One reason I can think of is wealth. Flying is a fairly utilitarian mode of transportation in the west whereas in countries like India, only the top 2% can afford to fly on a regular basis. Beautiful interiors are a way to attract this group.
It's all cyclical development. The beautiful new airports you're refering to now didn't exist at the peak of western infrastructure building. 20 years ago China was all the rage for new airports, now it's South & Southeast Asia, all the while many redevelopment projects have already begun in the west. Give it a few years...
@@sabby2064I didn’t say India doesn’t have a meaningfully large air travel demand. The top 2% of India in terms of wealth amounts for a massive number of people given its population. I stand by my assessment.
@@tfft I always press the like button because of unbiased and genuine content ! Can't wait for you to review AI in next 2 years when the storm of merging is calmed down !
i am baffled as to how you find lounges empty in India!!! after having 5 credits cards with lounge access and priority pass, i just find them so crowded that i always prefer to stay out!!
Always helpful to check your. posts. I have flights in and out of BLR in exactly one month. And then I have a Swiss to Zurich from DEL, just to see the planes from the observation deck. 😅
The Anglicised names of Thiruvanthapuram and Kozhikode are Trivandrum and Calicut, respectively... Just mentioning so that it's easy for Kevin to pronounce...
A western TH-camr on the internet would be called out for simply using the Anglicized names. So, I'd much rather get comments like this one instead of the hateful ones that are more common when a single syllable is off 😉
Hi Kevin, calling you out on this one on your seating comments - airline check-in agents don't necessarily choose pax seats. Each airline check-in system works on an algorithm which sits each pax according to the weight and balance of the plane (or what we call the trim). If pax have not chosen/paid/reserved/requested their seats, the airline's check-in algorithm will automatically choose the seats. In the case you have commented on your video, that pax was automatically sat by the airline's check-in system, and being a flight of less than 2 hours, the pax probably couldn't be bothered moving themselves to another seat. On a side note, you can get rid of those flashing fluorescent lights by increasing the speed of the video recording on your device from 1/30 to 1/60 😊.. love your videos, keep up the great work!
Yes that's why I said passenger or airline agent. As for the filming, yes, for traditional lighting going from 60fps to 25fps helps in some cases, but that does not help when the problem is caused by low quality LEDs. When I can control it, I do, when you still see strobing in the video, it's from low quality LEDs or LEDs on a dimmer.
Great review. Take a bonus-point for the construction-materials reporting, and the 'Full Subway' that you were subliminally angling for at 1:00 and more outrageously at 12:37.
Have you noticed that everyone sounds the same when the speak on the PA-system. No matter what language they speak. "Blipedi-blo blabedi bla". "What did she say"? "No idea. But she sounded very confident"!
I recently moved to Jaipur from Bangalore, and I fly this route quite frequently. In my experience of flying IndiGo(often known as India's best LCC) and Air India Express, the latter has been far superior consistently. I have flown this route and backwards over a dozen times in the past 6 months, and every time, Air India express has produced quality of service. With IndiGo i have seen extreme flight delays, rude staff, and for some reason, consistently worse landings as well(not stereotyping it to be India's Ryan Air), and never have i has these problems with AI Express. Also the fact the seats of Air India Express are much-much more comfortable. I used to think AI Express only flew 737's and IndiGo only flew A320's. So i believed that A320 is just a worse plane for passenger experience, until I flew an AI Express A320. I realized it the airline. Plus the fact that the fares are similar, given you book your tickets on time. Plus the fact that in Bangalore Ai Express fly's from Terminal 2, it makes it a much better option than IndiGo.
They keep switching off the air conditioning from time to time on the intl routes. Had to keep reminding the crew and they switch it back on and then off after sometime
I think, a better way to judge Indian carriers is to take longer flights on them such as IST-DEL/BOM on 6E 77Ws or JFK-DEL on AI 359s, that way you get to experience a carrier a lot longer than a 40 minute short doesmtic hop
You mean... like the three long haul (one to New York...) Air India videos on my channel already? I suggest you take a look at the 15 or so India Trip Reports on my channel.
Good report on BLR from the domestic side - the international side is less well appointed, shall we say. Not somewhere you can spend hours checking out. They do have a few restaurants and the architecture is amazing, but I got there too early for my flight to Singapore, and regretted it.
