Tag Archives: Kolkata

Air India will add two more direct flights connecting Kolkata with Bangkok and Jaipur from October 15. The two non-stop flights, to be operated by the Airbus 320neo aircraft with two-class configuration, will fulfil a long-standing demand of passengers for a convenient connection to both Bangkok and Jaipur by the carrier from Kolkata. Flight AI 336 from Kolkata to Bangkok will be operated three days a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It will depart from Kolkata at 3.50 pm (local time) and arrive in Bangkok at 8.05 pm (local time). The incoming flight AI 337 will leave Bangkok at 5.15 am (local time) and reach Kolkata at 7 am (local time). Meanwhile, flight AI 737 to Jaipur will take off from Kolkata at 8.40 am to reach Jaipur at 11.10 am. The return flight will take off from Jaipur at 12.20 pm and land in Kolkata at 3 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Source: PTI

The Turkish Culture and Tourism board in India will be conducting a roadshow and destination workshop in six cities across India from October 8-13, 2018. To be held in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai, the aim of the roadshow is to interact with stakeholders, agents, policy makers and travellers in these cities on current tourism offerings of Turkey and create more awareness on destination. The roadshow will also help in positioning Turkey as a leisure, wedding and MiCE destination amongst Indian travellers. Deniz Ersöz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India said, “India is a very important market and we are aware of the potential it holds in terms of inbound visitor traffic to Turkey. In 2017, Turkey hosted more than 32 million international tourists while from India the number was 87,000. This year, from January to July, we recorded 25 per cent increase in the number of overall tourists. That means we will be hosting 40 million international tourists by the end of 2018. When we look at figures from India, we see 95 per cent increase for the same period. If this trend continues we will be hosting almost 2 lakh Indian tourists by the year-end.” The roadshow will also witness participation from Turkish Airlines, luxury hotels and important delegates and officials from Turkey.

As part of its international expansion, IndiGo is set to operate its first daily flight from Amritsar to Dubai. The low-cost carrier now operates 13 daily flights between India and Dubai. In addition, the airline will also operate flights between Kolkata-Cochin and Bangalore-Pune. Both services will commence from October 2018. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “We are absolutely delighted to announce our first daily flight to Dubai from Amritsar and Kolkata to Cochin effective October this year. We will also operate an additional flight between Bengaluru and Pune. The launch of these new services is in line with our growth strategy outlined for both domestic and international markets.” He further added, “IndiGo will continue to expand its network to meet the requirements of both business and leisure travellers wherever they demand it. It is our constant endeavour to provide more flexibility of choice for our customers as IndiGo continues to offer them on time, courteous and hassle-free service and always an affordable flying experience.”

IndiGo has recently launched its fourth and fifth service to Singapore with the commencement of its additional flights from Kolkata and Tiruchirappalli. The new flights are designed to cater to business and leisure travellers who are constantly on the look-out for new and affordable flying options. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo said, “We are pleased to operate our first daily non-stop flights between Kolkata-Singapore and Tiruchirappalli-Singapore. IndiGo has completed 12 years of successful operations in the India market as a low cost carrier, and adding new flights to its network will further augment the connectivity that we aspire to provide to our customers. It is our constant endeavour to provide our customers on-time, courteous and hassle-free service, and an affordable flying experience always.”

Vistara and British Airways have signed a codeshare agreement, further deepening their already existing interline partnership. Under the agreement, British Airways will add its ‘BA’ designator code to approximately 60 Vistara-operated flights each day covering 13 Indian cities, including eight new virtual British Airways destinations, namely Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Goa, Kolkata, Kochi, and Pune. Additionally, the BA code will also be put on Vistara flights between Mumbai and Amritsar, and Chennai and Kolkata. Sales under the codeshare agreement are open on all channels and major GDS systems for flights starting September 27, 2018. Commenting on this milestone partnership, Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara said, “We are delighted to extend our existing interline and through check-in partnership with British Airways to a codeshare agreement. This partnership reaffirms our commitment to taking India’s finest airline brand beyond Indian borders, and it gives us the opportunity of welcoming travellers from around the world to experience the ‘new feeling of flying’ in India with Vistara. We share a lot in common with British Airways, key among which is our focus on delighting customers. We are confident that our respective customers will truly enjoy the reciprocal benefits of this collaboration.” Rishi Kapoor, Head of Alliances, British Airways said, “We have been flying to India for more than 90 years, so it is incredibly exciting for us to be able announce this partnership with such a well-respected carrier.”  

The India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) has launched its West Bengal Chapter at the 11th edition of its Convention India Conclave (CIC) in Kolkata. Amaresh Tiwari, Honorary Secretary, ICPB, said, “We are focusing on developing MiCE across India. ICPB is growing its wings and first time in the history of ICPB we are opening the first chapter—West Bengal Chapter in Kolkata, where the government official will be the chapter head. And similarly, we will be going from state to state to build the chapter and this is going to be done with central and state partnership basis.”  

MiCE continues to be important for revenue generation at various platforms, said Chander Mansharamani, Vice Chairman, India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) at the 11th Conventions India Conclave (CIC) underway in Kolkata. Welcoming delegates at the inaugural session, he further said, “We, at ICPB, play a major role not only in creating better awareness of the benefits of the congress and the conventions but also support congress planners, organisations, associations and other trade related bodies. According to World Travel Market, there will be 10 million international travellers by 2020 and estimated business travel will account for appoximately 14 per cent. Keeping in view the economic impact, we need to figure out what we need to do next and how ICPB can play a proactive role in this.” Some 300 participants are expected to attend the Conclave including 150 domestic and 40 international potential buyers. The focus of the event will be on India’s potential as a MiCE destination, through interactive sessions, exhibitions and B2B meetings.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, has announced to roll out the facility of Visa-on-Arrival (VoA) to the nationals of South Korea with effect from October 1, 2018. The facility will be available with double entry for a period of 60 days for business, tourism, conference and medical purposes at the country’s six major international airports which are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.  

Over 900 registrations were recorded on the first day of the third edition of  Global Panorama Showcase in Kolkata. The inaugural day was inaugurated by Bruce Bucknell, Deputy High Commissioner, Kolkata; Anil Prashar, CEO & President, ITQ; Natihaika Msuya, Minister Plenipotentiary (Political & Consular Affairs), Tanzania Embassy, New Delhi; Devesh Aggarwal, Chapter Chairman- Eastern Region, TAAI and Anil Punjabi, Chapter Chairman – Eastern Region, TAFI; among others. With a huge footfall on the first day of GPS Kolkata, Team GPS has high hopes for the same on the consecutive two days. Bucknell, while sharing his views on GPS, said, “GPS is a great platform as it brings the entire travel fraternity together and bridges the gap between Tier I, II and III cities. India is a market with great potential.”

India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) will conduct its ‘Conventions India Conclave’ at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre, Kolkata, from August 29-31, 2018. Themed on ‘Scaling New Heights – Building for the Future’, the focus of the flagship event will be on how ICPB can enhance its activities and compete in the international market. The body aims to focus creating opportunity of bidding for international conferences. A statement from ICPB stated, “The 11th Conclave is very significant for us as ICPB will be opening its first State Chapter in Kolkata during the Conclave on August 30, 2018.” The two-day event will have sessions and panel discussions on various topics such as, ‘A panel discussion on Public Private Partnership for Destination Marketing, Social Media Marketing – Changing Scenario – Impact on Industry and Way Forward and A Winning Formula for Bidding for International Conferences, and more. The Ministry of Tourism, West Bengal Government is the Platinum Sponsor and the State Partner, while Biswa Bangla Convention Centre is the Venue Partner for the forthcoming conclave.