Flight check: Jet Airways 9W336

Photo / Thinkstock

Graham Reid flies aboard Jet Airways 9W336.

The route: Delhi to Mumbai/Bombay.

The plane: Boeing 737-800.

Class: The long, clean and comfortable economy.

Price: Can't say. See below.

On time? Scrupulously punctual. 8.05am, it said, 8.05am it rumbled down the runway.

My seat: 24A. Window seat to watch the stately homes, high-rise apartment blocks and dust-coloured buildings give way to countryside then clouds. Other two seats in the row vacant.

Fellow passengers: A few Europeans, but mostly smart-casual Indian gentlemen and family groups.

How full? Remarkably not, a quarter at best. Maybe not many wanted to negotiate morning rush-hour traffic when there were other flights on the same route not long after.

Entertainment: The thick Jet Wings magazine was packed with interesting articles on international arts, culture, sport (Hong Kong Rugby Sevens) and destinations. A keeper. Nothing else other than safety instructions on the flight, though.

The service: Excellent and I shouldn't have been here. Flight delays further back meant a connecting flight was arranged at short notice by Singapore Airlines in Auckland. But was unexpectedly met by a helpful young man from SA who negotiated my fast sprint through the airport and got me on the plane with seconds to spare.

Food and drink: Alcohol-free on this two-hour breakfast flight.

The toilets: Tidy, clean and functional. On a fuller flight there'd be queues though.

Luggage: Carry-on and a bag I was told, because of the haste to check in, might not be on the flight with me (it would arrive 25 minutes later though). But it was there on the carousel.

The airport experience: A blur, but be warned about visa-on-arrival in India. You need a passport photo and plenty of patience as you fill out a long form which a man then laboriously writes out again longhand into his fat ledger. Get a visa before you go unless you have time to spare.

Would I fly this again? Certainly. Jet Airways was very pleasant and got me to amazing Mumbai/Bombay. On time too, against the odds.