A western TH-camr on the internet would be called out for simply using the Anglicized names. So, I'd much rather get comments like this one instead of the hateful ones that are more common when a single syllable is off 😉
Bengaluru is being pitted as hub status for IndiGo and Air India and akasa air. While airports in neighbouring state of Kerala are connected to gulf states and airports neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu are connected to South East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei. Bengaluru have mixed traffic with host of flights such as to LHR, Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris CDG, Frankfurt, Munich, San Francisco, Addis Ababa, Tokyo, Hong Kong etc.
Hopefully by the next time you come, you'll get to experience the outdoor garden and the viewing deck(visible at 10:10), though those are only on the international side
12:31 should've tried some of their hot meals, I was pleasantly surprised by their Awadhi Chicken Biryani and the Herb Grilled Fish Fillet. Such a nice change from the boring food Indigo is offering nowadays.
Interesting airport so thanks for showing. Massive fan of the channel typically. I just felt that this series was too dragged and a little forced. Looking forward to more "traditional" Kevin's content
Hmm... it's like 90 seconds of added history per video lol. If you pretend they're not in a series, then well... they *are* my traditional style of content 😉
If this is a criticism of how someone trying to pronounce an Indian name didn't do it absolutely perfectly, thank you for proving the *exact* point that I made in the video.
Honestly, this merger was far too soon. Two completely different products, with one far superior to the other. The only thing to distinguish them is the flight number. Now, Tata has to not only update the old AI jets but also have to accelerate UKs product change as well to bring commonality. When new jets begin delivery in 2026, we will have a third product in the mix if the cabin update of the old jets doesn't get completed. It boggles my mind as to why Tata decided to PREPONE the merger when the cabin updates are delayed by up to a year.
Wow, this is really great ! I am usually very critical of everything about IN but I must admit this airport at Bengaluru is very well made hope they take good care of the place for years to come
Just like everything else in the universe, there's more to it than meets the eye. There are states in India cleaner and neater than whereever you are from. But people have a fixed narrative that they like to push
To point out the obvious to captain obvious, saying things like "there are states in India cleaner and neater *than wherever you are from*" is also it's own narrative and entirely unhelpful.
09:42 any comments on some of the negative comments about Vistara? Josh questioned the need for the airline considering their bad management - including allegations of sexual misconduct. Some others have expressed frustrations about Vistara's slow and weird decisions about fleet and route management, which led to them being a loss making enterprise. Been a fan of the airline ever since their launch. I maximised opportunities afforded by my work to use its premium-economy class. But only recently learned about some of the problems, not feeling so nostalgic about it now.
When I find holes in stories being told to me, it kind of discredits the entire thing for me. In Josh's video, take note of what date he says the flight is. Then take note of what date the crew wrote on the "thanks for flying with us" card at the end of the video. Everytime he has one of these deep dive videos, I find similar inconsistencies- that 'banned from Qatar' video included.
Ah airindia express. The weird missmash of airlines today. Pretty funny to see the livery is just a blacked-out airasia standard one, at least for this plane. But for a 40 minute flight? cant complaint too much. I guess with the complete merger, we can expect SQ to TR travel experience with AI to IX in some sectors.
I found it funny that you didn't even attempt to pronounce the names of those cities. I come from the same state they are in and wouldn't have minded even if you tried and failed. 😅
I've received 1 or 2 (or 300) too many really negative comments from other videos for mispronouncing a single syllabus, so this is the new way forward lol.
You may have noticed, but I always say Bengaluru and Kolkata instead of Bangalore and Calcutta specifically because simply uttering the Anglizised names on TH-cam results in it's own flavor of backlash. Just not worth it lol
@@tfft Yep, you have to deal with the keyboard warriors engaged in flaming. The advantage of anglicized name is that they have few syllables. That way people anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world can pronounce it easily.
