A hot towel, a blanket, and slippers waiting at the seat before departure: for most economy passengers on a short-haul flight, that would be a pleasant surprise. For Josh Cahill, it was the source of genuine unease. Flying Centrum Air's Airbus A321neo from Tashkent Airport (TAS) to Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL), Cahill found himself on the receiving end of what the airline apparently considers standard VIP treatment, and he was not entirely comfortable with it.
Boarding and the Seat
Cahill boarded the A321neo at Tashkent International Airport and settled into his economy seat, noting that legroom was not a problem. "My seat legroom situation is great"(4:40), he said, a verdict that carries some weight given the A321neo's typically denser economy configurations on regional carriers.
The welcome amenities arrived promptly on boarding: a hot towel, a blanket, and slippers placed at the seat before Cahill had time to stow his bag. The gesture was attentive by any measure, but Cahill's reaction was telling. He described struggling with the level of attention (3:54), and the discomfort surfaced again when the cabin crew greeted him with particular ceremony.
“I don't like attention. I don't like when airlines do that.”
It is a candid admission from a reviewer who has spent years in cabins all over the world. Whether Centrum Air's approach reflects a deliberate product choice or simply an enthusiastic crew is not something Cahill resolved on camera, but the observation is worth noting for travellres who prefer anonymity over ceremony.
Catering
The meal service began roughly 20 minutes after departure. A starter was already in front of Cahill when he turned his attention to the main course: chicken rice, which he described as "pretty decent"(5:56). That is a measured endorsement, but on a short-haul economy sector it is not a negligible one.
“Overall, the lunch experience on Centrair was great.”
Cahill's summary was warmer than the individual course descriptions might suggest. Cahill's catering bar for this region is informed by some difficult prior experiences: when he reviewed Long Air out of Tashkent about two years ago, he described the meal as tasting "like laundry detergent". Centrum Air's chicken rice, by comparison, clears that bar with room to spare.
Cahill has a longer history with Uzbek aviation. His review from 2021 of Uzbekistan Airways business class on the A320 concluded that the carrier had "upgraded their game" considerably, and his earlier widebody review on the 787 and 767 noted strong legroom but criticised crew warmth and catering. Centrum Air, a different operator on the same corridor, appears to have avoided the catering pitfalls that troubled those earlier assessments.
The Delhi Arrival
The flight terminates at Indira Gandhi International Airport, an airport Cahill has passed through repeatedly and with mixed results. Just two months before this flight, he assessed Air India's product at the same hub, concluding that a recent rebranding had been a success even as catering quality remained a concern. Noel Philips, reviewing a series of budget connections through Delhi, praised seat comfort on some legs but described the airport experience itself as chaotic. Neither account suggests DEL has resolved its ground-side inconsistencies, though Cahill did not address the arrival experience in detail here.
On balance, Cahill's verdict on Centrum Air is positive: the seat offered adequate legroom, the crew delivered a level of service that exceeded economy norms, and the catering was solid for the sector length. The one complication, the airline's apparent enthusiasm for singling out certain passengers, is a product quirk rather than a structural failure, though it is the kind of detail that will matter to some travellers more than others.
