P R Sanjai: I'm on an Airbus 380

MY WEEK

At the Mumbai airport, a pretty Kingfisher Airlines 'roving check-in agent' hands me a boarding pass printed with the help of a hand-held interface device and a hip printer. After privatisation, the airport premises are sparkling clean and even the toilets smell of flowers. Okay, some flights are still late, with pilots justifying it by saying that ATC delays are beyond their control. True. So when are ATC operations getting privatised? I'm on my way to the capital to board the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft ever built, for a flight back to Mumbai. Executives from the Delhi airport say once the metro links the airport to the railway station, this will reduce the transit time to 16 minutes, and you can even check in at the railway station! Mumbai has similar plans. An elevated six-lane road from the Western Express highway in Mumbai will get you to the international airport in half the time it takes today. Well, it took me over two hours to reach the Mumbai airport from Navi Mumbai, where I live. And the flight time was less than an hour and fifty minutes!

TUESDAY
Oh my God! An Airbus A380 right in front me. For someone who has been handling the aviation beat and reporting on developments on the A380 for a while, this is a very special moment indeed. I walk around the aircraft and am awestruck by its enormity. Very large wings. Enormous engines. And big everything else. I board the double-decker flying palace. Of course, I choose a suitable window seat and get ready to watch the world from the largest viewing gallery ever to fly at 40,000 ft. The aircraft starts moving. Half its wings jutt out of the runway. The giant lifts off without much drama. Without any noise. Calm. Hey, now I am amongst the first few Indians to be on board the A380. How does it feel? It beats winning KBC. The two passenger decks have a total area that can match three singles tennis courts. The volume of the three decks (including cargo and baggage hold) have enough space for 35 million ping-pong balls! Airbus did the maths, not me.

WEDNESDAY
Catch up with V J Kurien, the former managing director of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) who is remembered as the IAS officer who spiced up the growth of a private airport. CIAL was a novel venture in the history of civil aviation in India, with the state government and over 10,000 NRIs as shareholders. Kurien had plans to float a low-cost international carrier too in association with NRIs. CIAL also intended to set up an MRO with NRI engineers as partners. But Kurien moved on to the Spices Board. But pertinently, as the Mumbai and Delhi airports struggle to handle a demonstration flight of the A380, listen to what Kurien has to say: "CIAL is designed to handle the A380. We had planned our apron and aerobridge to be A380 compatible." That was way back in 1999.

ALSO...

Coincidence? The maiden visit of the A380 to India falls on the eve of the second anniversary celebrations of Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by the unapologetically flamboyant Vijay Mallya. As you read this, Mumbai is getting ready for some more festivities. Jet Airways will formally take the delivery of its Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus 330-200 at the Mumbai airport. That too, in the presence of political heavyweights like Praful Patel, Sharad Pawar and Vilasrao Deshmukh.