The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has declared that India’s domestic market rose just 3.1 per cent in March, down from February’s growth of 8.3 per cent.  These figures were part of the global passenger traffic results for March 2019, released by IATA, which shows that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs) rose 3.1 per cent, compared to the same month a year ago, which was the slowest pace for any month in nine years. The numbers are way against the scorching five-year average growth pace of close to 20 per cent per month.The slowdown comes in line with the reduction in flight operations of Jet Airways, which stopped flying in April, as well as disruptions at Mumbai airport owing to construction.

Budget-carrier of Singapore Airlines group, Scoot has commenced its daily non-stop flight from Singapore to Thiruvananthapuram as the airline also announced to cease its operations from Lucknow by June-end owing to weak demand on the route. The inaugural flight took off from Singapore on Tuesday with a 180-seater Airbus A320 aircraft at around 8:40 pm local time and reached the Thiruvananthapuram airport at around 10 pm local time, said the airline in a statement. After Thiruvananthapuram, Scoot is planning to start flights to Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam later this year. Commenting on the launch, Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer, Scoot, “The transfer of SilkAirs services to Scoot is intended to further optimise the SIA Groups resources and present a better match of capacity to demand. Scoot is well- poised to provide competitive pricing and strengthen Scoots presence in the India market.” With Thiruvananthapuram, Scoot now flies to eight cities in the country – Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, Tiruchirappalli. However, while the services to Lucknow will be discontinued after June 29, the services on the Singapore- Bengaluru route will be operated by the parent Singapore Airlines, effective May 16, the airline said.

IndiGo has recently opened reservation for its expanded service to Kathmandu, where the airline has scheduled 2nd daily Delhi–Kathmandu flight. From 20 June, the new flight will operate in the afternoon hours, with Airbus A320.

In a bid to fast track its efforts to fly international, Vistara Airlines is reportedly planning to acquire 16 aircraft from now-grounded Jet Airways for using the aircraft for long-haul flights to Europe. The 16 planes, which the Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture is looking to acquire include 10 Boeing 777, three Boeing 737 and three Airbus A330 wide-body planes, reported Business Standard. The report said that Vistara is likely to use the new aircraft for international long haul flights to Europe and North America. Earlier, the airline was looking to induct the aircraft for short-haul (less than five hours) international flights but the plans seem to have changed, the report added.   Under its fleet expansion plans, Vistara has already ordered six Boeing 787 Dreamliners for international routes, which the airline is expecting to start receiving by January 2020.

SpiceJet has introduced business class on its flights post acquiring 737-800 aircraft from grounded Jet Airways’ fleet, allowing passengers to book business class with fares at 30-40% less expensive than its competitors. Starting May 11, the airline will offer business class tickets on domestic routes between major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It is believed that average business class fares would moderate in the coming days since Jet Airways, the largest provider of business class seats, shut operations last month. SpiceJet has inducted around eight Jet Airways’ aircraft with unchanged seat configuration including the business class cabin. For instance, SpiceJet is offering fares at Rs 32,000 for return journey on the Delhi-Mumbai route, as compared to around Rs 46,000 offered by other full-service carriers like Vistara and Air India. On the Delhi-Bengaluru route, SpiceJet is charging return fare at Rs 40,000 for a two-way travel, compared to Rs 53,000 offered by both Air India and Vistara.

Global Hospitality Conclave will now take place on 12 October at The Leela Ambience Gurugram Hotel. The conclave is a strong platform for participants to project their capabilities and opportunities to the industry elite from across the global hospitality spectrum. The trends and opportunities in the current hospitality landscape of the country and the world at large.

HRANI’s next conclave has been scheduled for Monday, May 27, 2019 in Ludhiana, Punjab at 1800 hrs onwards. The conclave will be inaugurated by Chief Guest, Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The conclaves are planned and organised by HRANI in all nine state of North India on rotation basis. The last conclave held in Uttar Pradesh’s capital, Lucknow, themed on the Environmental Concerns of Hospitality Industry witnessed participation in good numbers. The sessions captivated the audience and a Guide for Waste Management in Hospitality Industry was launched during the last HRANI Conclave. This time, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India (HRANI) in collaboration with Hotel & Restaurant Association of Punjab (HRAP) has planned to introduce ‘HRANI Awards – Ludhiana Edition’. The awards have been instituted by HRANI to encourage industry professionals and recognize excellence, in the hospitality industry. More information can be found on HRANI’s website about the awards. The session on Hygiene Rating is planned with the aim to sensitize hoteliers and restaurateurs about the various benefits of the rating system. Apart from that, knowledge drive presentation on re-purposing used cooking oil into bio-diesel and FSSAI’s Hygiene Rating initiative are planned in the interest of the hotel and restaurant members. Start-ups such as BioD have initiated the repurposing of used cooking oil with the objective to create sustainable solutions for a greener environment and a healthier society. The knowledge will highlight the harmful effects of consuming cooking oil which is used and re-used.  

Sri Lanka‘s Tourism Development Authority has reported that Indian visitor arrivals to Sri Lanka has declined by 21.5% in the month of Apr-2019. Sri Lanka witnessed a series of blasts on April 21, which has led to the decline in tourism in the country. There has been a decline of total 8% in tourist arrivals in the country.   (Source: CAPA)

Ginger has signed a new property in Dwarka, Gujarat, taking its count to 11 hotels in the state. The 99-rooms property will have an all-day diner, a meeting room and a fitness centre offering a truly seamless stay experience to its guests. The hotel is a management contract agreement with Bluerock Hospitality Ventures Pvt. Ltd and is slated to commence operations by the end of May 2019. Deepika Rao, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ginger said, “We are happy to partner with Blue Rock Hospitality Ventures in the pilgrimage city of Dwarka. With this hotel, we will expand our footprint to 795 keys in the vibrant state of Gujarat.” Dwarka is an ancient city and is well known for its many temples. The city also has a beautiful beach overlooking the vast expanses of the Arabian Sea, a wildlife sanctuary and many more tourist attractions.  

Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second-biggest carrier, will be shutting its India operations from July 8 along with two routes in Russia.  The airline will also suspend its first-class service in a move to improve profitability and enhance safety. Asiana Airlines website says that it is now only taking bookings until July 7 from Delhi to Incheon.