I Spent Five Hours on a Brand-New Plane With Nothing Inside It

IndiGo is India's largest airline and one of the biggest low-cost carriers in the world, and it flies one of the youngest fleets anywhere. My plane had taken its first flight less than two years before I stepped on it. I recently flew them from Tbilisi to Mumbai, a five-hour hop that's longer than most people picture when they hear low-cost, on an Airbus A320neo. That's the newer and more fuel-efficient version of the single-aisle jet most of us fly on short routes. My fare included a meal. I also paid for Fast Forward, IndiGo's priority check-in and boarding service, mostly so I'd have time to photograph the plane.

Leaving Tbilisi

Tbilisi International is a small airport with a big name and not many flights a day, and Georgia has talked about expanding it to keep up with demand. Having spent an evening there, I'd say that's overdue. High ceilings keep it from feeling grim, but there aren't nearly enough seats at the gates. The chairs are rock hard, and the whole place smells faintly of smoke. There are more shops than places to eat, though Costa Coffee sits near the gates, along with a Dunkin' and a Wendy's. If American fast food in this part of the world excites you, this is your airport.

Check-in was quick and there was no line at all with Fast Forward. The agent handed me an arrival card to fill out on the spot, then never collected it, and there was some doubt about my visa before we got that far. Security is run in small batches, letting only a few people through at a time, which takes a lot of the stress out of it.

Boarding was posted for a full hour before departure, and the crew actually started six minutes after that time. Since the clock had been set so early, nobody was inconvenienced. What I couldn't work out was the order. Boarding began with groups 2 and 3, and I found no explanation anywhere for why.

Illustrated for Contrail

IndiGo Airbus A320neo · VT-IQL

Drawn by Caleb St. John · Caleb's Aviation

Every Contrail review carries an original drawing of the aircraft flown, made for us by Caleb St. John, who draws aircraft to raise awareness for young people in aviation living with health conditions.

A Nearly New Cabin With Nothing In It

Walking on, the cabin showed more wear than I expected from a plane this new. It wasn't in bad shape, and the seats and tray tables were genuinely clean, so nothing felt neglected. The recline button on my seat was completely broken, though, and the carpet was an odd choice.

Seat comfort is the real problem. These are thin, hard and among the least comfortable I've sat in, particularly right under where you sit. Armrests are narrow, and the seatback pocket is too small to hold much. Every time the passenger behind me grabbed my seat to stand up, the whole thing rocked.

Two things surprised me in the other direction. Legroom was better than I expected for a low-cost carrier, and knee room is what stands out most about this cabin. Floor space is excellent too, because there are no entertainment boxes bolted under the seats. Anyone who's had a foot wedged sideways around one of those boxes on another airline will understand why I noticed.

On amenities there's nothing to report, and I mean nothing. No screens and no Wi-Fi. No power outlets or USB ports, no headphones and no pillows. A seatback magazine is mostly ads, though at least it carries the food menu. With no internet, you can't stream anything to your own device either, which feels like a missed opportunity on a fleet this new. IndiGo could sell Wi-Fi and make passengers happier at the same time. Bring something to do, because you'll need it for five hours.

Five Dollars for Instant Noodles

Food gets complicated on IndiGo, because almost everything costs money unless your fare includes it. Mine came with a sandwich and a snack bag, and drinks didn't appear to be free for anyone who hadn't bought a meal.

The buy-on-board menu is reasonable, and the prices aren't outrageous by airline standards. I pressed the call button to order and a flight attendant came quickly, then explained they were about to come through selling food anyway, so my order could wait. My included sandwich was bad, which is why I spent five dollars on a cup of instant noodles instead. Those were great. A mango smoothie drink was good, and the snacks were snacks. One warning: the wooden fork split while I was eating and jabbed the inside of my lip. That hurt.

The Crew Carried It

Service is where this flight went from forgettable to fine. The crew were professional in a way that felt practiced rather than scripted, addressing me as sir and responding fast whenever I asked for anything. The lead flight attendant brought me a cup of water with a smile every time I asked, including once on her way back up the aisle after the meal service.

A line formed several times for the single forward lavatory, which was basic but reasonably clean when I got in. Its sink wasn't working. The crew checked it, apologized and couldn't fix it, so they gave me a cup of water to rinse my hands.

Trash was the one gap. Nobody collected it for a long stretch after the meal, long enough that passengers started carrying their own cups and wrappers up to the galley. I eventually did the same, and the crew were nice about it. Somebody did come through for it in the end, and it struck me as an odd oversight from a team this attentive.

Then they did something I wasn't expecting. Twice in the run-up to landing they came down the aisle with trays of water. On a five-hour flight, those two rounds went a long way, and for a low-cost airline it's more than most bother with.

Would I Do It Again?

Probably not, though it wasn't the ordeal I'd half expected. IndiGo has newer planes than most airlines you'll fly and it puts almost nothing inside them. On a two-hour domestic hop across India, that trade makes sense. Five hours is where the hard seat and the empty seatback start to wear on you.

If you're booking it, pay for the meal or plan on buying the noodles. Load your phone with something to watch before you leave, and go for an exit row if the budget stretches. The crew will take care of the rest.