SRQKEF From Iceland, joined Jun 2011, 692 posts, RR: 1 Posted (8 months 3 weeks 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 7053 times:
RTW Pt. 10: From BOM to DXB direct? No way! BOM to DXB via ??? on ??
Introduction
Hi everybody, and welcome to part 10 of my around the world trip report series and my 12th report overall. I will keep the name of the airline a secret until later in the report, but I’ll let you know that I was scheduled to Fly Emirates (see what I did there? ) until the very last minute. Parts 1-9 and my earlier reports can be found at the bottom of the page.
Background
After years of planning, me and my dad finally decided to go around the world on ID/Standby tickets.
We decided to go to Machu Picchu, Peru in South American and then some Asian Cities.
This was the proposed flight schedule (B means booked):
Icelandair 631 KEF – JFK 30/3/2012 Boeing 757-300
United 1116 EWR – IAH 31/3/2012 Boeing 737-500
United 854 IAH – LIM 31/3/2012 Boeing 767-300ER
TACA Peru 7 LIM – CUZ 1/4/2012 Airbus 320-200 (B)
TACA Peru 101 CUZ – LIM 2/4/2012 Airbus 319-100 (B)
United 855 LIM – IAH – SFO 2/4/2012 +1 Boeing 767-300ER
United 837 SFO – NRT 4/4/2012 +1 Boeing 747-400
Cathay Pacific 503 HND – HKG 8/4/2012 Boeing 747-400
Cathay Pacific 701 HKG – SIN 10/4/2012 Airbus 330-300
Thai 873 SIN – BKK 12/4/2012 Boeing 777-300
Cathay Pacific 751 BKK – DEL 14/4/2012 Airbus 330-300
Air India 102 DEL – BOM 16/4/2012 Boeing 777-300ER (B)
Emirates 509 BOM-DXB 18/4 Airbus 330-200
Emirates 3 DXB – LHR 21/4/2012 Airbus 380-800
Icelandair 455 LHR – KEF 21/4/2012 Boeing 757-200
But as many of you know, you never know on ID tickets and the actual route has been way different then the planned one so far. Luckily I always made plan B and even C. But that will come in later reports.
I was really looking forward and this was shaping up to be a trip of a lifetime!
The report
My last report ended while taking a taxi to the hotel in Mumbai. As we had only 1 day in Mumbai, we set the alarm for 9am. Early for me, but for some early birds such as Markus and the FlyingFinn, the wakeup call could as well be set for 4pm – they like to wake up before 5am!
First place to visit was the Gandhi museum, located in a house that Mahatma Gandhi lived in from 1917-1934. Very interesting, strongly recommended! Only downside is the toothpaste-like smell in there…
Gandhi museum
We then went to a park that had a good view over the beach and the Mumbai skyline.
Garden
Skyline + beach
After relaxing for a while in the 35-40 °c, it was time to head inside again. This time it was an aquarium. Nothing special here, and only interesting sights were some little colorful fishes.
Aquarium
The driver then drove with us to a traditional Indian restaurant that I can’t remember the name of, but what I’ve been told by my aunt that lived in Mumbai for 4 years is one of the finest restaurants around there. We ordered some chicken masala, and I swear, that spicy sauce along with the chicken was the best chicken meal I’ve ever tasted! Along with some very very thin bread (Pan bread IIRC), this tasted fantastic.
Pic of interior
We then drove on and saw another famous landmark, the Gateway of India. Built for a royal visit back in 1800-something, this was the port of entry for the British Royal family.
Gateway of India
Closeup
Mumbai skyline
Last visit of the day were the cleaning houses for the poor people of this city. Definitely an eye-opener! This is were families go and wash themselves.
Look over
Zoomed in
Zoomed more in
We then went back to our hotel, Novotel Hotel Mumbai (4 stars) which actually was very nice. Nice pool, great restaurants and last but not least – views of arriving/departing aircraft!
The next day we woke up at 8am, had some nice breakfast and relaxed by the pool. At 11am we left for the airport. The EK flight didn’t leave until 4pm but given earlier experiences of Indian airports, we decided rather play it early and safe than late and possibly ending up missing our flight.
After waiting for 3 hours for results if we could get on the direct EK flight to Dubai. We got some real bad news at 15:00 – no empty seats for the day! Not only this flight, but also the 19:00 and 21:00 departure.
