professional and pleasing!!  

My option for flying to YYC from BLR included a single stop flight via LHR on BA , or via FRA - YYZ - YYC on LH / AC or DEL - YYZ - YYC on 9W / AC .

Being a huge 9W fan and a member of JPMile program and the fact the 9W had just launched the DEL - BRU - YYZ on their new A332 just the week before, choosing 9W was a no-brainer!!  

My itinerary was was follows

3 9W 226 N 12SEP 3 DELYYZ HK1 0245 1215

4 AC 145 L 12SEP 3 YYZYYC HK1 2040 2250

5 AC 170 L 16SEP 7 YYCYYZ HK1 0900 1645

6 9W 225 S 16SEP 7 YYZDEL HK1 2015 2335

There was an 8 hr waiting at YYZ and my AC flight to YYC landed close to midnite. I had an early meeting the next day. My travel agent told me tht he was not able to book me on an earlier flight, but I could try after landing in YYZ.

DEL - BRU - YYZ
Flight : 9W 226
Reg : VT-JWG
A/C - Airbus A330-200
STD :02:45
ATD: 03:20
STA: 12:15
ATA : 12:10

Since I was connecting at DEL on 9W domestic flight from BLR , I got thru checked in all the way from to YYC from BLR itself.

The baggage tag all the way to YYC from BLR


At the Domestic Arrival in Delhi, one of the 9W staff took my checked in baggage and said tht I could proceed straight to immigration at the international terminal. The inter-terminal shuttle (complimentary) at DEL is very bad, esp compared to the one in BOM. Heard this has been upgraded now in DEL too.

DEL international terminal was not very crowded on that day. There have been lot of changes in the international terminal since my last trip there in March.

My previous trips via DEL have been horrendous, the long queues and line jumping!! But this time things were much better and hope are a good indicator of things to come!!

The new queuing system has reduced the mess that used to be the security line at DEL.


New Duty Free shops at the departure area.



Somethings however never change


After Clearing security, found out that the 9W flight was boarding from one of the lower gates (gate 2) via buses.

View of the waiting area at Gate 2


Shortly afterwards, the crew for the flight came along and it surely was impressive. The new yellow uniforms for female F/As is very eye-catching. This was apparent even in YYZ , the smartly dressed 9W crew had heads turning!!

The flying deck was manned by 4 foreigners and 1 Indian - 2 of the expat pilots were carrying bags marked with "Sabena"!!

The flying crew was primarily based out of DEL with two BKK based crew also on board. For all the crew members, this was the first trip to BRU and YYZ. The had a days halt at BRU and then to YYZ , two days there then back to BRU, one more day off and then finally back to DEL. Thanx to this I had the same set of crew on my return leg also.

The crew was first bussed out. While we waited for our boarding announcement, we were informed that the boarding gate for 9W 226 has now been shifted to one of the aero bridges (later the captain informed us that this was due to commercial reasons!!)

We trudged back up (there was a lift available too!!) and in a short while boarding commenced. The load looked pretty light that day. I was one of the last to board.

As usual, there was a smiling 9W F/A at the door, waiting to greet you and direct you to your seat. I have noticed that DEL based crew have an higher proportion of male F/As.

The A330 interiors were very similar to the ones of the 773 - the followed the same palette and similar seating- except tht J in 332 was 1-1-1 while in 773 it was 1-2-1 and the Y was 2-4-2 instead of 3-3-3 and of course no "Flying Suites" - F Class. More pics of the interiors later.

JetScreen IFE - AVOD Standard on all 9W Long haul flights and select B737


The crew distributed towels and comfort kit. The safety demo was done manually. (Flew 9W to LHR last month, they have now shifted to the demo on the IFE, however it looks a lot tacky, with some bad animation!! They shud hv used some of their beautiful F/As instead!!)

We pushed back half an hr behind schedule and without much waiting taxied to the active. The take off was much slower than the 773 but a whole lot smoother!!

After reaching cruising altitude the crew distributed the menu cards for the DEL-BRU legs, which consisted of a refreshment and breakfast cycle.

The choices for refreshment were:

Non Vegetarian

Malai Murgh Tikka (Chicken Tikka)
Seekh Kebab
Subz Tikki

Succulent Morsels of chicken in a mild marinade cooked in the tandoor, lamb mince with spices and herbs wrapped around a skewer and finished on charcoal, melange of vegetables bound with a potato mash, shaped and griddled

Vegetarian

Achari Paneer Tikka
Phaldari Kebab
Subz Tikki

Cottage cheese infused with pickling spices cooked in the tandoor, pan fried galette of plantain mash with ginger, cummin and green chilly.

