Indian airports catered to about 14.26 million passengers in August, a 35% increase sequentially, highlighting a sustained recovery in air travel demand in line with economic recovery and the progress on vaccinations. The airports had catered to around 10.53 million passengers in July, according to data from the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the state-run operator of most airports in the country. The number of international passengers in August rose to 1.29 million from 0.80 million in July, while domestic traffic grew to 12.97 million from 9.73 million in that period. New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad were the top…
Author: Prasenjit Chakraborty
International flight operations are likely to resume at the Srinagar airport as efforts are on to start services between Srinagar and Sharjah, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said. He also said that the terminal at the Srinagar airport will be expanded from 25,000 square metre to 63,000 square metre. “The first international flight connection from Srinagar to Sharjah (in the United Arad Emirates) will be started soon. Efforts are on so that international travellers come directly to Srinagar. This will be a historic decision, not just for Jammu and Kashmir, but the whole country,” Scindia told reporters. There will be…
Canada will allow direct flights from India from September 27, lifting the ban on them after a gap of more than five months. Announcing the decision, Transport Canada on September 25 in a tweet said: “Beginning at 00:01 EDT on September 27, direct flights from India can land in Canada with additional public health measures in place.” “Travellers must have proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test from the approved Genestrings Laboratory at the Delhi airport taken within 18 hours of the scheduled departure of their direct flight to Canada,” it added. In April, Canada banned all direct flights to…
The Skål International Kolkata elected its new management team for the next season 2021 – 2023. At its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Kolkata on September 23, the new Skål International Kolkata committee re-elected Sk Sanjeev Mehra as the President, Sk Amin Asghar as the First Vice President, Sk Punam Arora as the Second Vice President, Sk June Mukherjee as the Secretary, Sk Jay Saraogi in Membership Development, Sk Pramod Lunawat and Sk Avanti Chattoraj as Auditors, Sk Sreemoyee Mitra in PR & Communications, Sk Avijit Sarkar in CSR and Sk Ritu Jolly in charge of Young Skål. According…
Tourism Australia has relaunched the award-winning Aussie Specialist Program and made it easier for travel sellers around the world to gain the skills they need to better promote and sell Australia. The Aussie Specialist Program, which is run in conjunction with Australia’s State and Territory Tourism Organisations, has been given a new look and feel in its 32nd year and the new program has greater personalisation, faster qualifying times and shorter more interactive training modules. Tourism Australia Managing Director Phillipa Harrison said the investment comes after many frontline travel sellers turned to the Aussie Specialist Program over the past 18 months to…
Thailand’s disease control committee has proposed a halving of a two-week hotel isolation requirement for vaccinated arrivals, amid delays in plans to waive quarantine and reopen Bangkok and tourist destinations from next month. Thailand is keen to welcome back foreign visitors, after nearly 18 months of strict entry policies caused a collapse in tourism, a key sector that drew 40 million visitors in 2019. “Reducing the quarantine is not only about tourism, but will help business travel and foreign students,” senior health official Opas Karnkawinpong told a news conference, adding tests would also be required. Under the proposal, to be…
Full-service carrier Vistara on September 23 announced a non-stop flight service from Delhi to Paris, starting November 7, under the ‘Air Bubble’ pact between India and France. The services on the new route, to be catered by the Boeing 787-900 (Dreamliner) aircraft, will be operated twice a week – on Wednesdays and Sundays, the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines-run domestic carrier said in a release. Bookings for these flights are being progressively opened on all channels, including on the airline’s website, mobile app, and through travel agents, it said. “We are very pleased to commence flights to Paris (Charles de Gaulle airport),…
Air India CMD Rajiv Bansal has been appointed as Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Bansal will replace the current Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, who retires on 30 September. Last year in February, Bansal was appointed as the chairman and managing director of Air India for a second time. His appointment came just days after the government announced 100% stake sale of the debt-ridden Air India. Prior to joining Air India as MD, Bansal was the additional secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He is a 1988-batch IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre. (Source Mint)
The UK has updated its travel guidelines by including Serum Institute’s Covishield, a version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, in the list of authorised jabs after India warned of reciprocal action if it didn’t revoke its ‘discriminatory policy.’ Yet, this may not immediately result in the relaxation of Covid-related restrictions for travellers from India as the British government said it is working on recognition of vaccine certification in India. “We have been having detailed technical discussions regarding certification, with the builders of the CoWIN app and the NHS app, about both apps. They’re happening at a rapid pace, to ensure that…
As the COVID-19 situation seems under control, Germany has removed India and 13 other countries from its list of high-risk regions. The other countries are Bangladesh, Brazil, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cyprus, Ireland, Portugal – the Algarve region, Nepal, South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho and Eswatini. Reportedly, the countries have been selected on the basis of the COVID-19 spread in the respective territories. The report was prepared by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), a German agency for disease prevention and control. The RKI noted, “Travellers who have previously stayed in a high-risk area must have a test, vaccination or recovery certificate with…