Well, time to think. While returning the EK standby passes to our bag I came across something interesting – we actually had standby passes for Oman Air BOM-MCT-DXB! We looked at the FIDS and sure, WY had a departure to Muscat at 15:40. We ran to the check in counter and came there just as they were closing. Sure enough, they had seats empty! There were even 2 seats together open, but that was about it. This flight had a 95%+ load, so we were very lucky to get aboard! Our assigned seats were 11B+11C. I agreed to take the middle seat.
Oman Air is an airline I’ve always wanted to try out after seeing their A330 landing in Heathrow back in 2010 at sunset, showing off their gorgeous livery. The great report of them by member PlaneHunter showing their nice on-board product, made me wanna fly them even more.
After running through security, we came to the gate at approx 15:30. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t know the rule of no-photo taking, so I just snapped a photo of our beautiful 737, and ran aboard. Doors were closed seconds after we boarded. We had made it, and my first Oman Air experience had began!
Flight information
Date: 18. July 2012
Airline: Oman Air (WY/OAS)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (winglets)
Registration: A4O-BB
Flight number: WY 204
From: Mumbai Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM/VABB)
To: Muscat (Seeb) International Airport (MCT/OOMS)
Runway at origin: 32
Runway at destination: 8
Sched/Act departure: 15:40/15:36
Sched/Act arrival: 17:00/16:55
Blocked time: 2 hrs 50 mins
Flight time gate to gate: 2 hrs 49 mins
Flight time RWY to RWY: 2 hrs 21 mins
Seat & Class: 11B (Economy, Y)
Personal information My 226th flight, 17th in 2012
My 1st flight on WY, 1st on WY 737, 1st on WY 738
My 28th flight on 737, 8th flight on 737 NG, 2nd flight on 738, 1st on A4O-BB
My 47th airport
My 28th airline
The nose and the wing showing the winglet of the stylish livery of WY
As I was in a middle seat, I couldn’t take pictures en route. I took one shot on a bathroom visit of the window seat guy once, and he agreed on me taking a video of the landing in Muscat.
Ok legroom
Wingview on climb
Great meal! Chicken tasted good, the rice were perfectly cooked and that bread was really tasty.
Drink service later on
Different type of cabin shot
Cruisin’. I disagree to P. the FlyingFinn, the 738 is a gorgeous aircraft! At least it’s wing is great if it’s wingletfitted…
A nice little WY E170 parked aside of us
Disembarking from the absolutely gorgeous liveried 737
Nice tail logo
Loads of people coming out of that metal tube
Some WY birds along the way to the terminal
And an airblue A319 from Pakistan
Middle east birds on the ramp (QR 321 & WY 330)
As we of course had no Oman visas and didn’t intend to go into the country, we went straight through to transit pax. We told the agent (that was very nice and helpful btw) that we were headed to Dubai and asked if she had any open seats. She told us that, well, on the 6pm/8:30pm/10:20pm flights no seats were open but at 1am she could get us a seat. Well, we had no choice, so we got BPs for WY601 at 1am and she promised she would call if any seats would open up.
Nothing to do then but go to a lounge. After grabbing a burger ‘n’ coke we went looking for a lounge. The Oman Air Premium lounge was for WY J/F pax only, so we went to the other lounge, used by Swiss, BA and other airlines there. My dad used his *G card to get in. For some reason it didn’t work, so we used his PriorityPass instead. The lounge was good for a PP lounge but unfortunately no airside views were possible.
I ate and had a much wanted shower before doing some TR work (I wrote most of pt. 2 – I’ll get to Peru somehow! UA/QK IAH-LIM in there) using the wifi. Time passed quickly and suddenly it was 10pm. The Chelsea-Barca CL game was set to start around that time. (For those of you who are football allergic, that means Chelsea of London against Barcelona Football Club in the Champions League.) No TVs in the lounge so we went upstairs. No restaurants had the game on either and soon we discovered that we couldn’t watch it anywhere. Bugger.
Pics from lounge:
Shower
Nice food – tasty sauce! Chicken, rice and chinese spring roll (one of few vegi food I can actually eat )
Time flew away fast though and suddenly, at 12:55am, boarding was called for the 1:15am departure. We got seats 31A and C with B blocked. Credit to the nice transfer desk girl!
Photos on the way to the aircraft:
KQ 738
AI 320
WY 738
Head on with a WY 737
Time for departure to Kenya
SRQKEF From Iceland, joined Jun 2011, 692 posts, RR: 1 Reply 1, posted (8 months 3 weeks 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 6735 times:
Soon we arrived at our aircraft. We stopped between A4O-BB (my ride from earlier today) but to my amusement we were directed to A4O-BU, a newer example in the fresh and new Oman Air fleet.