Dessert

Kesari Rasmalai
Reduced milk dumplings soaked in saffron flavored milk, served chilled

Hot Beverages
Tea or Coffee

Alcoholic Beverages

Cocktails
Screw Driver
Bloody Mary

Spirits
Remy Martin
Johnie Walker Red label
Jack Daniel's tennessee Whiskey
Gordon's Special London Dry Gin
Smirnoff Red
Bacardi Carta Blanca Rum
Old Monk Dark Rum

Wines
Australian Red/White wines

International Selection of Beer.

My Dinner - Non Veg


After the dinner I opted to go to sleep and skipped the IFE considering tht I had 3 more legs to cover the same !!  

Got up again with less than 2 hrs to land into BRU. Looking out of the window, most of the landscape was hidden under a thick layer of clouds.



People were slowly waking up n making their way to the rear loo. The crew set abt preparing the breakfast and soon we had a good n welcome aroma of coffee n snacks wafting in the cabin!! They also came around with warm towels.

Tray - half folded


Tray - Fully opened


Cabin lights on for the breakfast service


View across the aisle


Leg Space



Crew doing the breakfast round


The break fast options included South Indian, North Indian and Continental.

Break Fast Menu

Chilled Fruit Juice
Yoghurt
Fresh Seasonal Fruits

Main Course

Egg Orloff

Medu Wada With Pongal (South Indian)

Paneer Bhurji, Aloo Methi Paratha, Palak and Corn Tikki (N.Indian)

Croissant and Fruit Preserve

Tea/Coffee

Alcoholic Beverages as before

My breakfast - Continental



There are very few areas tht 9W needs to improve on. One of them definitely is their Bread selection!!! The croissant is cold brittle and oily, the only sore spot on an otherwise delicious breakfast!!

Soon after the breakfast trays were cleared, we were ready to land into BRU which was covered under thick early morning clouds.


Breaking thru the cloud cover


Landing at BRU


Taxing to our gate


Our neighbours - AA , UA , LO , LX and EZ


The slimmed down IFE unit


The rear Y cabin - seats with the saddle back head rest.


The forward Y cabin


J class cabin


J class seat


J Class Bar


All pax deplaning at BRU.


Everyone has to deplane in BRU, irrespective of your onward travel. 9W has implemented a Scissors Hub at BRU with services from BOM to EWR and DEL to YYZ meeting at BRU on either directions. (Now it has been expanded to DEL-JFK, BOM-EWR and MAA-YYZ). So that means you can take the BOM-BRU-EWR flight from BOM and changeover at BRU if you wanna go to YYZ on 9W.

I think this is a extremely good strategy by 9W and by the looks of it seems to be paying off. We had abt 20-30% of pax xferring to the EWR flight and a bigger number coming on board from the BOM flight. Now with fewer a/cs they can connect more number of cities. There were also quite a few non-indians who boarded the flight from BRU.

The layover at BRU is between 90 mins to 2 hrs, with a crew change.

At BRU terminal 9W signage is all over the place and is difficult to miss. 9W staff (both Indian and European) along with BRU airport staff were on hand to give Transit cards and shopping discount vouchers to all pax.

All pax have to go through a security check before going up to the departure area. 9W staff was available here to help if required. One problem with this though is that, the EU "liquids on board" restrictions apply to all pax!! So if you have bought any duty free liqour from india (or from the US/Canada on the return leg) you might have to surrender it here. The 9W check in staff do warn abt this in India.

Transitting at BRU

9W staff waiting in case of assistance at the arrival gate


Arrival lobby of BRU


Brussels Airport - Welcome to Europe!!


9W Signage at BRU


Welcome Jet Airways!!


After Security you need to go up one level to the departure area.

9W B773 VT-JEC from EWR to BOM


Internet Kiosk at BRU


Our A332 being prepped up for its trans-atlantic flight to YYZ, as yet another 9W a/c (B773 from BOM to EWR) taxies to an adjacent gate



9W B773 from BOM to EWR docking at BRU


Action at Adjacent gates -

Syrian Air


BT , OK and AA


BA


Walking through the concourse, I noticed that there were quite a few SN flights scheduled to Africa. If 9W can use its codeshare with SN effectively and provide competitive fares ex- India to these destinations they can tap into a huge market that currently relies on ET and KY.

The BRU Concourse - Pretty long and not very crowded unlike FRA.


One of the coffeeshops along the concourse


The Angel of the north


Over all BRU is a pleasant airport, not crowded like FRA or LHR or cramped like VIE. However the duty free options are limited. Apart from that it is a gr8 place to while away coupla hours.

The boarding for the YYZ flight was announced on time.


Going down to the aero bridge


View of our a/c


We were welcomed by a fresh set of crew, once again DEL based. The BRU-YYZ sector is served by DEL based crew while the BRU-EWR is served by BOM based. There were also two Thai crew members.

