AirAsia India leads in the On-Time Performance (OTP) metric of scheduled domestic airlines for the month of January 2020 as reported for four metro airports viz. Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, according to the latest statistics released by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). With a fleet of 29 aircraft catering to 21 destinations, AirAsia India currently operates over 200 daily flights and carried over 9 lakh passengers during January 2020. AirAsia India has been soaring in terms of offering its customers a mix of business and leisure destinations at pocket friendly prices. AirAsia India’s commitment to improving its guests experience has also resulted in witnessing one of the lowest cancellation and complaint ratios in Jan’ 20. Sunil Bhaskaran, CEO & MD, AirAsia India said, “We’re delighted that our efforts to streamline processes and our relentless focus on being guest obsessed have enabled us to achieve category leadership on the key industry metrics for on-time performance, complaint ratios and cancellation percentage. It has been our endeavor to provide exceptional service to our guests whilst also ensuring they reach their destinations on time, every single time”

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered screening of passengers from four more countries- Nepal, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia in a bid to further strengthen precautionary measures to avert entry of Novel coronavirus (COVID-19). With this move, fliers from as many as 10 countries would be screened at Indian airports. The decision was taken after Rajiv Guaba, Cabinet Secretary on Saturday chaired a high-level meeting to review the status, actions taken and preparedness of States/UTs regarding management of Novel Coronavirus (COVID19). Hence, post the review, in addition to the universal screening as per earlier advisories, universal screening at airports is now being planned for flights from Kathmandu, Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia, the officials had said. Until Saturday, 21,805 passengers have been brought under community surveillance. In addition, 3,97,152 flight passengers and 9,695 travellers at sea ports have been screened.

Amid rising travel concerns after coronavirus outbreak, Genting Dream Cruise has announced the voluntary suspension of Genting Dream’s operations from Singapore from February 23 to March 27. Guests who are booked on any of the cancelled itineraries will be contacted and provided with a variety of compensation options including to defer their cruise to a future sailing or, if needed, to cancel their cruise for a full refund. To safeguard the well-being of its guests and crew, Dream Cruises has also implemented various precautionary measures across its fleet including health and temperature screening for all embarking guests and crew members before every sailing, as well as stringent sanitization and enhanced disinfection protocols, especially in high hand-touch areas, onboard its ships. As well, crew members on duty are required to wear masks and other appropriate gear including disposable gloves and complimentary facial masks for passengers who are available upon request.

A number of rail operators have closed routes and cancelled services due to flooding caused by storm Dennis in the UK, with bridges closed and roads submerged in many parts of the country. Drivers and rail passengers have been urged not to travel unless necessary. Passengers with Great Northern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Southern Rail and anyone travelling on Great Western Rail into and out of Devon and Cornwall has been advised against non-essential journeys. Flooding has blocked lines between Ash and Guildford, Sway and Brockenhurst, and the lines between Exeter St David’s and Barnstaple, Yeovil Junction and Taunton.

Air India has extended the suspension period for its Delhi-Shanghai and Delhi-Hong Kong services till June 30, owing to the outbreak of coronavirus. While IndiGo has also suspended flights to both the destinations till June 15. Earlier, Air India had cancelled its flights to Shanghai from 31 January to 14 February and to Hong Kong from 7 February until 28 March. Many international airlines have either reduced or suspended their operations to China. According to IATA, COVID-19 is expected to cause a 13 per cent full-year loss of passenger demand for carriers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Thai Airways International will cancel some flights to eight countries from Bangkok due to a dramatic fall in demand and cancellations caused by the coronavirus scare. The flight adjustments this month and most of March cover destinations in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Philippines, Bangladesh and the United Arabs Emirates. Flights have been reduced on the Bangkok-Seoul-Bangkok route from five to four daily 26 February to 28 March 2020. The airline will cancel flights on the Bangkok-Busan-Bangkok route on 27 February and 5 to 6 March 2020. Flights on the Bangkok-Singapore-Bangkok route will be cut from five four flights daily from 20 February to 27 March 2020.

The fifth edition of the Bengal Travel Mart, aimed at showcasing tourism destinations in the state, commenced on 22nd February, 2020 and will be concluded today in Siliguri. The three-day event, being organised by the Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators Association, is being held at Montana Vista, Siliguri. Around Representatives of tourism departments in different states and prominent travel houses and delegates from Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh attended the mart in big numbers. Sandipan Ghosh, General Secretary of the association, said, “We have been organising the travel mart for promotion of tourism in Bengal and Northeast. We are hosting 80 to 90 Domestic and 40 to 50 International buyers from Nepal, Bhutan & Bangladesh. Around 113 sellers displayed their products at the Mart. We had two segments of the mart – B2B and B2C. What is encouraging is that for the first time, we have participation in big numbers from Nepal and Bangladesh. This would further give a boost to cross-border tourism promotion.” He added, “The mart allowed the stakeholders of the tourism industry in the region an opportunity to interact with those associated with travel trade in different states. The tour operators from outside the region were also informed about new tourism products, destinations, hotels and other infrastructure.” Major Hotel Chains like Marriott, Mayfair, Sterling Holidays, Summit Hotels, Waxpol, Golden Hotels, Pride Hotels, Jagjeet Hotels & Resorts, Yangthang Group of Hotels, Pine Tree Group, Anand Palace, were present at the event. Bengal, Gujarat, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh & Odisha, Sikkim were the state participants. Nepal Tourism Board, Pokhara Tourism Council, TOAB were the International partners. IATO, ADTOI, ETAA, JTWA were the association partners of the event. The mart focused …

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in January 2020 were 11,18,150 as compared to 11,03,380 in January 2019 registering a growth of 1.3%. 2019 registering a growth of 1.3%. The percentage share of Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India during January 2020 among the top 15 source countries was highest from Bangladesh (18.68%) followed by USA (15.34%), UK (9.68%), Canada (4.51%), Australia (4.01%), Russian Fed (3.75%), Malaysia (2.89%), China (2.86%), France (2.54%), Germany (2.37%), Sri Lanka (2.24%), Japan (2.06%), Thailand (1.52%), Rep. of Korea (1.47%) and Nepal (1.41%).

With peak travel season around the corner, VFS Global invites the travel trade fraternity to a webinar to learn more about the organisation’s new initiatives to ensure seamless visa application experiences, as well as the optional services on offer to customers. The webinar is scheduled for 26 February 2020 at 12 PM, and will highlight how VFS Global and the travel fraternity can work together for a smooth summer season.

In IATA’s recently released 20-year air passenger forecast, India will displace the UK to be the third largest aviation market with 278 million passengers in 2026. More passengers mean bigger crowds and more stringent security requirements, adding up to longer queues and greater potential for disruption. These factors could be why travellers are increasingly prioritising comfort over more functional concerns such as cost and efficiency.