All Nippon Airways (ANA) has announced the launch of direct daily flights ex-Mumbai to Narita on its new Boeing 787 with effect from March 27, 2016. Till now, it was only servicing New Delhi to Narita flights. On the new route, the Dreamliner will have flat beds, 46 staggered seats in business class, 21 in premium economy and 102 seats in normal economy class. This will make ANA the only airline to operate direct flights to Japan with business class seating. The airline has also announced introductory fares as well as special fares for the travel agents.

The Ministry of Tourism (MOT) launched a “Swachh Parayantan Mobile App” to flag issues related to cleanliness in and around tourist sites. To start with, 25 Adarsh Smarak Monuments protected by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have been identified for inclusion in the App. The application would be scaled up to include more monuments as the campaign expands.  Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism & Culture and Minister of State for Civil Aviation, inaugurated the App in the presence of Vinod Zutshi, Sectretary-Tourism, MOT, Sanjeev Ranjan, Additional Secretary-Tourism, MOT, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, MOT, Dr. R K Bhatnagar, ADG, MoR, Umang Narula, CMD, ITDC, among others. Addressing on the occasion, Dr. Sharma said that since the general public and the tourists are the largest stakeholders in keeping the monuments clean, the Ministry of Tourism has decided to facilitate the general public to communicate their complaints about any unclean area/garbage piles in and around tourist destinations. Hence as a part thereof, the Ministry of Tourism is launching this Mobile App. He opined that till all stakeholders don’t contribute, such project will not succeed. This mobile App enables a citizen to take photograph of garbage at the monument and upload the same along with his/her remarks. The application then sends an SMS to the ASI Nodal Officer concerned with the monument upon receipt of which the Nodal Officer gets the garbage cleared/removed. The Nodal Officer thereafter sends confirmation about the redressal of the complaint through an SMS to the complainant.

Rwanda Development Board has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) and Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) to promote the destination in India. It signed an MoU with TAAI on February 18 during OTM Mumbai in the presence of Marzban Antia, Vice President, TAAI; H.E. Ernest Rwamucyo, High Commissioner of Rwanda, New Delhi; and Jay Bhatia,Treasurer and Tourism Council Chairman, TAAI. Rwanda also signed an MoU with TAFI that evening at its event ‘Remarkable Rwanda’ in the presence of TAFI National President Zakkir Ahmed and Linda Mutesi, Tourism Marketing Division Manager, Rwanda Development Board. The Rwandian visa processing takes 24 hours. Through the East African tourism visa – a multiple entry visa valid for 3 months could be availed.  Travellers can explore Rwanda along with Kenya and Uganda.

The third terminal at the Cochin International Airport will be officially inaugurated on February 26 by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. According to reports quoting Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) official, the new terminal is built in a record time of two years over an area of 15 lakh sq ft and will handle 4,000 passengers. Opened in 1999, CIAL is the country’s first greenfield airport built and managed in the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode. It is the biggest of the three international airports in Kerala. The total paid-up capital of the airport is Rs 306.06 crore of which the Kerala Government accounts for Rs 100 crore. The CIAL became the first airport in the world to operate on solar power last year when a 12 MW solar power plant was commissioned. The Kerala hub handles multiple Indian and international carriers, including Emirates, Etihad, AirAsia, Qatar Airways and SilkAir. (Source: Economic Times)

The Department of Tourism (DOT), Philippines is conducting its ‘Visit the Philippines Year (VPA) 2016’ roadshow today in Pune for its travel trade partners in the city. A 25-member delegation, comprising hoteliers, resorts, spas, and representatives of tour attractions, will interact with key travel and tour operators, MICE providers, up-market leisure operators and media personnel. Raymond Glen A. Agustin, Chief Tourism Operation Officer, Market Development Group- Russia, India & the Middle East, DOT Philippines, will lead the delegation. The roadshow will include interactive B2B sessions, education programmes and workshops to aid trade members in planning itineraries and responding to customer queries in these cities. The Indian market continues to be one of the important contributors of international visitors to the Philippines. In the upcoming year, targeting over 25% rise in outbound travel from India.