Flight information
Date: 19. July 2012
Airline: Oman Air (WY/OAS)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (winglets)
Registration: A4O-BU
Flight number: WY 601
From: Muscat (Seeb) International Airport (MCT/OOMS)
To: Dubai International Airport (DXB/OMDB)
Runway at origin: 8
Runway at destination: 12R
Sched/Act departure: 01:15/01:25
Sched/Act arrival: 02:10/02:34
Blocked time: 0 hrs 55 mins
Flight time gate to gate: 1 hr 09 mins
Flight time RWY to RWY: 0 hrs 49 mins
Seat & Class: 31A (Economy, Y)
Personal information My 227th flight, 18th in 2012
My 2nd flight on WY, 2nd on WY 737, 2nd on WY 738
My 29th flight on 737, 9th on 737 NG, 3rd on 738, 1st on A4O-BU
My 48th airport
Love that livery
Getting closer
Climbing the stairs
WY really got it right with that livery, stunning
Last look before going inside
Our seats
Pushback was 10 minutes late. Flight time was announced by the pilot as just under an hour. Then the FA came on and said that pizza would be served while cruising. (Unfortunately, because of turbulence on cruise, no pizza was served )
Lovely winglet
Plenty of legroom
Small 73G of Oman Air seen while taxiing
Taxiing out
As it was dark and cloudy all the way I took no pictures outside while cruising. Although no pizza was served, the FAs had drink service just before descent. More than enough for such a short flight IMHO.
After some long queues on immigration me and my dad finally got inside the UAE at 3:00. We went straight out, found a taxi and drove to our hotel. There we slept peacefully until 11 the next morning.
Last pic: Burj seen while driving to the hotel
Afterthoughts
Oman Air saved us at a time of need (ok, that was overly dramatic but still ) and had very nice service. Their hub, Muscat, is great and the lounge was good. Only downside was the lack of Chelsea-Barca but that is minor. If I could, I would like to try WY%u2019s 330 one day. I would rank their livery in the top 5 of the world, if not the top 3! Stunning.
PlaneHunter From Germany, joined Mar 2006, 6183 posts, RR: 79 Reply 2, posted (8 months 3 weeks 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 6631 times:
Hi Sveinn,
great to see another part online, well done! Congratulations on getting on Oman Air, one of my favorite carriers.
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): The driver then drove with us to a traditional Indian restaurant that I can’t remember the name of, but what I’ve been told by my aunt that lived in Mumbai for 4 years is one of the finest restaurants around there. We ordered some chicken masala, and I swear, that spicy sauce along with the chicken was the best chicken meal I’ve ever tasted! Along with some very very thin bread (Pan bread IIRC), this tasted fantastic.
Sounds excellent, I love Indian cuisine.
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): We then went back to our hotel, Novotel Hotel Mumbai (4 stars) which actually was very nice. Nice pool, great restaurants and last but not least – views of arriving/departing aircraft!
Were they close enough to see the registrations?
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): After waiting for 3 hours for results if we could get on the direct EK flight to Dubai. We got some real bad news at 15:00 – no empty seats for the day! Not only this flight, but also the 19:00 and 21:00 departure.
Wow, good for EK, bad for you...but wait, you got on Oman Air because of that, so it was also good for you.
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): The great report of them by member PlaneHunter showing their nice on-board product, made me wanna fly them even more.
Good to hear!
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Great meal! Chicken tasted good, the rice were perfectly cooked and that bread was really tasty.
Impressive meal!
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Cruisin’. I disagree to P. the FlyingFinn, the 738 is a gorgeous aircraft! At least it’s wing is great if it’s wingletfitted…
Yes, give me a 738 over any regional jet or prop any day.
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): No TVs in the lounge so we went upstairs. No restaurants had the game on either and soon we discovered that we couldn’t watch it anywhere. Bugger.
Well, you can watch football all the time...but how often do you have the chance to hang around at Muscat Airport?
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): WY really got it right with that livery, stunning
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): After some long queues on immigration me and my dad finally got inside the UAE at 3:00.
Sounds familiar...
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): If I could, I would like to try WY%u2019s 330 one day.
You should! Those A330s are probably the most attractive ones out there, both exterior and interior are excellent.
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): I would rank their livery in the top 5 of the world, if not the top 3! Stunning.