I was there at the airport in February. I arrived on a Qatar flight at about 1am, and found the airport to be heaving with scammers near the exits all waiting to pounce on westerners... Also that airport arrivals/exit area in the terminal was filled with a heavy petroleum exhaust vapour - you could see the smog hanging in the air. I know pollution is bad there, but inside the building? Not good. On my departure a week later the entry system to get into the departures terminal was truly shambolic, with military personnel stationed outside to check people's reasons for entry (I guess to stop more scammers / non-travelling people getting into the building who have no reason to be there), but the soldier man in my line didn't speak English (and I don't speak Indian) and couldn't articulate what he wanted to see from me... My passport? Nope? My e-visa paperwork? Nope. It turns out he wanted to see an airline ticket, be it paper or electronic. So after a few minutes of back and forth I showed him my Qatar app flight confirmation. But I don't know what would have happened if I had run out of battery in my phone before charging up inside, or couldn't get a signal to log into the Qatar app... Just for good measure I tried to exchange some left over Indian currency at an exchange kiosk, but I didn't have enough to make the minimum trade and after counting the money behind their desk they gave it back to me minus a 5000 rupees note they decided to steal from me, the hapless foreigner! I only realised once I got to the Starbucks for a coffee and counted up my leftover money to see that I was 5k short of what I knew I had given them at the exchange kiosk. But of course I had walked away and now couldn't prove it.. Just for good measure Qatar's boarding process was a shambles too (although to be fair that was also true in other countries where I boarded flying with them to India). All in not a good experience of BLR airport for me Kevin...
It’s exactly the same requirement to enter any airport in India and there are signs posted all over stating what you need to enter the building. If your phone didn’t work, they’d wait until another officer was there to call over staff from QR to confirm your ticket.
@@tfft I didn't see any signs tbh, and nor did any of the other foreigners in the queue, none of whom seemed too sure what was going on. Ho hum. Maybe just at the wrong place wrong time.
Stop saying Labor Market. Every work is dignified and hard work which people put their blood and sweat to create the magnificence that is the Middle East. The locals didn’t create what they have with magic. Be a little sensible with how you say things
Wanna know why I said "labor market"...? Because that's how *Air India Express* describes where they fly to. Stop making assumptions, your high horse can't take it much longer.
Drop your questions for future Community Q&As here: bit.ly/tfft_qa1
Goodness gracious! That terminal is a masterpiece.
i love the amount of unique carriers covered on this series
Appreciate that!
What a stunning airport 🤩 Thank you for filming and editing your reviews so beautifully 🙏🏼⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks for watching
I wonder why American and European airports often don't measure up to the exceptional standards of their Asian and Middle Eastern counterparts.
One reason I can think of is wealth. Flying is a fairly utilitarian mode of transportation in the west whereas in countries like India, only the top 2% can afford to fly on a regular basis. Beautiful interiors are a way to attract this group.
It's all cyclical development. The beautiful new airports you're refering to now didn't exist at the peak of western infrastructure building. 20 years ago China was all the rage for new airports, now it's South & Southeast Asia, all the while many redevelopment projects have already begun in the west. Give it a few years...
@@tfft fair point
coz airports have very long life cycles... airports in the developed west were built decades before the spate of shiny new airports in Asia.
@@sabby2064I didn’t say India doesn’t have a meaningfully large air travel demand. The top 2% of India in terms of wealth amounts for a massive number of people given its population. I stand by my assessment.
Indian airports are world class . India is building rapid infrastructure.
My fav airport !
A good way to encourage shopping. Thanks for watching
@@tfft I always press the like button because of unbiased and genuine content ! Can't wait for you to review AI in next 2 years when the storm of merging is calmed down !
I love this channel! I personally don't travel at all but really enjoy watching you do so and I find your videos very calming.
i am baffled as to how you find lounges empty in India!!! after having 5 credits cards with lounge access and priority pass, i just find them so crowded that i always prefer to stay out!!
Well, being there at 5:00 helps lol
@@tfft lol
Always until the end, including all the ads! Stay well Kevin!
Appreciate that!
Thank you for reviewing AIX. The airline will be completely transformed by Q4 2025!
We shall see about that 😅
Hi! Just wanted to let you know, please visit the TFS lounge in Chennai! Have been there and it’s amazing!
That Park Hyatt in Chennai is fantastic!
Especially for 3.5k points! lol
Always helpful to check your. posts. I have flights in and out of BLR in exactly one month. And then I have a Swiss to Zurich from DEL, just to see the planes from the observation deck. 😅
Enjoy the deck!
