India is set to become the third largest aviation passenger market by 2040 with a total of 1.3 billion passengers, according to 2019 World Traffic Forecasts, released by the Airport Council International (ACI) World. China was placed at the first position with 3.5 billion passengers, followed by United States at the second spot with 2.9 billion passengers in 2040, in the report. Together, these three countries would handle almost 40 per cent of the global passenger traffic. India is also expected to be the third leading market for aircraft movements by 2040, after the US (23 per cent), China (16) with four per cent of global aircraft movements.

Travelling to India is affordable for almost 150 million Chinese, states a report by China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI). About 0.8% of Chinese, or roughly 12 million persons, can be considered as affluent. Out of these about 30%, or 3.5 million persons, are in fact, USD millionaires. Close to 10% or 135 million persons are members of the upper-middle class.

During the month of September, 2019, a total of 1,97,948 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 1,58,884 during the month of September, 2018 registering a growth of 24.6%, according to Ministry of Tourism statistics. During January- September 2019, a total of 18,98,665 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 15,77,418 during January- September 2018, registering a growth of 20.4%. The percentage shares of top 15 source countries availing e-Tourist Visa facilities during September, 2019 were highest from China (11.87%), followed by USA (9.91%), UK (8.84%), Malaysia (6.09%), Australia (4.72%), Germany (3.95%), France (3.75), Israel (3.26%), Canada (2.68%), Singapore (2.67%), Spain (2.59%), Japan (2.52%), Oman (2.31%), Italy (2.12%) and Indonesia (2.07%).

AirAsia India is planning to expand its fleet size to 100 aircraft in the next five years. “We have firmed up plans to add 14-15 planes every year starting next year for the next five years. We have remained a small player in the Indian market till now with just 23 planes, which will increase to 29 planes by the end of December,” said a senior official of the airline. The airline also said that they are also looking at leasing out planes directly from lessors.  AirAsia India currently has 23 planes, which will rise to 29 by December-end. On an average, it will add 14-15 aircraft every year. It has added 326 departures in the ongoing winter schedule. The airline’s expansion plans focus on strengthening the network on existing routes rather than adding new routes. (Source: Economic Times)

Subhash Goyal, Hony. Secretary, FAITH, has revealed that they will have an urgent meeting with the hoteliers and stakeholders of the industry on promoting India as an attractive destination internationally, for which they will launch a common logo that can be used by everyone in the industry (tour operators and hoteliers) on their websites. He also revealed that Chander Mansharamani, Vice- Chairman, ICPB, will be the Chairman of India Tourism Mart 2020. He said that the idea is to double the number of tourists in the next few years and that the benefit of reduction in GST is passed on to the final customer so that the Indian package becomes cheaper than what it is currently.

Realty developers Prestige Group and DB Realty have entered into a JV to develop a hospitality-led project spread over a 7.7 acre land parcel in Delhi’s Aerocity. The property is said to have 932 rooms and 6.50 lakh sqft of office space apart from a 2 lakh sqft convention centre. The project is expected to be completed by 2022. The transaction advisor of this deal is JLL India, shares an official source of JLL. DB Group acquired the development rights of the land from DIAL in 2009.  

Foreign airlines’ flight operations in India are going to increase by 3.05 per cent this ‘winter schedule’, which starts on October 27 and ends on March 28, 2020, according to DGCA. An official of DGCA said, “The data shows that in last year’s winter schedule, foreign airlines operated 2,262 flights per week, which would increase by 3.05 per cent to 2,331 flights per week in this year’s winter schedule.” In total, 85 foreign airlines operated to and from India during last year’s winter schedule as compared to 86 foreign carriers which would be operating in the same period this year, the official said.

IndiGo has joined IATA as a member and this announcement followed soon after the airline’s recent expansion into Vietnam, Myanmar, China and Saudi Arabia. IndiGo is currently an IOSA registered airline and IATA Clearing House member. IATA is the global trade association for the airline industry, representing over 290 airlines. This membership will help IndiGo align to global practices developed by IATA and will further strengthen the airline’s partnership portfolio.

Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) has launched direct service between Chennai and Tokyo. With the new service, Chennai has become the first city in South India to have the flight connectivity to the Narita International Airport, Tokyo. The Chennai-Narita connect will operate thrice a week on Friday, Sunday and Wednesday, AAI said.

The Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) airport in North Karnataka is ready and the state government is trying to get Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate it. The airport was earlier proposed to begin operations from November 1 but has been delayed as a lot of permission has to be sought from many departments, told Umesh Jadhav, Kalaburagi Member of Parliament.