Flight to Montreal from Mumbai

Had my booking for an early morning Air India Operated Air Canada flight to Montreal. The layover was at Heathrow.

My cab booking from Pune to Mumbai International Airport was done for 11pm considering the traffic that I may encounter on the Pune Mumbai Express highway. However reached the airport in less than three hours, much before the boarding started. Tipped off the driver and walked into the airport looking for Air Canada counter. But then quickly realized that the check-in is managed by Air India , they being the Operator though the flight number on the ticket was of Air Canada (AC).

The baggage allowance was 30kg along with one hand bag, I also had an additional laptop bag. There were no issues with checking the baggage as my baggage was weighing much below the allowance threshold.

After the immigration and security clearance, spend some time at the duty free and then waited at the gate. With the call for boarding , walked my way through the Airbridge to enter the flight. This was Air India Airbus which was surprisingly huge with 3-4-3 seating. My seat was towards the tail of the flight, but was happy with the allocation as there wasn't any one else sitting in the adjacent seats.
The food and service was pretty good, and the flying time to UK was 9 hrs.

After embarking the flight, I had an Air India employee waiting with my name on the placard. Apparently the next flight to Montreal was ready to leave. I had to rush through the security clearance and to the gateway, which unfortunately left me no time to see around the Heathrow airport.

Reaching the gate, there was a lady who asked for my passport and boarding pass. She also asked my purpose of the visiting Montreal and if it was my first time. After the boarding pass scan, realized that the passengers were mostly from the Jewish community identified quickly since they were wearing the kippah and the black coat usually worn by Orthodox Jews.

Later learned that there is a large Jewish community in Montreal and also this time of the year , Jews observes Chanukah and the Fast of Tevet.

Chanukah commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after a group of Jewish warriors defeated the occupying mighty Greek armies.

On Asarah B'Tevet, the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tevet, in the year 3336 from Creation (425 BCE), the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem. Asarah B'Tevet (this year, January 7, 2020) is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance

Air Canada flight was much smaller with 2-3-2 seater rows and the leg space was inconveniently  less. My co-passenger was a young Canadian Army gentleman (Mark) deployed in London who speaks fluent English and French.

The food on the flight was served hot and I liked it. Mostly mashed potatoes and chicken for non-veg takers and of course wine served . Be sure to ask Coffee with sugar and cream, i made a mistake of asking just coffee and later follow up request for the sweetner did not go well with the steward. Perhaps because I didn't ask in French!