City woman pilot at controls of maiden int’l flight from Sharjah to Surat

SURAT: The joy of high-flying Surtis would be twofold when they will come to know that one of the pilots of the maiden international flight that commenced operations between Sharjah and Surat was a woman pilot from the Diamond City. Captain Jasmine Mistry Patel, married to a pilot working with SpiceJet, is a mother of two children. When she got an opportunity to fly the maiden flight of Air India Express from Sharjah to Surat on Saturday, she just grabbed it despite being at a marriage function of a relative in Mumbai along with her parents and two kids.She flew to Sharjah to fly the maiden flight to Surat that was expected to land at the airport here at 11;35pm and depart at 12:30am in the wee hours of Sunday. The demand for flight signals good business revenue for Air India Express in the coming days.
Jasmine said, “It’s an amazing feeling, which can’t be expressed in words. The dream of flying international flight to Surat has come true for me and my family. Surely, Surat has had its own struggle for international flight operations. It’s just not me, but the entire city that is excited about it.”
“I will not be able to meet my husband, who hails from Navsari town and is a pilot with SpiceJet. I will fly back the Sharjah flight from Surat in the early hours of Sunday morning and he will land SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Surat a few hours later.
“I have been operating on Dubai, Muscat and Abu Dhabi routes of Air India Express, but had never got an opportunity to fly the aircraft in India. My bosses were aware that I was from Surat and hence the flight was allocated to me. But, just like all government organizations, I had to give my request to fly to Surat in writing,” said Jasmine.
She added, “During my pilot training in 1992-93, I had chosen Ahmedabad-Surat route for landing and thus I have some experience of the runway at Surat. I have more than 4,000 hours of international flying as co-pilot, but I am a bit nervous to fly the first international flight from Sharjah to my hometown in Surat.”
Asked about her Surti food choices, Jasmine, who is around 40, said, “Like a true Surti, I am fond of fafda, jalebis and locho. Also, I am foodie and whenever I am in Surat, I love to visit egg stalls in the city to munch on delicious egg varieties.”