The Anglicised names of Thiruvanthapuram and Kozhikode are Trivandrum and Calicut, respectively... Just mentioning so that it's easy for Kevin to pronounce...
A western TH-camr on the internet would be called out for simply using the Anglicized names. So, I'd much rather get comments like this one instead of the hateful ones that are more common when a single syllable is off 😉
Great video! Air India Express is so much better than IndiGo. However, I always have to fly IndiGo for their better schedule and big route map.
Hi Kevin, calling you out on this one on your seating comments - airline check-in agents don't necessarily choose pax seats. Each airline check-in system works on an algorithm which sits each pax according to the weight and balance of the plane (or what we call the trim). If pax have not chosen/paid/reserved/requested their seats, the airline's check-in algorithm will automatically choose the seats. In the case you have commented on your video, that pax was automatically sat by the airline's check-in system, and being a flight of less than 2 hours, the pax probably couldn't be bothered moving themselves to another seat. On a side note, you can get rid of those flashing fluorescent lights by increasing the speed of the video recording on your device from 1/30 to 1/60 😊.. love your videos, keep up the great work!
Yes that's why I said passenger or airline agent. As for the filming, yes, for traditional lighting going from 60fps to 25fps helps in some cases, but that does not help when the problem is caused by low quality LEDs. When I can control it, I do, when you still see strobing in the video, it's from low quality LEDs or LEDs on a dimmer.
Thank you for another nice flight report
Lovely terminal! Thanks Kevin!
Great review. Take a bonus-point for the construction-materials reporting, and the 'Full Subway' that you were subliminally angling for at 1:00 and more outrageously at 12:37.
Have you noticed that everyone sounds the same when the speak on the PA-system. No matter what language they speak.
"Blipedi-blo blabedi bla".
"What did she say"?
"No idea. But she sounded very confident"!
I grew up in a very diverse area, so I've always had an ear that cut through accents easily.
As always another unbiased review, thankyou!
I recently moved to Jaipur from Bangalore, and I fly this route quite frequently. In my experience of flying IndiGo(often known as India's best LCC) and Air India Express, the latter has been far superior consistently. I have flown this route and backwards over a dozen times in the past 6 months, and every time, Air India express has produced quality of service. With IndiGo i have seen extreme flight delays, rude staff, and for some reason, consistently worse landings as well(not stereotyping it to be India's Ryan Air), and never have i has these problems with AI Express. Also the fact the seats of Air India Express are much-much more comfortable. I used to think AI Express only flew 737's and IndiGo only flew A320's. So i believed that A320 is just a worse plane for passenger experience, until I flew an AI Express A320. I realized it the airline. Plus the fact that the fares are similar, given you book your tickets on time. Plus the fact that in Bangalore Ai Express fly's from Terminal 2, it makes it a much better option than IndiGo.
When are you covering air india Delhi London a350 flight??
Who said I was? Lol
I 've flown on airasia quite a lotta times but never after the merger.
Always wanted to see what they are now
I reckon not much different lol
Awesome video
Wow how beautiful is this!
They keep switching off the air conditioning from time to time on the intl routes. Had to keep reminding the crew and they switch it back on and then off after sometime
I think, a better way to judge Indian carriers is to take longer flights on them such as IST-DEL/BOM on 6E 77Ws or JFK-DEL on AI 359s, that way you get to experience a carrier a lot longer than a 40 minute short doesmtic hop
You mean... like the three long haul (one to New York...) Air India videos on my channel already? I suggest you take a look at the 15 or so India Trip Reports on my channel.
Good report on BLR from the domestic side - the international side is less well appointed, shall we say. Not somewhere you can spend hours checking out. They do have a few restaurants and the architecture is amazing, but I got there too early for my flight to Singapore, and regretted it.
Thank you Kelvin.
Thanks for watching
6:46 just call it Trivandrum and Calicut
A western TH-camr on the internet would be called out for simply using the Anglicized names. So, I'd much rather get comments like this one instead of the hateful ones that are more common when a single syllable is off 😉
As a guess did you get here with that Lufthansa flight from a while ago?😅
Yes lol (was like the 3rd line in the video 😅)
Yeah watching the video I realized that😂 .😊
Bengaluru is being pitted as hub status for IndiGo and Air India and akasa air. While airports in neighbouring state of Kerala are connected to gulf states and airports neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu are connected to South East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei. Bengaluru have mixed traffic with host of flights such as to LHR, Amsterdam Schiphol, Paris CDG, Frankfurt, Munich, San Francisco, Addis Ababa, Tokyo, Hong Kong etc.
