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On Wednesday, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) inaugurated its luxury ‘FlyBus’ service which will connect the city of Mysore direct to the Bengaluru / Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore.
The service will be operated by a 40 seat luxury Volvo B9R twin-rear-axle bus, complete with a pantry, chemical toilets, 2+2 semi-sleeper seating with 70 channels of in-seat video.
The bus will be equipped with GPS tracking systems which will provide up to date bus arrival information. The bus will also have a facility to display real-time flight arrival and departure information.
The bus will operate two services roughly 12 hours apart in each direction. The bus departs Bangalore Kempegowda airport at 10:30 and 21:00 arrives in Mysore at 14:30 and 00:45 respectively. On the return, the bus shall depart Mysore at 01:00 and 15:00 to arrive at Bangalore airport at 04:45 and 19:00 respectively.
The current fares are Rs 800 for adults and Rs 600 for children, as on August 19, 2014. The FlyBus help line at the airport is +91 99722-13726. The main call centre is at +91 (80) 4455-4422. You can book FlyBus tickets online at the KSRTC website.
You can also visit Bangalore airport website for more information.
Booked this service on 2nd Oct from BIAL to Mysore. Some of my feedback from the journey:
1) From the outside, the Volvo B9R looked pretty neat & tidy (the only positive)
2) Inside, the maintenance seemed to be lacking
3) Live TV did not work on most seats
4) Seats were creaking
5) The malfunctioning push back part of the seat in front of me, sandwiched my feet between the leg rest & seat in front
6) Chemical Toilet was stinking & the stink spread through the cabin each time someone opened the door
7) No headphones provided for even those seats with functioning TV
8) Bus reached Mysore delayed by 35 mins
KSRTC is known for setting the highest standards amongst all state road transport corps & hence, had high hopes of this service. But sadly was a major let down. I will not choose this service again but would prefer taking the Shatabdi from Bangalore Central in the future.
Regards,
Pats
Thanks Pats for this “trip report” . Sad to see KSRTC decline. Perhaps the normal Volvo buses (with normal fare and more frequency) would be better? I wrote an email 6 weeks back to KSRTC- with a suggestion on frequency or extend some of the MYS-BLR Volvos to KIAL + official stops in BLR/Yelahanka /Mandya . No response so far!
Had a chance to try this last week. Here is the feedback (in addition to Pat’s observation- no change in last 10 months)
1. Seats were untidy/stinking. Had to do a visual check before sitting
2. Rattle was terrible- cannot sleep or read
3. Aircon was horrible- either too hot/too cold.
4. Did not dare to use the toilet( OK for 3 Hour ride)
Positive : Reached KIA well before stipulated time.
Lesson: Take the train and use a cab to go to KIAL from City station- till anyone else travels on an improved service.
Tip: Private operators like Sharma/SRS can try
Question: Is there a BMTC Volvo from KIAL to City rail station?
Yes, there are frequent BMTC Volvos from KIAL to Majestic Bus Stand which is just opposite to Bangalore City Railway Station.
If K.S.R.T.C. can amend the timings from BIAL from 10.30am to 12.00 pm then two flights of Saudi and Emirate passengers can avail the services to Mysore. usually we miss this bus.
Update: KSRTC website shows 4X trips in both directions. Just checked “load factors” for some days- seems good with 80-85%. Time to try this now
Fly bus definitely a wonderful bus
As a forum member said earlier only on the out side
Inside whenever i have used i have seen one flaw or other.
The seats sometimes dont recline either the handle doesnrt work or the chair is non functional
Never have the personal Monitors worked
the upholstery are dirty to the core
the screens are never washed-probably once every ayuda pooja time ,might be
the head support are broken
but you will get a bottle of water for sure
earlier the bus was nonstop, but of late they stop at some place which has dirty toitets to add to the stinking toilet inside the bus.
Be careful with baggage ticket , they take one luggage(carton) and the bill you get mentions 3 pieces of baggage at 11/ea. so you wud have paid for a quick luggage service for some body who has used the bus as transport carrier with driver/conductor connivance/
No news papers are given, the city service airport bu s has newspapers.
The luggage suitcases are pulled out and thrown (literally) on to the pavement .I got a torn baggage which i had to wrap it later in the airport ffor the safety of the contents till my destination