The a/c was cleaned and prepped during the layover and the crew quickly distributed towels and menu cards. No comfort kit as this was a day flight!! The security demo was once again performed manually, both in Hindi and English.

The Jet Inflight mag (featuring the newly introduced service to YYZ!! ), IFE guide and Shopping catalogue


Our new neighbour - EI


The 9W B773 to EWR


The schengen pier at BRU


Turning on to the active


Take off roll from BRU


Just after take off, if u zoom in u can c the Atomium


After abt 40 mins the cabin crew began the drinks and lunch service

The Lunch Menu

Indian Selection

Salad

Murgh Rogini
Chicken Cooked in a rich sauce made with brown onions and tomatoes served with potatoes and french beans tempered with cumn, ginger and chillies, rice cooked with fresh fenugreek and raita (curd with sliced cucumber and onion)

Paneer Subz JalFrezi
Btons of fresh cottage cheese and mixed vegetables cooked with onions, tomatoes and peppers served with potatoes and rench beans tempered with cumn, ginger and chillies, rice cooked with fresh fenugreek and raita (curd with sliced cucumber and onion)

Indian Bread - paratha

Dessert

Fruit Kheer
Indian style rice pudding embellished with fruits

Beverages as before

International Selection

Salad

Main Course

Poached Fish
Poached catfish fillet napped with a "Ostendaise" sauce of grey shrimp and mussels, mixed european vegetables and a leek and potato mesh

Bread Roll

Apple Cake Perched on Vanilla custard

Beverages as before

I chose the international selection and it was very good..

Lunch (or wht remained of it after i remembered to take a pic!!)


The load was abt 50-60%. The rear Y cabin had like 3-4 pax per row and most people simply stretched out


The A330 safety card


The crew on board this sector was also DEL based, young, enthusiastic and very very professional. I chatted up with the crew manning the rear galley. One of them had done this sector the week before and he informed me that the load was around 90%. Others were on their first trans-atlantic journey and their excitement was palpable!! The sheer energy of the 9W crew has amazed me on all their flights. And contrary to popular beliefs, Indian F/As esp. 9W are a chatty lot!!

The crew came around quite a few times with water and juices. Most people opted to sleep thru this sector. I checked out most of the movies on offer in the AVOD IFE, which is quite a selection!!

About 90 mins before arrival, the crew served refreshments along with another round of drinks service

Refreshments

Murgh Chatpata
Chicken pieces marinated in yoghurt, chillies and spices cooked in a clay oven

Shammi Kebab
Galettes of spiced lamb and bengal lentils, miced and griddled

Aloo Corn Tikki
Spiced potato mash with corn kernels shaped into galettes and griddle

Paneer Hare Pyaaz ki Tikki
Minced cottage cheese with fresh chopped spring onion and powdered Indian spices, shaped into galettes and fried

Paneer Goli Kebab
Cottage Cheese and cilantro roundels napped with a spicy sauce

Khatte Mutter
Citric Glazed peas

Dessert - Angoori Rabdi
Cottage cheese dumplings served in a sweetened reduced milk

Beverages as before

My refreshment - Non Veg



Crew clearing the trays



A view of the cabin - feels spacious!!


View of the rear galley


Beverage section, with cork screw opener


Our route map from BRU to YYZ


Ahoy Canada!!



Descending into YYZ


Downtown Toronto (u can c the CN tower far far away!!)


Touching down at YYZ


Karan and Monica - gr8 work guys!!


Took some time chatting up with crew and taking sm pics together.. and headed out to immigration

Adieu my bird..


The immigration at YYZ was chaotic. There were two lines - one for pax transitting to other cities in Canada and one for folks ending there journey at YYZ. The first one was comparatively faster and I was one of the first to come get to the baggage carousel. The baggage was there but the passengers were still stuck at immigration!! The belt was choked and they had to stop it. As my luck wud have it, my bag did not turn up. Soon the crew also cleared immigration and joined me while we waited for the rest!! Some of the crew baggages tags had come off and as a result their bags did not turn up.

Finally after 45 minutes after I left the a/c, my baggage appeared on the belt. I went to the AC checkin counters just outside the international arrival, and tried to get an earlier flight. The best i cud get was an hr earlier. Took tht and still had to wait 7 hrs at YYZ for my connection to YYC.

The AC flight to YYC was on an A321. I was so tired by this time that I just crashed in my seat and the next thing I know we have reached YYC!!!!! This has never happened to me before on an a/c!!Anyways more on AC in my return TR. (My return flight from YYC to YYZ was on an AC E-90 - my first ever!!)

Overall 9W sticks to its high standards!! A pleasure to fly on and something that as an Indian, I can be proud off!!