Come April 6, Air India will commence flights between Delhi and Vienna. This will be Air India’s eighth European destination. The flight will operate thrice a week on AI’s Boeing 787. It will leave from New Delhi at 1400 hours (IST) and land at Vienna at 18:45 hours(local time). On the way back, the flight will leave Vienna at 22.45 hours and arrive in Delhi the next day at 09.25 hours(IST). The national carrier is also in talks with Austrian Airlines for a code-share. Vienna drew a record number of 40,355 Indians in 2015, accounting for 89,628 overnight stays. While the number of Indians visiting Vienna increased by 49.5 per cent over last year, the number of overnight stays grew by 38.7 per cent, according to Vienna Tourist Board. As per the data, the growth in Indian visitors to Vienna was among the highest after the Arabic countries and Taiwan. During 2015 overnight stays crossed the 14 million mark for the first time, representing a healthy 5.9 per cent increase of over previous year.

The PHD Aviation Summit 2016 saw industry stalwarts stressing on regional and remote connectivity. Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Minister of Civil Aviation, Government of India, said that it is important for connecting regional and remote destinations via air not only to make it easier for foreign tourists but also to promote domestic tourism. The event was inaugurated in the presence of Gajapathi Raju; K. Narayana Rao, Chairman, Civil Aviation Committee; Gopal Jiwarajka, Senior Vice President, PHD Chamber; Dr. Burak Akcapar, Ambassador, Embassy of the Republic of Turkey; and Anil Khaitan, VP, PHD Chamber. In a special session titled, Regional & Remote Connectivity: Key Drivers & Initiatives’, Sunil Kumar, President, Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI), said that India has more than 400 airstrips and only 127 operational airports. He further added that in order to boost remote connectivity, it is important to develop these airports and get more flights at such destinations. The summit also had panel discussions on ‘Cargo Sector- Vital Role in Economic Growth’, while the valedictory session was on National Civil Aviation Policy – NCAP2015- Impact on Industry & Tourism’.

With effect from March 1, Jet Airways will launch a sixth daily frequency from Mumbai to Dubai. With the introduction of this new flight, Jet Airways will offer the maximum number of daily flights between the two cities. Jet Airways will also launch a third daily frequency between Delhi and Dubai, starting March 27, offering guests a greater choice when travelling between India’s national capital and the Emirate. With the launch of the new frequencies, Jet Airways will operate a total of 11 daily flights between India and Dubai. This includes flights from Kochi and Mangalore. Gaurang Shetty, Senior Vice-President – Commercial, Jet Airways, said, “Jet Airways is delighted to introduce additional frequencies from Mumbai and Delhi to Dubai providing greater choice and convenience to our guests on these popular routes. Dubai is amongst our most popular destinations for business and leisure travellers and it was only fitting to increase capacity to this key market. The new frequencies will enable Jet Airways to offer guests a wide choice of departure times to/from Dubai and convenient domestic connections via our hubs in Mumbai and Delhi.” Jet Airways will deploy Boeing 737-800 aircraft on the new services, offering Premiere and Economy guests a best in class in-flight product, warm service, a choice of Indian and international cuisine and the latest in-flight entertainment.

The Buddhist Conclave will be held at Bodh Gaya from March 29-31, 2016. The conference is being organised by Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH) in collaboration with Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and Ministry of Tourism (MOT) with a view to develop the Buddhist Circuit especially in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar in India and Nepal and also look forward to foreign investments in the segment. Sarab Jit Singh, Vice Chairman, FAITH, said that it is important to understand the ground realities and deliberate on the requirements to stimulate the tourist arrivals which is hovering about 1 million foreign tourist arrivals annually to its true potential of minimum 10 million every year. The association has proposed participation of Union Ministries, state governments, religious Buddhist bodies, ambassadors of different countries to India, IRCTC, DGCA, Airports Authority of India along with stakeholders from the private sector, such as hotels, restaurants, tour operators etc. The major issues to be deliberated are international connectivity to Gaya; upgrading of Gaya International Airport; road and railway connectivity to the region; improvement of issuance of visas and facilitation at arrival and departure; aesthetic development of the area; development of proper accommodation facilities; training of local guides in various languages along with other issues. An estimate total of 250 people are expected to attend this conference. 

SpiceJet maintained its position as the airline with the highest passenger load factor at 92.1 per cent in January 2016. Passengers carried by domestic airlines during January 2016 were 76.55 lakhs as against 62.45 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering a growth of 22.58 per cent. Other domestic airlines recording high passenger load factor are GoAir, IndiGo, Air Costa, Jet, Jet Lite, Air India, among others. The PLF of GoAir was the second highest at 84.9 per cent, lower than its PLF of 86.5 per cent in December 2015. IndiGo which saw the third highest PLF at 84.7 per cent in January 2016, fell from its previous high og 88.5 per cent. Passenger load factor on national carrier Air India was 81.7 per cent in January lower than its previous performance of 86.7 per cent in December last year.