In its report on air travel trends in South Asia and India, ForwardKeys reveals that for June 2020, Delhi-Patna was the most searched domestic India route for any future travel, replacing Delhi-Goa as the most searched in the same period last year.

Nepal is set to resume its international flight operations from August 17, after a four-month suspension due the global COVID-19 crisis. In fact, the country will also resume its domestic operations, and all flights will strictly follow the health and safety protocols that have already been developed.

FHRAI has launched the ‘Work For Our Staff’ campaign for its members to support around 4500 hospitality professionals in more than a dozen cities. With direct 100% compensation being provided to staff by business partner Eureka Forbes, FHRAI and regional member establishments will be able to help staff survive this crisis and give them an opportunity to earn and return to work once this enforced and sustained lockdown is over. Nomination will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis.

Powered by TravTalk, the Selling Happiness webinar on Tuesday, July 28, at 11 am will help agents understand how to make the best Indian itineraries inclusive of Yoga, wellness, spirituality, Ayurveda and meditation. To register for the hour-long session, log on to https://event.webinarjam.com/register/153/yy8npbg9 or email to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or call +919650196532.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, has said that they will be able to resume 55-60 per cent of domestic flights by Diwali. Speaking at a press conference, he said, “We are assuming that by the time Diwali comes this year, we would have 55-60 per cent of pre-COVID domestic flights operating in India.”

Efforts put in by TAAI have finally borne fruit as the government has now permitted travel agents to book Vande Bharat flights. “We appreciate Air India, MoCA and NITI Aayog for supporting our initiatives, and look forward to more compliances to support the struggling industry,” says Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI. As of now, flights to USA, Germany (FRA) and France (CDG) have been announced in the coming phase.

Thomas Cook India has signed an agreement with dnata Travel to operate as the Travel Management Company (TMC) to service dnata’s customers as it closes its TMC operation in India. The transition will be completed in the next few weeks. Mahesh Iyer, Executive Director & CEO, Thomas Cook India, says, “Our first focus will be ensuring continuity of service needs.”

HVS ANAROCK’S report titled ‘India Hotels Outlook’ that studies the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian hotel sector estimates that assuming recovery from COVID-19 begins in H2 2020, occupancy would then recover only by year 2022, touching 66%, while rates would recover by year 2023.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, has said that international operations will begin in air bubbles now, which will be active with a few countries including France, US and the UAE. He further revealed that air bubbles will operate for a while and only then will regular international operations begin. “Negotiations are at an advanced stage with at least three countries. We formally signed for Air France operating 28 flights from Paris to New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru between 18th July and 1st August. Apart from that we have an agreement with United Airlines to operate 18 flights between 17th and 31st July. We have requests from Germany also, and the negotiations with Lufthansa are almost done. Some details have to be worked out,” he said.

The re-opening of Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport has been suspended indefinitely. The airport was scheduled to re-open in August, but due to the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, operations and repatriation flights have been halted for the time being.