Tag Archives: Delhi

redBus has launched its latest service, called Bus Hire, which would offer customers mini-buses or tempo-travellers if they are seeking to hire buses. Bus Hire will provide a one-stop access to leading chartered bus providers in a particular city who offer best-in-class vehicles and superior service quality. The platform gives transparent and all-inclusive prices along with value added information such as bus photos and convenient payment options to help customers make an informed and suitable choice. This service is presently available in seven cities across India- Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Ahmedabad and is soon being extended to other towns. The range of vehicles that customers can choose from is very extensive, and includes luxury buses, regular buses, mini buses, tempo travellers and cars. Prakash Sangam, CEO, redBus.in, expressed his enthusiasm about the new service, commenting, “Often group travel such as corporate outings, weddings and pilgrimages require a full vehicle to be hired. There was no easy way for travellers to connect with multiple vehicle providers to hire a bus of their choice. With our new Bus Hire product, we aim to simplify the process by providing customers with a customised, transparent and quick method of evaluating and choosing among different vehicle options. For charter bus operators, it opens up another avenue for attracting customers and growing their business.” Once a customer provides basic details of his or her desired trip, the bus operators on redBus Bus Hire platform respond with quotations that are transparent and all-inclusive. The base fare, driver charges, tolls, permit fees and taxes are all specified in the quotations. Customers can also view images of the bus before they confirm a booking. Customers can …

SpiceJet will commence its daily direct flight on the Hyderabad–Jabalpur route from December 23, 2016. Hyderabad is the third metro after Delhi and Mumbai that SpiceJet will be serving a daily direct flight connecting Jabalpur. The fares for the Hyderabad-Jabalpur route will start from Rs 3,613 whereas for Jabalpur – Hyderabad route it will start from Rs 3073. Bookings for the routes are currently open.

On 19 December 2016, the Lufthansa Group will receive its first A350-900, which is the most modern long haul aircraft worldwide and will be based at Lufthansa’s Munich Hub. The first regular commercial flight will be from Munich to Delhi on February 10, 2017. “We are looking forward to welcoming our first A350-900 shortly before Christmas. And already in February, our passengers will be able to enjoy a higher level of comfort on their flights to Delhi as we have now made further improvements to key components of the A350-900’s cabin interior. This includes a newly designed self-service area in Business Class, new seats with ergonomically designed cushions in Economy Class, larger screens in all classes and improved broadband internet services,” says Thomas Winkelmann, CEO of the Munich Hub. Once Lufthansa has taken ownership of the aircraft on December 19, the A350-900 will be transferred to Munich during the week leading up to Christmas. Lufthansa Technik in Munich will then install the cabin interior including the new Premium Economy Class as well as other features so that the new flagship aircraft will be ready to be presented to the public at the beginning of February. From February 2017 onwards, Lufthansa will station the first ten Airbus A350-900 aircraft in Munich. The first flight destinations are Delhi and Boston. The aircraft will have space for 293 passengers – 48 in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy and 224 in the regular Economy Class section. The A350-900 is the most modern and environmentally friendly long haul aircraft worldwide and uses 25 percent less kerosene and produces 25 percent fewer emissions. The A350-900’s noise “footprint” is up to 50 percent lower than that …

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) offices in Mumbai and Delhi took its the fourth edition of its B2B event ‘Luxurious Pleasure’ to four cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. First held in 2013, Thailand’s ‘Luxurious Pleasure’ roadshow series is an addition to its staple annual roadshow and focuses on high-end holidays such as holidays on private islands and helicopter rides. Explaining Thailand’s focus on luxury, Soraya Homchuen, Director, Tourism Authority of Thailand – Mumbai, said, “Our two-city initiative is now a four-city show with Bengaluru, Kolkata and Ahmedabad now in the fray. We have noticed visible changes in buying behavior. This includes a growth in the number if travellers opting for five-star hotels and villas and a good response to market promotions with prices in the range of Rs 80,000 to Rs 150,000 for a week-long holiday. Today about 25 per cent of the Indian market is checking into luxury hotels and above (villas, private islands and yachts) and this is up from barely 10 per cent when TAT first launched its campaign to target the luxury segment. It is about strategy, sustainability and streamlining the industry with quality as a focus.” Thailand welcomed 1.06 million Indian travellers in 2015 and expects to cross 1.1 million in 2016, having hit over 700,000 Indian arrivals by August already. Homchuen added that TAT wants to grow high-end’s share of the pie by another five per cent. A change in the ratio of men: women travellers is also part of the goal. “Women comprise 23 per cent of the market currently and for this year we would like to bring this up to 30-35 per cent,” she said.

