According to a TOI report,the Indira Gandhi International Airport has emerged as the world’s fifth busiest airport this month, thanks to the revival of domestic air travel, and despite postponement of regular international flights due to Omicron. The same reasons have made IndiGo — which flies six in every 10 domestic passengers — the eighth biggest airline in terms of seat deployment in December. And despite limited capacity and steep fares under the bubble system, India-UAE is currently the world’s fourth busiest country pair for international travel, according to UK-based air consultancy firm OAG. In terms of seat deployment by…
Author: Prasenjit Chakraborty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the first phase of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham, a project that is spread over 500,000 square feet and connects the temple premises to the River Ganga. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and a large number of saints from across the country attended the ceremony. Adityanath said that Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of a grand Kashi Vishwanath Dham was coming true. The earlier premises of Kashi Vishwanath was limited to just 3,000 square feet. Now 23 new buildings have been constructed that will provide diverse facilities to the pilgrims and devotees. Addressing the gathering, Modi lauded…
Global private equity major Blackstone has acquired VFS Global, the world’s largest visa processing service provider, from Swedish private equity (PE) firm EQT Infrastructure in a USD 1.1-billion deal, pinning hopes on global travel rebound. According to information available, Blackstone will hold a 75 per cent stake in the company; the balance will be held by EQT and Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation. Speaking on the development, Jyoti Mayal, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said that a reputed investor like Blackstone would support VFS Global’s growth ambitions and digital transformation, which is vital for the entire industry. “It is…
Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), in order to update its latest MICE destination offerings to the Indian travel trade organised a one day experiential event – “Korea MICE Experience Day 2021” at Pullman Aerocity on 10th December. The aim of the event was to prepare the travel agents for the re-opening of the destination in the near future. This was the first physical event in hybrid format, which KTO had organised post-Covid-19 pandemic. The event began with the virtual address by Sangho Moon, Director, MICE Marketing Team, KTO followed by opening remarks by Y.G. Choi, Director, KTO New Delhi. The special addresses to the event were given by Chan…
Rising domestic passenger traffic along with healthy response to its new intra-regional flights has boosted airline major IndiGo’s outlook for 2022. Nevertheless, the airline remains ‘cautiously optimistic’ on the impact the Omicron COVID-19 variant might have on the country’s aviation sector. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer, IndiGo revealed that the airline has almost reached 100 per cent pre-COVID capacity utilisation level. “The year 2020 and 2021 have indeed been very challenging for not just the aviation and travel industry but the global economy, and it is the economy which drives demand for our business,” Kumar said. “The domestic…
As many as 108 countries currently recognise India’s Covid-19 vaccination certificate for travel purposes, said the Union Ministry of Health on December 10. In a written reply in the Lok sabha, Bharati Pravin Pawar, the minister of state for health, shared data available till 6 December. “The World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) assists interested UN procurement agencies, member states and countries in determining acceptability of using specific vaccines, based on an essential set of available data on quality, safety, efficacy and performance,” said Pawar. “The aim is to expedite the availability of these products to people affected by…
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Ministry of Health and Family welfare have made it mandatory for all international passengers arriving in India to declare their current health status prior to boarding on the Air Suvidha Portal. The exemption forms from the Air Suvidha Portal have been discontinued, and filling of the details have been made compulsory for all international passengers arriving in India. Commenting on this, Jyoti Mayal, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) said, “Air Suvidha is first of its kind ‘digital portal for easing international passenger arrival in India; developed by MoCA which aids passengers…
Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) in India between January and September 2021 have reduced even further by 73.4 compared to the same time last year. As per information received from the Bureau of Immigration, FTAs during the full year 2020 were 27,44,766 as compared to 1,09,30,355 in 2019 registering a negative growth of 74.9 per cent. The data, sourced from the Bureau of Immigration, however showed that on a month-on-month basis in 2021, there is an increase in inbound tourists. In fact, for the first time in months, FTAs crossed the 1 lakh mark in September. In August over 84,955 people…
India will keep scheduled international passenger flights suspended till January 31 next year, aviation regulator DGCA said. . Amid rising concerns over the coronavirus variant Omicron, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had on December 1 decided not to resume scheduled international flights from December 15, less than a week after announcing that it would restart the services. DGCA issued a circular on December 09 saying, “The competent authority has decided to extend the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger services to and from India till 2359 hours of January 31, 2022.” This suspension won’t apply to international all…
The Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India recently organized a FAM trip for a group of travel agents from the western India region to Turkiye. The familiarization trip aimed to create a first hand experience of the destination Turkiye and highlight its cultural & leisure offerings. The carefully curated itinerary helped showcase the best of Turkish culture, gastronomy & hospitality to the agents. The first destination for the group was Antalya, where they explored the city and sampled local cuisine. In Antalya the group stayed in some of the best hotels and had a leisure visit to Golf courses…