LH4116 From Sweden, joined Aug 2007, 1672 posts, RR: 15 Reply 4, posted (8 months 3 weeks 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 6250 times:
Hey Sveinn, nice report!
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): As we had only 1 day in Mumbai, we set the alarm for 9am. Early for me, but for some early birds such as Markus and the FlyingFinn, the wakeup call could as well be set for 4pm – they like to wake up before 5am!
Oh well, kids obviously need their sleep more than adults, so that's very understandable
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Along with some very very thin bread (Pan bread IIRC),
So it wasn't Naan bread perhaps?
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): We had made it, and my first Oman Air experience had began!
Well you should consider yourself lucky, the airline is quite a lot more exotic than Emirates!
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): reat meal! Chicken tasted good, the rice were perfectly cooked and that bread was really tasty.
For such a world class extravaganza super duper carrier like Oman Air, I would've expected the meal to be a bit more well presented than that. But the food looks very tasty though.
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): My dad used his *G card to get in. For some reason it didn’t work, so we used his PriorityPass instead.
Well Star Gold only gives access when flying on a star alliance flight departing the same day. Quite strict rules, but then again it's a loyalty scheme
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Nice food – tasty sauce! Chicken, rice and chinese spring roll (one of few vegi food I can actually eat )
Food looks very nice and tasty for being from an airport lounge. Did they have any other dishes on offer?
"Wheels Up!"
//Jonas
I won't stop complaining until SAS reintroduces free service in Economy Class!
deltamartin From Sweden, joined Dec 2010, 1059 posts, RR: 9 Reply 5, posted (8 months 3 weeks 4 days 23 hours ago) and read 5353 times:
Hi Sveinn!
Nice report!
Glad to see that Oman Air impress most people who fly with them. Also glad to hear that Muscat was a good airport for transit flights. I'd love to fly WY myself one day.
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2206 posts, RR: 14 Reply 6, posted (8 months 3 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 4765 times:
Hi Sveinn
Nice continuation of your trip report, great to read it.
Oman looks to be a great carrier, and the 738 is a great plane indeed.
just to bad there are no PTV's in the 737-800.
SRQKEF From Iceland, joined Jun 2011, 692 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (8 months 2 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 4151 times:
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 4): Oh well, kids obviously need their sleep more than adults, so that's very understandable
Hi Jonas, thanks for reading! Haha true
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 4): So it wasn't Naan bread perhaps?
Nope, I know Naan bread, and this wasn't it. More like a pancake...
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 4): Well you should consider yourself lucky, the airline is quite a lot more exotic than Emirates!
Haha absolutely! I also got a chance to try EK out later in the trip on my way back to Europe.
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 4): Well Star Gold only gives access when flying on a star alliance flight departing the same day. Quite strict rules, but then again it's a loyalty scheme
Yeah, seems legit.
Quoting LH4116 (Reply 4): Food looks very nice and tasty for being from an airport lounge. Did they have any other dishes on offer?
Food was good indeed. And to answer your 2nd question, yes, other options were fish and vegi.
Quoting deltamartin (Reply 5): Glad to see that Oman Air impress most people who fly with them. Also glad to hear that Muscat was a good airport for transit flights. I'd love to fly WY myself one day.
Hi Martin, thanks for reading! You should definitely try WY someday, a very nice carrier.
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): Oman looks to be a great carrier, and the 738 is a great plane indeed.
Hi Marc, thanks for reading! So true.
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): just to bad there are no PTV's in the 737-800.
Well, the longest missions they serve are 2.5 hours... But PTVs would be a nice extra indeed though.
Cheers and thanks for the replies, expect the next part soon (probably this weekend)
Sveinn
gabrielchew From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2005, 2512 posts, RR: 13 Reply 8, posted (8 months 2 weeks 2 days ago) and read 4114 times:
ANother good installment Sveinn. I should be in Bombay in a few months, so nice to see some pictures.
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): Sure enough, they had seats empty! There were even 2 seats together open, but that was about it
Hurray! I'd have rather flown WY over EK anyway
Quoting SRQKEF (Thread starter): We told the agent (that was very nice and helpful btw) that we were headed to Dubai and asked if she had any open seats. She told us that, well, on the 6pm/8:30pm/10:20pm flights no seats were open but at 1am she could get us a seat.
Ooh, annoyingly long wait. Still, lucky you could wait in a lounge and you got a seat on the 1am.
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) until the very last minute. Parts 1-9 and my earlier reports can be found at the bottom of the page.
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