In conversation with TravTalk, Kanika Tekriwal, CEO & Founder, JetSetGo Aviation Services recounts how the private aviation sector is affected due to COVID-19 and how the industry will reshape after the pandemic. “As the aviation industry has been hit extremely hard by the COVID 19 crisis, and when flying through such turbulence, it’s critical to focus on the horizon. One of the important points is consolidation. It is usually perceived that; private aviation sector is not consolidated, and few players are still working on solo mode which will make the survival difficult,” comments Tekriwal while briefing about the survival, revival and resurgence strategy in the private aviation sector which includes the operation of charter flights. Explaining further about the need of the hour in the sector, she says,” Another important step is to have a data-driven, action-oriented plan to help us emerge stronger from the COVID 19 crisis. All this needs to take into accounts the demands of flying private, safety and security of all our customers which is our utmost priority and the market structure scenarios.” According to Tekriwal, there was nine-fold raise the number of international inquiries they were receiving for charter flights but the lockdown and travel ban came as a major setback. Whether it is health risk concerns or just getting where you need to be, people and companies that have the means to fly privately, but had previously eschewed it, are now looking at the options. The industry as a whole is working on a requirement basis to help people reach their destinations. No two days will be same again in private aviation and we need to stay braced for some turbulence,” she said. Explaining …

As Delhi opened for private establishments with 33 per cent staff strength, Minar Travels started working with permissible staff strength and following sanitising and social distancing norms. The office cleaning and sanitising were completed recently under the supervision of HS Duggal, Managing Director, Minar Group.

Subhash Goyal, Secretary General, FAITH, has said that there hasn’t been much happening from the Government’s side to help the industry to revive it from the impact of COVID-19 crisis, unlike other countries. “We have asked the Governments since the beginning that either give us a bail-out package, or at least give 50% salary of employees of MOT recognised operators/agents after getting the list of their employees and respective salaries from them, which is already mentioned in the balance sheet. This needs to be done if the Government wants to save the industry,” he said.

After the overwhelming response for the first and second editions of its Digital Conclave, TravTalk is all set to bring the third edition of the online conference on May 15 from 10 am to 1:30 pm, which would discuss pertinent issues in the industry at the time of COVID-19 crisis. There will be 3 sessions of 1 hour each and will see experts from different segments of travel, deliberating on the way forward. The panelists for first session, titled ‘The Reality of NO tourism!’ will be Rajiv Mehra from IATO, Bharat Atree from Caper Travel Company, and Debjit Dutta from Impression Tourism Services. Second session, titled ‘Hotels in the age of social distancing. Where are the robots?’ will have Mandeep Lamba from HVS ANAROCK, Dilip Puri from Indian School of Hospitality and Jatin Khanna from Marriot Hotels. For the third session, titled ‘Big ticket business! When do we start looking at weddings, corporate and M!CE travel?’, the panelists include Rajeev Jain from Rashi Entertainment, Rajdev Bhattacharya from Wipro Limited, and Rajeev Kale from Thomas Cook India.

For a second time, IATO has decided to defer its biennial election till such time the lockdown restrictions are lifted. The Returning Officer for IATO Elections 2020, Akshay Kumar in a meeting with IATO EC also decided that even post lifting of restrictions the association will need to accommodate the process of companies having to rebuild the business and open operations. Another meeting is scheduled for June-end, where an informed decision will be taken. IATO will also explore the viability of conducting online elections if the need arises. In the interim, the Office Bearers, EC and Chapter Chairmen of IATO are hereby allowed to work as normal with no restrictions.

India’s hospitality industry has declined sharply in the first quarter of 2020, as the COVID-19 outbreak impacts various segments of the sector. A recent report by JLL states, “Investment action will likely get deferred as the sector rebuilds itself after containment of COVID-19, however, we estimate that more assets may fall in the ring for sale in the latter half of the year.” While 2020 started with a strong deal pipeline estimated at about US$ 1 billion worth of tradeable assets, JLL’s findings reveal that growth and development is likely to slow down in the next two years and projects under development will likely get delayed and raising development finance will also become more challenging.

According to ‘Hotel Sentiment Survey 2020 (Impact of COVID-19)’ by Horwath HTL, demand in the wedding segment is likely to recover to pre-COVID levels once the outbreak is over. The survey was conducted among the industry to understand the depth of the crisis, the mitigating measures applied to limit the fallout and the areas requiring supportive measures. The assessment reveals that while 64 per cent of the respondents had agreed to the wedding segment’s recovery to aforesaid levels, 27 per cent believe that it may be even better than pre-COVID levels. Less than 10 per cent felt that the segment was unlikely to recover to such levels.

The latest data from UNWTO shows that at least 100 million direct tourism jobs are at risk across the world even if international borders are gradually opened and travel restrictions are eased as early as July 2020. Should these closures and restrictions be extended up to early September or early December, the international tourism community faces the risk of as many as 120 million direct job losses. Prospects for the year have been downgraded several times since the outbreak and uncertainty continues to dominate. Though domestic demand is expected to recover faster than international demand, a majority of the industry feels, according to UNWTO, that signs of recovery will be visible only by Q4 2020, but mostly in 2021.

A survey conducted by International Air Transport Association (IATA) at the beginning of April reveals that as many as 47% of air passengers surveyed wished to begin travelling within a month or two (by May or June). The survey, conducted across 11 countries (including India), also revealed that at least 4 per cent still continued being sceptical and did not wish to travel for the foreseeable future. Respondents for the survey were from Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the Unites States.

Pradip Lulla, President, Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) has revealed that the association has asked the Supreme Court to intervene in a petition concerning the refund of air tickets bought for travel during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The primary plea was moved by the NGO Pravasi Legal Cell on April 27, 2020. He says, “This was done on May 6, 2020 through NGO Pravasi Legal on behalf of TAFI. But this is for all air ticket issuing agents in India. I estimate that the total volume of refunds would come to around Rs 800-Rs 900 crore as bookings were made not just for the summer holidays but also for student travel. This is for bookings made for all airlines – Indian as well as international. While we have approached the concerned authorities in the past through FAITH, the airlines have said that they will give refunds only after three months.” crucial funds remain blocked with the airlines for travel not undergone and which, in fact, has been cancelled. Lulla adds that some airlines have divided their bookings as per zones where Zone 1 is US, Zone 2 is Europe, and Zone 3 is South East Asia and for these they are giving refunds, but not for India that comes under Zone 4. “In Zone 4, they are changing penalty for cash refunds even when flight schedules are cancelled. We hope to hear from the Supreme Court on this issue soon,” Lulla adds on a positive note.