I hadn't planned on doing an entry on my trip to India. Primarily because my days were spent either in the hotel or in an office building. Not very interesting to write or read about…
But because of what happened today, the trip turned quite memorable. Might as well make a quick note!
Since a couple of days ago, there's been terrible fog in Delhi. One of my colleagues was supposed to fly out last night, but his flight got cancelled and rescheduled for this afternoon. The fog tends to abate during the day, so the afternoon flight managed to take off.
My flight was scheduled for around midnight - not a particularly good time to be flying under this weather. However, no cancellation notices from the airline, and the inbound flight seemed to be on course (although delayed a bit).
As planned, my colleagues and I headed to the airport.
Things didn't look too good when we got on the cab and out onto the roads. REALLY bad fog. So bad, that we couldn't see a thing in front of us. Under normal circumstances, the ride to the airport would've been crazy, as in crazy, speedy driving. Tonight, we were moving like snails. Safety first!!!
We figured our flight would be delayed for a few hours.
Once we got to the airport, though, things looked promising - the check-in was proceeding smoothly throughout the airport, and incoming flights were landing. Plus, the counter agent kindly informed us that the flight would be taking off, with only a slight delay.
Yaaaaay!!!!!! (But I was doubtful - I mean, look at the fog!!!)
We settled ourselves into the lounge. Well, settled as much as possible considering that the place was rather dingy (remember, this was before the opening of the new international terminal!) and crowded with many delayed passengers.
Guess what! Our departure time came along and no announcement. No signs of boarding. Actually, the plane didn't seem to even have arrived yet!
I must've kept pestering the agent every 15 minutes to try to figure out what was going on. If our flight was going to be cancelled, I'd rather spend the hours waiting at a hotel rather than this stinky, boring airport.
No luck…..
After 2 hours or so, our flight finally arrived. And, we'd be departing after the plane was cleaned. Expected total delay time of about 3 hours. So the agent says.
And, the agent was correct. To a certain degree.
We were allowed to board. But we went no where for the next 12 hours. I'm not kidding…all of the passengers were stuck on the plane for over 10 hours, because the runways were closed.
Apparently, we were the luckier ones since we had a gate, which provided us with all the electrical power necessary to keep the plane air conditioned and lighted. A couple of earlier flights, thinking they'd be taking off, left the gates, only to be stuck on the runway. They gave up their gate spots and couldn't get back to them as they'd already been occupied by another flight! On those flights, there wouldn't be any power after the fuel ran out (which would've after 10 hours!).
Never have I been soooooo glad to be in business class. Because the minute I realized we were going to be delayed for some time, I pulled out the bed and fell asleep. Very, very, comfortable, I slept for close to 8 hours. Woke up a couple of times to get a drink and some snacks. Yummy noodles. I think I shocked my colleagues with my ability to sleep in cramped quarters like I was completely comatose. But really. The bed was extremely comfy. I don't know how I would've handled the situation if I were in the economy seats…sitting upright the whole entire time. Horrid thought!
On the other hand, I'm not sure why we had to stay on the plane, rather than head back to the terminal. I'm glad we didn't though. Because the plane was comfier and cleaner than the terminal.
Finally in the afternoon, we were cleared to take off. The crew had to switch before we took off, but I don't think they restocked our supplies. It was a relatively short flight to Singapore, but we seemed to be a bit low on food and drinks. Not much of a concern to me, since I slept for most of the flight. Again.
When we landed in Singapore, there were agents at the gate handing out new boarding passes for connections missed due to the delay. A bunch of passengers, I'd assume. Amazingly efficient.
And, they were even giving out freebies (passport cases this time around) to apologize for the delay. Even though it wasn't even their fault at all… Imagine the day when American or European airlines would give out free gifts due to weather delays.
Gotta love Singapore Airlines!!!!!
Because of the delay, we obviously missed our afternoon connecting flight to Tokyo. So, we were automatically rebooked for the red eye that night. Which meant….another flight on the A380!!!!