In a recent event organised in Delhi, Rare Destinations and Experiences brought together some of their partners who recently have come on board. Shoba Mohan, Founder Partner, Rare, in conversation with TravelTV.News, said that they are aiming for a 44 per cent occupancy and want the partners to do more business. She said, “We started with four properties and now we are 44. We would like to cap it at 50. We want our hotels to start making money out of this. For most of our partners it’s a sustaining business. We are looking at 44 per cent occupancy and to break that barrier and reach 60-70 per cent is actually when they will start making money.”

Mega Maldives Airlines, is all set to start its thrice a week flight between Delhi and Male on November 15.  The airline has introduced an inaugural offer for this flight at a price of Rs 22,990 for the round trip. “We are thrilled with the positive response both in India and in Maldives to our new services to India. The resort and hospitality community of Maldives is clearly throwing open their doors to an excited and dynamic Indian market,” said George Weinmann, founder and Chief Executive Office, Mega Maldives Airline. “The Maldives is consistently ranked among the world’s best tourist destinations. It is also increasingly popular with Indian tourists with over 52,000 guests arriving in 2015, and growing at almost 20% per year in recent years.” As the first non-stop service between the two capital cities, Mega Maldives Airlines provides significant advantages to what is available in the market. At a journey time of just 3Hrs 40Min (outbound) and 4Hrs and 20Min (Inbound), this is the fastest and only non-stop connection between the two cities, cutting journey times on other existing flight options by between 2-8 hours.

Air India set a record with its longest non-stop flight from Delhi to San Francisco. The Boeing 777-200 long range aircraft took the Pacific route instead of the Atlantic route, adding an additional 1400 km to the route but was completed in 14 and a half hours, two hours lesser than the conventional flight due to the helpful tailwinds. “From October 15, the flight which connected Delhi and San Francisco via the Atlantic route has begun operations on the Pacific route and returns on the Atlantic route, making it the only flight that goes around the world,” says Pankaj Srivastava, Director-Commercial and Board Member, Air India. This route also saved around 13 tons of fuel. Air India currently operates flights on the Delhi-San Francisco route three times a week but its growing popularity has prompted the airline to double this from November, flying east each time for the next six months. Inputs from: The Telegraph UK

Destination Canada in partnership with Air Canada has branded 350 radio taxis in New Delhi. The promotional campaign was inaugurated at the High Commission of Canada in New Delhi by Rupert Peters, Regional Managing Director, Europe, Australia and India; Jess Dutton, Acting High Commissioner of Canada to India, and Margaret Skinner, Director, Sales -EMEAI, Air Canada.

Air Canada’s inaugural flight AC 72 from Vancouver to Delhi arrived in the national capital on October 22 morning. The seasonal, three-times weekly flight features 787-9 Dreamliner service and offers the shortest elapsed flying time from Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles to the Indian subcontinent. Kevin Howlett, Senior Vice President, Regional Markets and Government Relations, Air Canada, says, “This flight is part of our three-pronged strategy into India, where the Delhi-Toronto flight launched last year was the first step, which would go daily on November 6, 2016. The new Delhi-Vancouver flight is the second major connection addressing a huge VFR and business market between both the countries. Finally, the Mumbai-Toronto flight starting from July 1, 2017, will be a major step in our expansion in India, as Mumbai is the business capital of India.”

China Southern Airlines has launched two new connections — Guangzhou-Adelaide and Guangzhou-Toronto. Starting December 7, 2016, the double daily flights would offer further connections for Indians travelling to these destinations, especially with a great frequency on the airline between Delhi and Guangzhou. Chen Yongguang, General Manager, China Southern Airlines, announced the new connections at an evening of cocktail and dinner at The Lalit, New Delhi, in the presence of representatives from the travel trade and media. He said that the new flights would be beneficial to Indians travelling to Australia and Canada, and that too at a good price.