The first aircraft of Jet Airways landed on Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Effective March 27, India’s premier international airline will operate three daily non-stop flights from Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto. The airline offers all inclusive return fare (Tickets purchased on or after Mar 1, 2016) on Delhi – Amsterdam – Delhi of Rs 1,50,001 (Première) and Rs 49,822 (Economy) and on the Mumbai – Amsterdam – Mumbai sector all inclusive return fare in Première Rs 2,41,697 and in Economy Rs 54,323. For Première, travel must commence on or after Mar 27, 2016, and Economy, travel must commence between Mar 27, 2016 and Apr 8, 2016. Before the first departure of Jet Airways flight 9W 233 to Delhi, a traditional prayer ritual was performed. Amsterdam Airport Schiphol will be the new European gateway of Jet Airways. Together with codeshare partners KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Delta Air Lines, Jet Airways will offer one stop codeshare access between India and 30 destinations across Europe and 11 destinations in the United States and Canada. Customers flying via Mumbai and Delhi will also be able to access Jet Airways’ network of 48 destinations within India as well as destinations in the Indian subcontinent and Asia. Naresh Goyal, Chairman of Jet Airways states, “Finally, we have arrived in the Netherlands. Today marks the start of our new service connecting three continents, together with our codeshare partners KLM and Delta Air Lines. We are thrilled to operate daily flights from Amsterdam to Mumbai, Delhi and Toronto and thereby facilitate trade and co-operation between India and the Netherlands”.

Sandeep Shetty, General Manager, Products & Operations, WOW Holidays, says, “The terror attacks on Brussels will definitely affect tourism to Europe though on the whole outbound tourism industry will not be adversely affected as travellers will continue to travel. Though the group travellers will not be affected much as bookings take place in advance, the FIT segment of tourism will be hit. Regions like France, Amsterdam, surrounding regions of Brussels and long haul destinations in Europe may witness less number of tourists over a short period of time and many short haul destinations like Croatia may get a boost from the same.”

Pankaj Nagpal, Managing Director, Travstarz Global Group, says, “The blasts in Brussels will definitely impact the outbound tourism sector to Europe. As Brussels is the headquarters of many airlines and international forums, the impact will be seen on the numbers travelling to Europe. However this may actually increase the inbound traffic of tourists to other regions like South East Asia. India will not be particularly affected as Jet Airways has decided to shift out its base from Brussels so apart from the damage to aircrafts, the numbers will not be affected from India.”

Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) says, “The terror attacks are a sad incident and will impact tourism in Europe temporarily. This will not be a long term effect if precautionary measures are taken and the damage is contained timely. Travellers will continue to travel despite fear and worry regarding Europe. As this is the beginning of the season and Europe is one of the most popular destinations amongst Indians, challenges may be faced by agents in terms of FIT and group movements.”

Tourism Breaking News asked the travel industry about the effect of the Brussels terror attacks on tourism and received a mixed reaction. While some said that tourism trends will shift to other regions like South East Asia and short haul destinations, some believe that this is a short term effect and will be wiped off the traveller’s memory soon. On behalf of the international tourism community, Taleb Rifai, Secretary-General, UNWTO, condemned the terror attacks in Brussels and expressed heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims and to the Belgian people.

Jet Airways has said that its passengers in Brussels have been accommodated at four locations by the local authorities and its staff has been positioned in all these locations for any help, a statement issued by the airline said. Brussels airport continues to be closed for operations but Jet Airways is co-ordinating with the Belgian authorities to make alternate travel plans for its guests and crew in Brussels. It is also working closely with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the India Embassy in Brussels to facilitate the passage of its staff and guests.

SpiceJet continues to record highest passenger load factor among Indian carriers with 92.3 per cent for the month of February 2016, according to statistics released by DGCA. SpiceJet has achieved above 90 per cent passenger load factor (PLF) for 10 successive months. The airline has also bettered its On-time Performance (OTP) for the month of February 2016 with 77.7 per cent as compared to 74.7 per cent during January 2016. OTP has been computed for its operations across the four metro airports of Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai. SpiceJet operated 293 daily flights and carried 9.76 lakh passengers during the month thereby registering a market share of 13.1 per cent. Shilpa Bhatia, Sr. VP, Commercial, SpiceJet, said, “This achievement is recognition of the faith and confidence our customers have reposed on us and at the same time reflects the commitment and persistent effort of entire SpiceJet staff.” Flight cancellations have also declined steadily over the past few months for the airline, with the cancellation rate for February 2016 being just 0.35 per cent.

Jagsons Travels has introduced ‘ibe4all’, the first of its kind B2B online booking engine which is an android mobile App for the travel agents to allow a easy booking experience. The App has been developed by Influence Technolabs and Jagson Travels is the first travel agency to launch it for agents. Harmandeep Singh Anand, Managing Director, Jagsons Travels, says, “We are probably the first company to launch an exclusive B2B application for the travel agents. Currently, the clients can book flights and check the updated flight schedules. In due course of time other services like hotel bookings, transfers, railways, buses etc. will also be made live.” The App will also be launched for iOS devices soon informed Anand. Malini Jain, Chief Commercial Officer, Influence Technolabs, informed that online booking of flights can be made using one’s Agency Wallet on the App. It works for both domestic and international sectors, including LCC Airlines. All the fare segments are available on the App and the existing B2B functions can be operated like the Booking List, Ledger Statement, Request for Credit, Request for Deposit etc. “We have also added the “Import PNR” functionality in the ibe4all app itself and any agent who is interested in doing ticketing through an IATA agency can do so, making it suitable for IATA and Non-IATA agents. The agent has the facility of sending the e-ticket to his client through the ibe4all App itself and he can also cancel the ticket if required, making him work more efficiently and effectively.” She further said that the App has also encapsulated the GDS Dashboard which includes a GDS Emulator which empowers the agency to use GDS cryptic system on the …

Reunion Island has recorded a growth of 110 per cent in Indian arrivals in 2015 as compared to 2014. Neha Johri, Head Destination Sales, Reunion Island, says, “People who have already been to Reunion Island have appreciated the destination. It’s a great destination for honeymooners and for people looking for adventure. We are looking at 200 per cent growth in 2016 as compared to 2015.” Johri also informs that they are working closely with the Indian travel agents and educating them about the destination. “Our motive is to share knowledge with our B2B trade partners then we will move to the consumers,” she adds.

Melbourne has witnessed 24 per cent increase in Indian visitor arrivals in 2015 over the previous year, according to its recent International Visitors Survey. “India has always been a key market for the state of Victoria and the surge in Indian visitors to Melbourne year-on-year is truly encouraging. Indian travellers are becoming more discerning and see the value in spending on quality travel experiences as the expenditure figures have reached an all-time high – this encourages us to continue to focus on this region,” Celia Ho, Regional Manager – South and South East Asia, Tourism Victoria said in a press statement. Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Victoria. The state of Victoria was rated the 2nd highest state visited by Indian tourists. In 2015, Australia registered 2,19,000 Indian visitor arrivals of which 1,03,600 (47.3%) visited Victoria. The Indian visitor expenditure also increased by 29.8% over the same period. Tourism Victoria has worked closely with Indian tour operators to help build significant interest within the market. Over the years, key campaigns have had a direct impact on the number of outbound visitors to Victoria, said the statement. Owing to the increase in outbound travel to the state from India, the tourism board will continue to invest in key campaigns for the Indian market Tourism authorities across the globe are vying to get the attention of Indians. India’s outbound travel is growing 15-20% every year. According to industry estimates, the number of Indians travelling overseas is set to rise to around 50 million by 2020. (Source: Economic Times)