I live in Goa – this is the first thing I told them when I received an invite from Sharjah Tourism. ‘Oh Yes, we know. Air Arabia flies direct from Goa to Sharjah’ – they said. I almost jumped out of my chair. It sounded like a dream come true – when was the last time I flew to an international destination without a transit at Mumbai or Delhi. The joy of reaching the destination i.e reaching Sharjah in this case, in one flight was too good to be true, even if the both onward and return flights were early morning and midnight flights.
Small Town Connectivity – Air Arabia
Jaipur, Nagpur, Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Kochi – some of the names I heard in boarding announcements while waiting for boarding my midnight flight from Sharjah airport. It almost felt like I am at a domestic terminal and flying a domestic airline. I later figured out that the airline flies to 13 different cities in India and 88 different cities across the Gulf, Middle East, Africa, India, Russia & Eastern Europe.
13 Indian Cities that Air Arabia flies to are – Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Goa, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Calicut, Kochi, Trivandrum. Coimbatore & Chennai.
You have to live in a small town to know the joy of having a direct flight from your city. We waste a day on either side for an international flight. For me it is a tiring exercise to sit at the airports or airport lounges – there is nothing much you can do. Your body is screaming for some rest.
While looking at the coverage of the airline – I figured out quite a few destinations on my wish list that they fly to. Since, for me, flying with them means taking one less flight and saving a lot of time & money, I know I am going to fly them more often.
Hubs of the Airline
Being a budget airline, the airline follows a hub & spoke model for its operations.
Sharjah is, of course, the master hub for them. Other smaller hubs include Ras-al-Khaimah, Amman in Jordan, Alexandria in Egypt & Casablanca in Morocco. They are probably the only airline to have 2 hubs in their home country – UAE.
Air Arabia – A budget Airline
It is a budget airline and uses A320 planes. The seating is 3X3 but there were ample leg space and the seats were not at all cramped.
Being a value airline, the ticket you buy comes with no check-in luggage allowance though you can still carry 10 kg as hand luggage. You can buy the 20 kg check-in luggage allowance for just AED 10 i.e. roughly Rs 200/-. For more than 20 kgs, you can buy 30 Kgs luggage allowance for AED 100.
Flying from Goa was a delight. It is a small airport with limited international flights. I had checked in online, so I only needed to drop my baggage. It took me less than 10 minutes to do it. Immigration took 10-12 minutes – there were about 15 people ahead of me. The lines moved swiftly. There were a lot of tourists who were returning using the airline. I, as an Indian, was in the minority. Boarding was quick and we landed in Sharjah before time.
For more information, do check out their website.
Read More – My first impressions of Sharjah
In-Flight Experience
My flight had no in-flight entertainment unit on the seat. There were some panels hanging – I only saw the flight announcements and safety instructions. Safety video used children as instructors – which was kind of cute.
My vegetarian meals were pre-booked on the flight. On the Goa-Sharjah flight, I got two Masala Dosas with chutney & a cup of tea. There was no water provided, although it was available to buy. On my Sharjah-Goa flight, I got vegetarian Biryani and the portion was quite large. I managed to finish only half of it. Biryani came with a bottle of water. My personal opinion is that water should be provided to passengers. Probably comes from my Indian sensibilities.
The staff was quite professional yet friendly. No, they had no idea that I would be writing this review, so I was treated like any other passenger – which is how I like it.
Everything in the flight went smoothly.
Immigration
The immigration queues at the airport were long and I had to stand in a queue almost for an hour. Surprisingly, the airport had no free wi-fi connectivity for passengers. At the departure terminal, it was available for 25 AED for half an hour. But at arrival, I did not see any such possibility. This airport is one of the simpler airports I have seen through a lot of things are automated like an automated immigration departure – all you have to do is a Retina Scan.
Look out for cheap flights from Sharjah to Goa or cheapest Air India tickets.
Overall, besides my joy of direct connectivity, my experience of flying with the airline was pleasant.
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