Thousands of people have been affected by power outages in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with lake effect snow expected across the Great Lakes area as the powerful winter storm exits the Northeast. Nearly 14,000 flights from, through, and to the U.S. were delayed and more than 1,200 flights were cancelled on Tuesday, while more than 4,637 are delayed and 463 were cancelled on Wednesday. A new storm brewing off the West Coast is expected to bring heavy rainfall and snow showers. New Jersey has been hit with the bulk of it, with more than 32,000 power outage incidents currently reported in the state.

Lisbon Airport will close for five months at the start of next year as it undergoes work which will increase its capacity. The closure will happen overnight in January 2020 until the summer months to allow the airport to expand. The city’s airport will be closing for crucial expansion works between 23:30 and 06:00 starting January 2020. The airport anticipates work expanding taxiways and aircraft parking will last for a maximum of six months. And the reason behind it all? The €1 billion construction will help growth in the capital from foreign travel. Flights will not be allowed to operate between the times of the airport closure which has forced low-cost airline EasyJet to alter some of its routes. The airline has even had to axe its Lisbon to Lille service which normally operates between these times.  

Met Office weather warnings are currently live for parts of the UK, as the country struggles under cold and blustery conditions. This week, forecasters have issued several yellow warnings for the country, as fog, rain and floods threaten to cause chaos across parts of east and south England, especially around London, Brighton and Salisbury. The Met Office has warned there is a chance flights may be delayed or cancelled due to visibility. The warning for fog is in place from 4am on the day, and is expected to last until 11am, causing possible delays to bus and train services.

The French national strikes across the country has affected transport and travel to and from France with several airlines cancelling flights and severe delays expected travelling via trains, metros, buses and trams. EasyJet, British Airways, and Ryanair have already been forced to cancel a number of services as a result. While the strike will mainly affect local transport, French air traffic controllers (ATC) and airport fire service are also planning to walk out, which will mean disruption to flights to and from France as well as over French air space. EasyJet has already cancelled 233 flights across its network. British Airways and Ryanair has also cancelled a number of flights. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office warned of severe delays that could affect “trains, metros, busses and trams” across France. Travellers heading to France next week should therefore check before they travel to make sure services are still running. Other international rail services such as those to the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Germany may also be affected.  

South Africa is going to place its state-owned flag carrier, South African Airlines into a local form of bankruptcy protection in a last-ditch effort to avert a full collapse. The airline has incurred huge losses and has availed state bailouts as well in last 10 years. The airline will now work on a bankruptcy alternative to avoid closure. The airline is the first South African state company to enter business rescue since the end of the apartheid in 1994. The South African Airlines, which also owns Mango, a budget carrier, and has stakes in local airlines of South Africa, has struggled to compete internationally with resurgent African state-owned rivals. It has been unable to release financial results for the past two years.

The government has approved transfer of 3.7 acres of land at Pragati Maidan here to ITDC and ITPO on a 99-year lease for Rs 611 crore to set up a five-star hotel. Giving details, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prakash Javadekar, said India Trade Promotion Organisation, which manages Pragati Maidan, will undertake a mega project to redevelop the land into a world-class International Exhibition and Convention Centre. The implementation of the International Exhibition and Convention Centre (IECC) project is in full swing and scheduled to be completed in the year 2020-21, said an official release. The approval has been given for “transfer of 3.7 acres of land at Pragati Maidan on a 99-year fixed leasehold basis at a price of Rs 611 crore in favour of the special purpose vehicle (SPV), which will be formed by India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for development and operation of a five-star hotel.” In order to ensure completion of the hotel project in a fast track mode, the SPV will take necessary steps including selecting a suitable developer and operator third party through a transparent competitive bidding process to construct, run and manage (directly or through a professional brand) the hotel on a long-term fixed lease basis. Throughout the world, a hotel facility is an integral part of any Meetings, Initiatives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) hub/destination, the release said. “Hotel facility will add value to IECC project and promote India as a global destination for trade and commerce along with employment generation,” it said. The International Trade Fair which has lakhs of visitors and small traders participating every year will also benefit from the transformation of Pragati …

