Review of Air India flight Shanghai New Delhi in Economy

Airline Air India
Flight AI 349
Class Economy
Seat 22B
Aircraft Boeing 787-8
Flight time 06:50
Take-off 13 Apr 18, 22:00
Arrival at 14 Apr 18, 02:20
AI   #55 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 97 reviews
Blazingburst2016
Published on 19th May 2018
Welcome, to my trip-report that reviews the economy product of Air India B787-8. The aircraft is a 3 year old Aircraft( at the time of writing this report).

My journey is very simple for this tripreport

Air India B787-8 Economy Shanghai Pudong International Airport- Delhi Indira Gandhi Airport
Air India A320 Economy Delhi International airport- Chennai International airport

The airport from outside.
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Terminal 2 is mainly operated by star alliance and one world members. Terminal 1 is operated by Chinese airlines like China Eastern , Hainan Airlines and Shanghai Airlines. Terminal 1 is the only domestic terminal in Shanghai Pudong.
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As soon as you enter the terminal , there is a security check. After that, I went to check-in my bags.
The check-in side of the terminal
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The departure board for the evening.
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The check-in line was really long and it took about 40 mins .
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After the long check-in process, I did my immigration and walked towards my gate.
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Some mild plane spotting at the airport
Emirates A380-800
Cathay Pacific A330
Dragonair A330
Spring Airlines A320
China Southern Airlines B737


Our bird for this flight
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Air India is one the airlines that have good looking boarding passes.
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Boarding started early.
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Boarding was via jetbridge
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I was welcomed by the unenthusiastic FA.
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The amenities that were located in front of me
An in-flight entertainment system
A Remote
and a coat hook
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The content in the seat-pocket
An air sickness bag
A safety card
An in-flight Magazine
And a entertainment catalogue

Air India also provided a pillow and a blanket.
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An universal power outlet is also located in every seat.
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After about 20 mins, the pilot made the announcement that the flight might be delayed by 3 Hours.
After all the passengers heard this news, they started going mad. The reason for the delay was the weather in Shanghai.
The flight attendents started handing out the drinks early on , to calm down the passengers.
It seems like they ordered some more drinks because 1 Hour 30 mins after the scheduled departure they opened the door to allow the caterers to stock the drinks.
The Air India flight's delay was not that bad, according to Flightradar 24 , The emirates A380 flight was delayed by 6 Hours!!!

Push back started 2 hours after scheduled departure.

An hour into the flight , they started the meal service. This is the vegetarian meal and it tasted fine(not the best in-flight meal).
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Soon after the second round of the drinks service, the dimmed the lights and almost all the passengers fell asleep.
The Lavatory was disgusting and they did not clean the toilettes throughout the entire flight.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and I got some sleep.

We arrived at Delhi International Airport 2 hrs after scheduled arrival. One last picture of our seat before de-boarding.
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We de-boarded using a jet bridge and then walked down a corridor to immigration.
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After arrival, I made my way to immigration.
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The arrival board at Delhi.
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After Immigration I collected my bags and left for my connecting flight to Chennai.
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Thank You for reading this trip report and if you have any questions leave a comment below.
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Verdict

Air India

4.5/10
Cabin3.5
Cabin crew3.0
Entertainment/wifi5.5
Meal/catering6.0

Shanghai - PVG

7.1/10
Efficiency5.5
Access8.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness7.0

New Delhi - DEL

7.5/10
Efficiency9.0
Access6.0
Services8.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

The flight was a let down. Air India ,which is the national carrier of India, should represent the country. All I can see in Air India is that it is trying to get rid of tourists. I was expecting more from both the Shanghai Airport and Air India B787-8. The staff were soulless and they looked like they don't get any sleep at all. I definitely recommend China Eastern for this route over Air India. Delhi airport however, has impressed me with the aesthetics and services. Efficiency was over the top and they even have the new automative immigration system set up.

Related

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 445799 by
    STAR-ALLIANCE-FLYER 48 Comments
    100% agree with your verdict!!

    AIR INDIA, is the WORST member among star alliance, even worse than United.

    I WILL NEVER FLY AIR INDIA, ALTHOUGH they offer me FREE FIRST CLASS, never!!!

    The food they serve is disgusting, and the crew service, is mean and hostile!!
    Indian Crews in AIR CANADA is the same story, they are there to start rounds and rounds of conflicts.

    I realize you will have some bad time, but to me I will just do something that compensate myself my by the end.

    AI = MOST DISGUSTING AIRLINE!! I;d rather take AIR KORYO, which to me is A LOT BETTER !!!
  • Comment 445867 by
    Blazingburst2016 AUTHOR 9 Comments
    Air India is a really bad airline but i feel like the aircraft made the experience better. I actually feel like Air China is handsdown the worst airline. Air China's B747-8 does not even have IFE. But..... Yeah Air India is really disgusting.
  • Comment 445883 by
    pwecar 53 Comments
    PVG Terminal 1 also serves international flights by MU,FM,JL and several other ST members, FYI.

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