Getting To The Andamans - Reaching Port Blair
Port Blair has a quaint, small airport. It has a relaxed feel about it, something that will take you by surprise if you are used to flying from the metro city airports. If you want to visit the Andaman Islands in India, this is the airport you need to fly to. As of now, no direct international flights can land there. You have to come via a connecting city within India.
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| View from the plane window on approach to Port Blair. |
There are few main routes if you want to travel to Andaman islands from anywhere in India. You can find flights from many major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Madras and Calcutta, to name a few. If you are traveling from inland India, your flight will most likely have a layover in one of the coastal airports like Madras or Calcutta.
There are a few direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Port Blair. Actually just one. At the moment in Air India flies a single non-stop flight to Port Blair from Delhi. Go Air flies a similar one from Mumbai. However, these flights may not be operational on all days. So check that first and plan your trip accordingly.
There are several other flights with a one stop layover. The good news is that it is only a layover and you will not be required to change planes, unless you choose such a flight.
Port Blair is a healthy distance into the sea from the India coast, more than 1500 kms. So a flight from Delhi will take more than 4 hours to reach.
Port Blair has a tropical climate. It is even sometimes affected by cyclones in the Arabian Sea which cause a more windy and wet weather than usual. Flights are generally not affected but the ferries and ships plying between the islands of the Andamans are.
If your destination is one of the islands of Andamans like Havelock or Neil Island, do check the weather before going. It is not uncommon for people to get off the flight at Port Blair and straight away head to the docks to catch a ferry to the other islands. If you have a similar plan, you might face an unforeseen delay if the weather happens to turn.
In order to catch a ferry to Havelock or Neil it is best catch an early flight so that you have plenty of time to get to the islands. You can book your ferry tickets in advance. I recommend that you do that. More about that later.
Havelock, Neil and other islands of Andamans are probably the main attraction and most people are headed there rather than spending too much time in Port Blair. In my opinion that is the right way to go about seeing the Andamans. Send maximum time islands hopping. Different islands offer a slight different fare to visitors. We will talk more about that in other posts about the islands.
Travellers tip... Upgrade your flight ticket. There are some Indian flights that offer an upgrade to the Economy ticket. It is usually called the Premium class. It lies somewhere between Economy and the full blown Business class, and it's a lot more reasonable priced. I recommend upgrading to this. It is a long flight and with the layover, can easily be more than 5 hours.
The Premium class in Vistara Airlines was superb and impressive. I did not discern any difference in their hospitality and treatment as compared to the business class except that the seats were smaller. It was completely worth it. The airlines made a special upgrade offer during the check-in, we took and did not regret it.
As a small example of the special service we received. Port Blair is a small airport. The seating is limited and gets taken up pretty quickly. There were literarily no place for us to sit anywhere, there were 3 of us. Vistara Airlines went out of their way to treat us as Premium passengers and seated us in their offices and called for us when it time for the flight.
There are a few direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Port Blair. Actually just one. At the moment in Air India flies a single non-stop flight to Port Blair from Delhi. Go Air flies a similar one from Mumbai. However, these flights may not be operational on all days. So check that first and plan your trip accordingly.
There are several other flights with a one stop layover. The good news is that it is only a layover and you will not be required to change planes, unless you choose such a flight.
Port Blair is a healthy distance into the sea from the India coast, more than 1500 kms. So a flight from Delhi will take more than 4 hours to reach.
Port Blair has a tropical climate. It is even sometimes affected by cyclones in the Arabian Sea which cause a more windy and wet weather than usual. Flights are generally not affected but the ferries and ships plying between the islands of the Andamans are.
If your destination is one of the islands of Andamans like Havelock or Neil Island, do check the weather before going. It is not uncommon for people to get off the flight at Port Blair and straight away head to the docks to catch a ferry to the other islands. If you have a similar plan, you might face an unforeseen delay if the weather happens to turn.
In order to catch a ferry to Havelock or Neil it is best catch an early flight so that you have plenty of time to get to the islands. You can book your ferry tickets in advance. I recommend that you do that. More about that later.
Havelock, Neil and other islands of Andamans are probably the main attraction and most people are headed there rather than spending too much time in Port Blair. In my opinion that is the right way to go about seeing the Andamans. Send maximum time islands hopping. Different islands offer a slight different fare to visitors. We will talk more about that in other posts about the islands.
Travellers tip... Upgrade your flight ticket. There are some Indian flights that offer an upgrade to the Economy ticket. It is usually called the Premium class. It lies somewhere between Economy and the full blown Business class, and it's a lot more reasonable priced. I recommend upgrading to this. It is a long flight and with the layover, can easily be more than 5 hours.
The Premium class in Vistara Airlines was superb and impressive. I did not discern any difference in their hospitality and treatment as compared to the business class except that the seats were smaller. It was completely worth it. The airlines made a special upgrade offer during the check-in, we took and did not regret it.
As a small example of the special service we received. Port Blair is a small airport. The seating is limited and gets taken up pretty quickly. There were literarily no place for us to sit anywhere, there were 3 of us. Vistara Airlines went out of their way to treat us as Premium passengers and seated us in their offices and called for us when it time for the flight.
I think I will go and write a separate post extolling the advantages of flying Premium Class with Vistara Airlines.
Another traveling tip is to book your air tickets as much in advance as possible. 15 - 30 days should be good enough to get good prices on your tickets. Last minute tickets can cost upto twice as much.
More about Port Blair and how to get going from there to the other islands in future posts.
We welcome your questions and queries. So if there is anything you need to know that we haven't covered, do not hesitate to post it in the comments section below.
Safe travels!
Another traveling tip is to book your air tickets as much in advance as possible. 15 - 30 days should be good enough to get good prices on your tickets. Last minute tickets can cost upto twice as much.
More about Port Blair and how to get going from there to the other islands in future posts.
We welcome your questions and queries. So if there is anything you need to know that we haven't covered, do not hesitate to post it in the comments section below.
Safe travels!
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