Gulf Air

I have concluded (after only 2 trips, so perhaps not much of a conclusion) that the flight between Kathmandu and the Gulf is an interesting, most notably because such a large proportion of people on the plane give the impression that that have never flown before. Which is indeed unusual in this day and age, in some ways its quite amusing.

• Firstly I would say that 90% of the plane are men with a few foreign ladies and even fewer foreign Nepalis. This in itself is quite weird.
• Then there is the scrum to get on the plane – boarding is called and literally all the men surge to get through the door, and then are sort of halted by a poor air hostess whop has to try and explain that they need their boarding passes…
• Once on the plane many many people don’t seem to get their head round the seat numbering system, which means the plane is constantly being rearranged, as people move around…
• The concept of stowing hand luggage in a locker near your seat also doesn’t occur to many people, this can be annoying, especially at the end of the flight when people are shoving themselves 20 seats down the isle to find their bags…
• Coming into land pretty much 80% of the plane were looking out of the window to see the sea! (not something seen in Nepal)…
• Sitting in seats during landing is also a new concept, a couple of people in the middle isle were standing up and looking out of the window as the plane was about to touch down.
• The moment the plane lands and the engines roar as they go into reverse seems to be the queue for people to stand up and get out their luggage… this seemed to draw wry smiles from air hostesses and an announcement from the pilot for everyone to get back in their seats,

Im sure on lots of flights there are people who have not travelled before, but there really were a lot on this flight and it was entertaining to watch, something that is so simple and part of life for me, must seem very bizarre to these Nepali men flying into construction jobs in the Gulf.