But because of what happened today, the trip turned quite memorable. Might as well make a quick note!
Since a couple of days ago, there's been terrible fog in Delhi. One of my colleagues was supposed to fly out last night, but his flight got cancelled and rescheduled for this afternoon. The fog tends to abate during the day, so the afternoon flight managed to take off.
My flight was scheduled for around midnight - not a particularly good time to be flying under this weather. However, no cancellation notices from the airline, and the inbound flight seemed to be on course (although delayed a bit).
As planned, my colleagues and I headed to the airport.
Things didn't look too good when we got on the cab and out onto the roads. REALLY bad fog. So bad, that we couldn't see a thing in front of us. Under normal circumstances, the ride to the airport would've been crazy, as in crazy, speedy driving. Tonight, we were moving like snails. Safety first!!!
We figured our flight would be delayed for a few hours.
Once we got to the airport, though, things looked promising - the check-in was proceeding smoothly throughout the airport, and incoming flights were landing. Plus, the counter agent kindly informed us that the flight would be taking off, with only a slight delay.
Yaaaaay!!!!!! (But I was doubtful - I mean, look at the fog!!!)
We settled ourselves into the lounge. Well, settled as much as possible considering that the place was rather dingy (remember, this was before the opening of the new international terminal!) and crowded with many delayed passengers.
Guess what! Our departure time came along and no announcement. No signs of boarding. Actually, the plane didn't seem to even have arrived yet!
I must've kept pestering the agent every 15 minutes to try to figure out what was going on. If our flight was going to be cancelled, I'd rather spend the hours waiting at a hotel rather than this stinky, boring airport.
No luck…..
After 2 hours or so, our flight finally arrived. And, we'd be departing after the plane was cleaned. Expected total delay time of about 3 hours. So the agent says.
And, the agent was correct. To a certain degree.
We were allowed to board. But we went no where for the next 12 hours. I'm not kidding…all of the passengers were stuck on the plane for over 10 hours, because the runways were closed.
Apparently, we were the luckier ones since we had a gate, which provided us with all the electrical power necessary to keep the plane air conditioned and lighted. A couple of earlier flights, thinking they'd be taking off, left the gates, only to be stuck on the runway. They gave up their gate spots and couldn't get back to them as they'd already been occupied by another flight! On those flights, there wouldn't be any power after the fuel ran out (which would've after 10 hours!).
Never have I been soooooo glad to be in business class. Because the minute I realized we were going to be delayed for some time, I pulled out the bed and fell asleep. Very, very, comfortable, I slept for close to 8 hours. Woke up a couple of times to get a drink and some snacks. Yummy noodles. I think I shocked my colleagues with my ability to sleep in cramped quarters like I was completely comatose. But really. The bed was extremely comfy. I don't know how I would've handled the situation if I were in the economy seats…sitting upright the whole entire time. Horrid thought!
On the other hand, I'm not sure why we had to stay on the plane, rather than head back to the terminal. I'm glad we didn't though. Because the plane was comfier and cleaner than the terminal.
Finally in the afternoon, we were cleared to take off. The crew had to switch before we took off, but I don't think they restocked our supplies. It was a relatively short flight to Singapore, but we seemed to be a bit low on food and drinks. Not much of a concern to me, since I slept for most of the flight. Again.
When we landed in Singapore, there were agents at the gate handing out new boarding passes for connections missed due to the delay. A bunch of passengers, I'd assume. Amazingly efficient.
And, they were even giving out freebies (passport cases this time around) to apologize for the delay. Even though it wasn't even their fault at all… Imagine the day when American or European airlines would give out free gifts due to weather delays.
Gotta love Singapore Airlines!!!!!
Because of the delay, we obviously missed our afternoon connecting flight to Tokyo. So, we were automatically rebooked for the red eye that night. Which meant….another flight on the A380!!!!
Thank you, India fog.
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