The Fern Hotels & Resorts has opened-The Fern Residency, Satara in Maharashtra, taking the tally to 61 hotels managed by the company. Commenting on the opening of the hotel, the COO of the company, Suhail Kannampilly said, “We are increasing our presence in Maharashtra very rapidly and people of the state are responding to our hospitality in a very positive manner”. The Fern Residency, Satara is a 60-room hotel that offers a roof top restaurant with 2 banquet halls and a gym. The hotel is situated on the Pune-Bangalore National Highway, just 2 kms away from the city center with an easy access to public transport. All the major sightseeing attractions like Kaas Pathar – Valley of Flowers which is world heritage sight declared by UNESCO, Koyna Dam, Bamnoli Thoseghar Waterfall, Sajjangad Fort and Chalkewadi Windmills are in the vicinity.

IndiGo in an attempt to grow its global presence, will launch its new route, Chennai-Kuala Lumpur. The service will commence on 15 July on Airbus A320 aircraft and will connect KL twice everyday from Chennai. The first flight of the day will depart at 05:05 and the second will depart at 17:45. The reservations are now open.

Atlas Travels Online and OYO have come together to provide the hotel brand’s worldwide inventory on the Atlas Travels Online platform. Together, they will offer 10 per cent cash back on booking any OYO hotel on Atlas Travel Online portal This offer is valid for 30-days starting from June 25, 2019. The offer is extended only to Atlas Travel Online’s network of 20,000 travel partners. The two companies will conduct joint roadshows across the country to showcase the benefits of this promotion to the travel partners. Hussain Patel Director, Atlas Travels Online, says, “We have predominantly been known for our Air deals and offers, however in the past year we have experienced great momentum in our hotel booking segment. Almost 40 per cent of our business comes from hotel bookings and we have direct relationships with our suppliers. OYO is undoubtedly the largest and the fastest growing hotel chain and we are excited with our partnership as our travel partners have a great deal to benefit from.” With regards to the partnership, Gaurav Ajmera, COO, India and South Asia, OYO Hotels & Homes comments, “Our single-minded focus is to make standardised and trusted quality accommodation at affordable prices accessible to travelers across the globe. We are pleased to partner with Atlas Travel Online, a renowned travel portal, to extend our offering to the portal’s customers and together provide guests across geographies memorable travel experiences. We strongly believe that this partnership will be extremely beneficial for the modern day traveller.”

Royal Air Maroc, Morocco’s national carrier, is offering 5 per cent commission to agents on Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) India. Earlier the IATA commission that the airline was offering was only 3 per cent. The airline is represented in India by APG India, and does not have a any direct connection from India as of now.

The Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has signed an agreement with the Tourist Guides’ Federation of India to increase the guide fee by approximately 10 per cent effective from October 1. The new rates will be valid for a period of two years till September 30, 2021. Sharing more information, Rajeev Mehra, Vice President, IATO said that the agreement has been signed keeping in view the interest of certified tour guides across the country. “IATO President, Pronab Sarkar and TGFI President, Ajay Singh have signed an agreement to hike the fee. The fee and allowances agreed upon should be paid in full and are not negotiable. There will ne no extra charges in addition to the rates agreed upon for escorting groups.” It was also decided that a suitable imprest amount may be given to the guides before the commenecement of their agreement with the mutual understanding in case o outstation trips involving minimum one overnight. Usage and guides and fee structure shall be as per the laid down policies of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

The Indian Railways has decided to bring down the travel time between Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai by 5 hours. The project will be carried out with an investment of Rs 14,000 crore in building infrastructure over the course of next four years. The two routes account for 30% of passenger and 20% of freight traffic. The 100-day plan also includes railways’ earlier proposal of handing over certain routes to private players. This is one of the 11 proposals made by the Indian Railways in its 100-day plan, and instructions have been given to “initiate immediate action” and implement these (projects) by August 31, 2019. Currently, the fastest train on the Delhi-Howrah route takes about 17 hours to complete the journey while the fastest train on the Delhi-Mumbai route takes about 15.5 hours to complete the journey. According to the new proposal, the travel time on both the routes is expected to get reduced to 12 hours and 10 hours, respectively.

Air India is expanding its Delhi–Colombo network, with the new 2nd daily service scheduled from 15 July. Operated by A320, the new flight will operate overnight. Airbus A-320 will be deployed on this route. The flight will depart at 22:25 and will reach Colombo at 02:00.

Alitalia & Air Vistara have entered into a Special Prorate Agreement (SPA) that offers travellers more connectivity and schedules across India. Customers can now book Vistara flights from various destinations in India to New Delhi (DEL), in turn connecting to Rome (FCO) and onward on Alitalia network. The routes include flights between Delhi to Amritsar, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Goa, Pune and Kochi.

OYO Hotels & Homes has announced its plans to invest $300 million over the next few years in the U.S. OYO currently offers living spaces in 35 cities and 10 states including Dallas, Houston, Augusta, Atlanta and Miami, and will expand its presence to cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. “We, at OYO, are thrilled to see our business grow in the U.S., our newest home market. We promise to bring new age hospitality experience at a price point you never imagined; select service hotels are finally going to be fun and beautiful,” said Abhinav Sinha, COO, OYO Hotels & Homes, Global. “We are in the largest country in the world when it comes to the hospitality industry and there is a definite need here for chic and comfortable hospitality experiences at prices never thought of before. We are already 50+ OYO Hotels across 35 cities and 10 States and to celebrate our growth, we plan to invest $300 million over the next few years. It’s going to be all about #LivingTheGoodLife at an OYO near you, and we are excited to continue delivering sincerely against our mission,” he added.

The Finance Ministry is gearing up to come up with a fresh proposal for the sale of national carrier, Air India incorporating issues like crude oil prices and currency exchange rate volatility. The government had failed in its attempts to sale the assets of the airline last year. The proposal to be placed before Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM) will also include option of selling either 100 per cent stake in the airline or government’s 76 per cent stake in Air India. The AISAM, which is basically a Group of Ministers, generally constitutes the Finance Minister, Civil Aviation Minister and the Transport Minister. After the government failed to find any buyer for the debt-ridden carrier last year, it decided to infuse more funds into the airline and take steps to lower debt of Air India by selling its subsidiaries and non-core assets. The government has already asked Air India to finalise its accounts for 2018-19 by June 30.