When does a vacation begin? When you reach your intended destination? It starts way before for most holidaymakers, with some putting the very planning and anticipation very much an integral part of the whole vacation vibe. For some, the ‘whoo-hoo!’ starts erupting the moment they lug their suitcase out the front door and onto the airport cab.
The travel experience, especially the flight—most people will agree—is an essential part of the holiday. Getting jet set and seeing the world at your feet—or about ten kilometres below you, is as much sobering as it can get you elated.
And that is exactly where the new reality kicks in. If you consider an immersive in-flight experience one of the indulgent perks of flying to your destination and part of the leisurely break you are on, today the law of averages could well be against you.
Make no mistake—Indians are travelling more than ever before, and the number of options in front of them has also simply multiplied. Who would have thought that beyond the usual suspects like Thailand and Dubai, scores of Indians bitten by wanderlust have been scampering across Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan or the snowy hills of Georgia? Amidst those with well-stamped passports, Vietnam is already hitting ‘passe’ territory, with tourism boards vying with one another to woo the ‘been there, done that, now wanna go somewhere else’ Indian crowd.
Baku is the classic example. Just 894 Indians visited Azerbaijan in 2021, though the miniscule number probably had to do with Covid restrictions as well. But the next year, this ballooned to nearly 28,000 according to India’s Bureau of Immigrations—a rise of more than 3,000 per cent!
The next year, 2023, it went up to 1.2 lakh, with figures from just the first month of 2024 seeing 10,000 Indians landing in Baku, the gateway to the country (industry figures as govt data is yet to be released).
Today, Azerbaijan’s growth to become one of India’s favourite holiday grounds has a lot to do with factors like being close to India (the Delhi to Baku flight takes 4 hours 54 minutes only), affordability, easy visa process, and also being culturally so different—a fusion crossroad between the middle-east and the west. And the clincher—direct flights from India.
That is where this article’s gripe originates. While more options and opportunities abound for Indians to travel out, as evinced by the sudden spurt in Indians going abroad and trying non-traditional destinations beyond Dubai, Bangkok, or Europe, it has not really translated into a memorable travel experience that much.
Gone are the days when an airport experience meant perhaps a glass of champagne at the airport lounge with some finger food (if you’re lucky, business and first-class lounges at some airport even offered showers), followed by a flat-bed seat in the premium classes, or at least, a free-flowing bar during the flight and hot, full course meals, including dessert and coffee.
More than a decade back, one remembers an office onsite in Sri Lanka, which offered direct flight options from Delhi, as well as a transit one Delhi-Chennai domestic followed by a shorter international leg Chennai-Colombo. Everyone was adamant that they wanted the longer, direct flight. The reason? For the hospitality, international flights were aspirational, and the beverage service was not the least of the attractions.
But today, the advent of low-cost airlines has put paid to the ‘travel in style’ mantra, while the likes of Indigo and AirAsia have given more options, and more importantly for Indians, affordable fares (mostly); the fact is that international flights are no longer the great notch up in one’s bucket list as they used to. You’ll be lucky to get a baguette or a cold sandwich on budget airlines. If you want anything, you pay for it—including a can of beer, which can cost five times more, or a seat whose leg space doesn’t induce thrombosis.
And, of course, the less said about the mini mobs and dour airline staff at check-in counters and baggage belts or the interminable queues at immigration, the better. That, coupled with the many hours that you have to reach airports for an international flight (from India, more often than not, these tend to be at godforsaken hours of the night or early morning) often means that once you are ensconced in your plane seat, the only in-flight experience you feel like having is a good sleep.
Like it happened with an uncle on a work trip to the UK a few years ago. After long onward flights with surly stewardesses and the such, he was overjoyed when he found his office had booked his return on Emirates, an airline noted for pampering its passengers on long flights even in Economy class. Sadly, once he finished his work, packed his bags, rushed to the airport and, finished all the procedures in the quagmire that is London Heathrow Airport and boarded the plane, the exhausted guy simply fell asleep. And the thoughtful Emirates cabin crew decided not to disturb him during beverage service or the dinner afterwards! One of the rare occasions when more was less!