Time to spice up your trip with an in-flight snack roulette....
Hopefully by the next time you come, you'll get to experience the outdoor garden and the viewing deck(visible at 10:10), though those are only on the international side
My favorite airport!
12:31 should've tried some of their hot meals, I was pleasantly surprised by their Awadhi Chicken Biryani and the Herb Grilled Fish Fillet. Such a nice change from the boring food Indigo is offering nowadays.
Was not an option for such a short flight.
@tfft oh haan. Next time, maybe?
I’m only gonna pronounce karnataka as KARAN TAKA henceforth 😂😂… amazing vid! Keep up the great work!
The domestic bus gates at Mumbai airport are also underwhelming when you compare it to the entire terminal.
True, but personally I don't find BOM's terminal all that amazing.
@@tfft I quite like the peacock theme and the art murals. It's certainly better than other Indian Airports (except Bangalore).
Interesting airport so thanks for showing. Massive fan of the channel typically. I just felt that this series was too dragged and a little forced. Looking forward to more "traditional" Kevin's content
Hmm... it's like 90 seconds of added history per video lol. If you pretend they're not in a series, then well... they *are* my traditional style of content 😉
What did commercially drive the early kangeroo route? Mail-service? Or just good hopes and rich people?
Well, I mean, that's the story I've been telling in the past 20 videos lol.
@@tfft Yes sir. Very detailed narration. But I was refering to the very embryo for flight. What or who payed for the first ever flights?
Hey kevin, you should try the vande Bharat express.
I would love to visit this state "karna-taaka" , sounds very interesting
If this is a criticism of how someone trying to pronounce an Indian name didn't do it absolutely perfectly, thank you for proving the *exact* point that I made in the video.
The airport looks pretty good. The Vistara thing is a sensitive subject amongst some TH-camrs. I won’t say who lol
Some TH-camrs need to get over themselves and realize they're not the main characters here. I won't say who :)
Would love to see a video on Park Hyatt Chennai!
Thank You ✈️
Where do you live, Kevin?
In southeast Asia.
@@tfft You're not an American? I don't know. Your accent gave me American/Canadian vibes.
Bangalore airport is inspired by karnataka state of india 🇮🇳 and Bangalore city....
It’s almost as if I said exactly that in the video 😂
ಕೆಂಪೇಗೌಡ ಅಂತರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ವಿಮಾನ ನಿಲ್ದಾಣ
Kempegowda international airport
Honestly, this merger was far too soon. Two completely different products, with one far superior to the other. The only thing to distinguish them is the flight number. Now, Tata has to not only update the old AI jets but also have to accelerate UKs product change as well to bring commonality. When new jets begin delivery in 2026, we will have a third product in the mix if the cabin update of the old jets doesn't get completed. It boggles my mind as to why Tata decided to PREPONE the merger when the cabin updates are delayed by up to a year.
even in the worst times of air india, air india express was in profit for most of the years. i hope tata get it right.
11:56 have flown with Air India Express after their rebranding thrice, the advertised WiFi has never worked in any of them 😂
Wow, this is really great !
I am usually very critical of everything about IN
but I must admit this airport at Bengaluru is very well made
hope they take good care of the place for years to come
Just like everything else in the universe, there's more to it than meets the eye. There are states in India cleaner and neater than whereever you are from. But people have a fixed narrative that they like to push
To point out the obvious to captain obvious, saying things like "there are states in India cleaner and neater *than wherever you are from*" is also it's own narrative and entirely unhelpful.
09:42 any comments on some of the negative comments about Vistara? Josh questioned the need for the airline considering their bad management - including allegations of sexual misconduct. Some others have expressed frustrations about Vistara's slow and weird decisions about fleet and route management, which led to them being a loss making enterprise.
Been a fan of the airline ever since their launch. I maximised opportunities afforded by my work to use its premium-economy class. But only recently learned about some of the problems, not feeling so nostalgic about it now.
