Airborne: AirAsia India's First Aircraft, A320-216SL MSN6015 VT-ATF

AirAsia India's first aircraft, Airbus A320-216SL VT-ATF (manufacturer serial number 6015), finally left Toulouse (ICAO LFBO, IATA TLS) for Chennai (ICAO VOMM, IATA MAA). The ferry flight was planned with one refuelling stop at Esenboga International Airport in Ankara, Turkey (LTAC).

The aircraft was expected in Chennai at 09:30 IST (UTC+05:30) on 22 March 2014. The callsign was simply the registration, VT-ATF.

Nine days late

The ferry took place nine days later than planned. Issues between the airline and the DGCA had stopped it leaving on 12 March 2014, as covered in an earlier post. The delay was expected to push back the start of operations. With the aircraft in India, the airline could begin route proving flights, the last hurdle before the Air Operator Permit. With the AOP expected in April, operations looked likely to start in late May or early June. Tickets could only go on sale once the AOP was granted and schedules approved. Nothing was yet known about the second aircraft, reportedly to be registered VT-ATB.

Departure

The aircraft taxied out at 16:15 UTC, lined up on runway 14R at Toulouse at 16:19 UTC, began its take off roll and was airborne at 16:26 UTC, which was 21:56 IST.

Its Mode S transponder carried the ICAO 24 bit address 800B09 in hexadecimal. Toulouse assigned the flight squawk code 4041, subject to change as it passed through different flight information regions.

Updates, in the order they were posted

• Update 1: cruising at FL340 with a ground speed of 466 knots.
• Update 2: step climbed to FL390 at 16:49 UTC.
• Update 3: crossed into Italian airspace at 17:02 UTC, 466 knots, FL390. Squawk changed to 1212.
• Update 4: crew saw twilight over San Marino, Italy, at 17:36 UTC.
• Update 5: left the Italian coast at 17:42 UTC. Winds slowed the aircraft to 438 knots ground speed.
• Update 6: crossed into Croatian airspace at 17:47 UTC.
• Update 7: entered Bosnia and Herzegovina at 18:03 UTC.
• Update 8: brushed past the northern tip of Montenegro and entered Serbian airspace at 18:17 UTC.
• Update 9: entered Bulgarian airspace at 18:39 UTC.
• Update 10: entered Turkish airspace at waypoint RIXEN at 19:18 UTC.
• Update 11: began descent from FL390 at 19:35 UTC, about 100 nautical miles from Ankara.
• Update 12: established on the ILS for runway 03R at 19:55 UTC and landed at Ankara Esenboga (IATA ESB, ICAO LTAC) at 19:58 UTC. Expected ground time was 30 minutes. The 3 hour 32 minute flight completed stage one of the ferry.
• Update 13: refuelled and departed Ankara, airborne at 21:17 UTC after 1 hour 19 minutes on the ground including taxi in and out. Squawk 2514.
• Update 14: in the Mumbai flight information region at waypoint PARAR at about 01:15 UTC, another hour and a half from the Indian coast. Squawk 1101.
• Update 15: crossed onto the Indian mainland over the west coast at Guhagar, a coastal town in Ratnagiri district, Maharashtra, 215 km south of Mumbai, at 02:31 UTC.
• Update 16: left the Mumbai FIR and entered the Chennai FIR at 02:43 UTC.
• Update 17: began descent from FL390 at 03:16 UTC, 140 nautical miles from the MMV beacon.
• Update 18: landed at 04:00 UTC (09:30 IST), exactly on time, on runway 25 at Chennai and exited via taxiway F. A water cannon salute and flag waving followed. Flight time from Ankara to Chennai was 6 hours 43 minutes.