The Supreme Court has permitted building of an additional terminal at Agra airport near Taj Mahal but made it clear that it would not allow increase in air traffic on the airfield as that will be hazardous to environment and asked the Centre to consider luxurious trains like the ‘Palace on wheels’ to the city. The apex court also directed the Centre to consider an alternative airport site to meet the increase in the air traffic due to rise in tourist influx to visit the Taj Mahal and other destinations in and around Agra in Uttar Pradesh. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde made it clear that it was willing to allow the construction of additional terminal at the existing airport but was against increasing the air traffic which could “damage” the environment in an “eco-sensitive area” having some world heritage sites including Taj Mahal.

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts has opened Shravanthi Sarovar Portico in South Bengaluru. This will be brand’s sixth hotel after Davanam Sarovar Portico Suites, La Marvella Sarovar Premiere, Radha Hometel, Radisson Blu and RBD Sarovar Portico. The hotel offers easy access to the Central Business District and electronic city and is in close proximity to major tech parks and entertainment hubs. It offers 80 newly renovated guest rooms, an all-day dining restaurant, club bar, fitness center and conferencing facilities. The redecorated lobby is spacious and comprises of a coffee lounge, just the perfect setting for relaxation or business networking. Shravanthi Sarovar Portico has different decorative themes on each of the four floors. From Scandinavian to Spanish county to Manhattan to the Royal, the hotel’s theme floors and rooms will leave the traveler with a signature experience akin to none. On the launch, Ajay Bakaya, Managing Director, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said, “We are happy to associate with Shravanthi Group for our new property in South Bangalore. We found great synergies with the group and are excited about our association. With an apt location and serene atmosphere, our new property will be a home away from home for both business and leisure travelers.”

Alliance Air flights will connect Guwahati-Dimapur & Dimapur-Imphal from December 7, 2019, revealed Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Civil Aviation Minister. The Guwahati-Dimapur flight will be twice-a-week, while the Dimapur-Imphal flight will operate thrice-a-week. He further mentioned that the new connection would enhance aviation connectivity to prominent cities of Northeast region. “Instead of the nearly seven hour bus ride between Guwahati & Dimapur, people can now fly between the cities in just 50 minutes. I will also provide connectivity with Imphal for the first time,” read his Tweet.

The second edition of PATA Tourism Powerhouse, presented by Inder Sharma Foundation, will present a huge line-up of speakers. The speakers include, Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary Tourism and Chairman, PATA India Chapter; Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA; John Koldowski, Professor, School of Tourism, Leshan Normal University, Sichuan Province, China; Sarah Mathews- Group Head of Destination Marketing APAC, TripAdvisor; Damian Cook, Founder and CEO of E- tourism Frontiers; Greg Klassen , Principal, Twenty31 Consulting; Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Georg Atil, Founder and CEO, COTRI; Kapil Kaul, CEO & Director of CAPA South Asia; Sam McGoun, CEO, Impact Tourism; and Parishmita Gogoi, Student, Masters in Travel and Tourism Management, Amity University. Jatinder Taneja, Vice- Chairman, PATA India Chapter, revealed, “We have flown in a lot of international speakers who will be talking to us, or educating us about the global trends going on in tourism. Mario Hardy, CEO, PATA international will also be coming. There will be Professor Wolfgang Georg Arit from China Outbound Tourism Research Institute (COTRI), who will be speaking about Indo-China tourism and how we can get a lot of tourists from China. We are also going to talk about the perspective of the new generation traveller and what all he/ she are expecting from tourism and how they want to travel. At the same time, we have Sara Mathews from TripAdvisor, who will be speaking on high impact of social media on tourism. Hence, we have got many interesting subjects, and there will be a lot of learning from all these international speakers and we expect that it will go well.”