Only in India: An Airline That Doesn't Fly

skinnylatte

This popped up in my newsreader:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2558290.ece

An excerpt.

"AN INDIAN entrepreneur has given a new twist to the concept of low-cost airlines. The passengers boarding his Airbus 300 in Delhi do not expect to go anywhere because it never takes off.

All they want is the chance to know what it is like to sit on a plane, listen to announcements and be waited on by stewardesses bustling up and down the aisle.

In a country where 99% of the population have never experienced air travel, the “virtual journeys” of Bahadur Chand Gupta, a retired Indian Airlines engineer, have proved a roaring success.

As on an ordinary aircraft, customers buckle themselves in and watch a safety demonstration. But when they look out of the windows, the landscape never changes. Even if “Captain” Gupta wanted to get off the ground, the plane would not go far: it only has one wing and a large part of the tail is missing.

None of that bothers Gupta as he sits at the controls in his cockpit. His regular announcements include, “We will soon be passing through a zone of turbulence” and “We are about to begin our descent into Delhi.”

For more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle2558290.ece

GauhatiBoy

They should have movie screens outside, showing flying scenery, at least.

I have met people here who have never been outside of Oregon, even though they could. That really baffles me.

shashank.aggarwal

This was in outlook magazine couple of months back. They charge Rs.150 per head or something like it and give candies to passengers...

However people do have really bad experiences as well, they are there simply yo make money and nothing else...

One of the readers of the magazine responded back and asked the magazine to be more careful before recommending. It is a very unprofessionally run venture and they can do anything to make money !!

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gautam

It happens only in india, strange ideas

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GauhatiBoy

gautam, I differ on that. I say there are people in any country who will do anything to make a buck. Sure are some here in the US

sunilg

i don't find it amusing......really not at all.

Selling dreams, living a life (for a brief moment) which you can't really live in real life. There are billions of people for whom its a dream to actually be in a plane. If someone is giving them that opportunity for 150 bucks, i think its a great idea.

Only in India? Try putting up an abandoned space shuttle at an amusement park and start charging people a few dollars for that brief moment of (almost real) space journey, you can use actual space suits if you want, and i am sure you'll be a millionaire by the time someone finishes reading this whole thread.

Oh yes, if someone actually tries this, please send me a million dollars (even 1/10th of that will do) as my royalty, this is my idea you see. .

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Aishah

This is a bit like 'theme parks' - Disneyworld, Dinosaur World,
even zoos...Try it in a safe enclosure, not the real thing but next best.. These are all over the world not just in India.

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Nick-H

Sure... It's a sort of "virtual experience" I guess.

Rather a poor one, as they don't get the feeling of take-off or landing, don't have the experience of rising in to the clouds and then seeing those clouds from on top, and don't have the feeling of tubulence --- or even the noise of the engines.

But I suspect that there are millions, the world over, who have been happy to have a museum experience of sitting in some old railway carriage, or even a plane, maybe!

Nothing wrong with that.

Minnesota

Agreed. Not to mention things like "renaissance faires," where people spend lots of time and cash on an imaginary experience.

I think the pseudo-airline is a brilliant idea, and the fact that it's making money shows the man knows his customer.

I just wonder if they also re-create the lost baggage experience: you know, have people to check their bags at the door and then randomly dispose of 10% or so.

Fotuman

Many many years ago, much before this cheap airlines thingie, when air travel was expensive, as kids we used to go, at times (whenever I visited my grandpa who used to stay nearby), to a park in Juhu (Mumbai)that had a model airplane (boeing or whatever). It was great fun to run up the stairs, sit on the concrete seats and look out of the glass-less windows. No airhostess tho

In a way I can empathise with those who are paying the 150 bucks to sit in the aircraft mentioned above.

Cheers

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shashank.aggarwal

In Delhi we have a part in Punjabi bagh..over there used to be a chopper and fighter jet...it was amazing fun...

I was too young to remember if were allowed to sit inside or not...but yeah it was fun..that is the reason Images are still there in my mind...

Fotuman

Shashank, the one that i am mentioning was probably of concrete- with no doors... just an attraction among the usual slides and stuff in a childrens park.

shashank.aggarwal

I understood from your earlier explanation itself..

dhans

Probably doesn't count as membership for the mile high club... .

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Diana

No...but maybe for the Kilo High Club?

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