When I find holes in stories being told to me, it kind of discredits the entire thing for me.
In Josh's video, take note of what date he says the flight is. Then take note of what date the crew wrote on the "thanks for flying with us" card at the end of the video. Everytime he has one of these deep dive videos, I find similar inconsistencies- that 'banned from Qatar' video included.
Ah airindia express. The weird missmash of airlines today. Pretty funny to see the livery is just a blacked-out airasia standard one, at least for this plane. But for a 40 minute flight? cant complaint too much. I guess with the complete merger, we can expect SQ to TR travel experience with AI to IX in some sectors.
Awaiting your review on AI banglore to san francisco flight
Oh well then you're going to be waiting for a long long looooong time lol
@tfft any specific reasons Kevin?
After my Newark flight I have less than zero desire to fly AI long haul in the next few years.
@@tfft I completely understand Kevin, but I hope that wait isn't too long :)
I found it funny that you didn't even attempt to pronounce the names of those cities. I come from the same state they are in and wouldn't have minded even if you tried and failed. 😅
I've received 1 or 2 (or 300) too many really negative comments from other videos for mispronouncing a single syllabus, so this is the new way forward lol.
A little change from other avgeek vloggers by using Western music instead of Indian music
I have nearly 40 India videos, many of them with Indian music as well.
The video is half the duration of the flight! 😂
Trivandrum and Calicut are the anglizised names of those cities you have problem pronouncing😀
You may have noticed, but I always say Bengaluru and Kolkata instead of Bangalore and Calcutta specifically because simply uttering the Anglizised names on TH-cam results in it's own flavor of backlash. Just not worth it lol
@@tfft Yep, you have to deal with the keyboard warriors engaged in flaming. The advantage of anglicized name is that they have few syllables. That way people anywhere in the country or anywhere in the world can pronounce it easily.
I was there at the airport in February. I arrived on a Qatar flight at about 1am, and found the airport to be heaving with scammers near the exits all waiting to pounce on westerners...
Also that airport arrivals/exit area in the terminal was filled with a heavy petroleum exhaust vapour - you could see the smog hanging in the air. I know pollution is bad there, but inside the building? Not good.
On my departure a week later the entry system to get into the departures terminal was truly shambolic, with military personnel stationed outside to check people's reasons for entry (I guess to stop more scammers / non-travelling people getting into the building who have no reason to be there), but the soldier man in my line didn't speak English (and I don't speak Indian) and couldn't articulate what he wanted to see from me... My passport? Nope? My e-visa paperwork? Nope. It turns out he wanted to see an airline ticket, be it paper or electronic. So after a few minutes of back and forth I showed him my Qatar app flight confirmation. But I don't know what would have happened if I had run out of battery in my phone before charging up inside, or couldn't get a signal to log into the Qatar app... Just for good measure I tried to exchange some left over Indian currency at an exchange kiosk, but I didn't have enough to make the minimum trade and after counting the money behind their desk they gave it back to me minus a 5000 rupees note they decided to steal from me, the hapless foreigner! I only realised once I got to the Starbucks for a coffee and counted up my leftover money to see that I was 5k short of what I knew I had given them at the exchange kiosk. But of course I had walked away and now couldn't prove it..
Just for good measure Qatar's boarding process was a shambles too (although to be fair that was also true in other countries where I boarded flying with them to India). All in not a good experience of BLR airport for me Kevin...
It’s exactly the same requirement to enter any airport in India and there are signs posted all over stating what you need to enter the building. If your phone didn’t work, they’d wait until another officer was there to call over staff from QR to confirm your ticket.
@@tfft I didn't see any signs tbh, and nor did any of the other foreigners in the queue, none of whom seemed too sure what was going on. Ho hum. Maybe just at the wrong place wrong time.
@@legionnairegonk4425 5000 Rs note ..... there is no such Indian rupee note
Stop saying Labor Market. Every work is dignified and hard work which people put their blood and sweat to create the magnificence that is the Middle East. The locals didn’t create what they have with magic. Be a little sensible with how you say things
Wanna know why I said "labor market"...? Because that's how *Air India Express* describes where they fly to. Stop making assumptions, your high horse can't take it much longer.
I’m fast as f boiii.
And by fast, you mean 16 minutes late? 😅