Air India is all set to fly from Delhi-Kannur, starting April 2, 2019. The newly launched flight will be operating five times a week. The flight will commence from Delhi at 0905 hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will reach Kannur at 1215 hours. After this it will continue to operate from Kannur at 1300 hours to Kozhikode at 1330. The flight will return to Delhi by 1845 hours on the same day via Kannur.

GVK led Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) has completed its runway re-carpeting and maintenance work at the intersection and will resume regular work after a twenty-one-day runway shutdown. The key to success of this project was handing precision on-time re-carpeting work of the runway within its stipulated six hours, maintaining Mumbai’s challenging flight schedule. The re-carpeting of the 50,000 sq. mt. intersection was carried out using state-of-the-art technology which allows ease application, quick-setting features and enables airports to take a load of normal air traffic immediately after application. The resurfacing work was carried by a team of 600 workers in-line with a well-planned exercise to ensure that the work in hand is completed on-time. A military disciplined process was followed right throughout the planning, designing and construction stages with limited aircraft downtime. Mumbai airport is the busiest single-runway airport in the world, having two cross runways, 09/27 (main runway) and 14/32 (secondary runway) handling about 950+ aircraft movements per day. Operating to over 112 destinations in India and around the world, CSMIA has helped the airport set a new record by handling 1,004 aircraft on a single runway on December 8, 2018, surpassing its previous record of handling 1,003 flight movements in a day in June 2018.

In 2018, 23,69,941 tourists have arrived in India through e-tourist visa, according to a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). Tourist arrivals through increased at a CAGR of 251.59 per cent during 2014-17 to reach 1,697,000 tourists in 2017. The government has recently made a series of amendments in the e-visa regime to make it more tourist-friendly. The duration of stay in India of e-tourist and e-business visas is maximum up to one year with multiple entry subject to the stay stipulations. Also, the existing restriction of allowing foreigners for a maximum of three times has also been removed. On e-tourist visa, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 90 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa except nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan. In case of nationals of USA, UK, Canada and Japan, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days. In all cases, no registration will be required. On the changes in e-business visa, continuous stay during each visit shall not exceed 180 days in case of nationals of all countries who are eligible for grant of e-visa. No registration will be required if the stay is for a period of less than 180 days. The e-visa is valid for entry through two more designated airports (Bhubaneswar and Port Blair), raising the total number of such airports to 28.

FCM Travel Solutions and KPMG’s recent whitepaper titled ‘Redefining Corporate Travel Management’ forecasts that there is a growing demand for mobile capabilities in business travel due to higher volumes of millennial travellers. These travellers prefer to research and book both flights and accommodations on mobile. When booking a trip themselves, 60 per cent of India’s millennial business travellers do so online through their desktop or laptop, with 47 per cent of them booking through their smartphones. Travellers today want relevant and timely content at their fingertips. The shifting trends among Indian business travellers, before and during their journeys, is pushing the business travel industry to adapt continually to provide responsive, relevant and timely services for customers. Millennial travellers rely on technology for the entire travel booking process – from online reviews to mobile booking and check-in to staying connected with colleagues in a new city. Majority of travellers prefer online methods of research as it provides greater information, occasionally better deals and higher level of convenience. Hence, providing a seamless and mobile friendly travel experience in a business ecosystem, can help improve an employee’s overall travel experience. Business and leisure travellers alike are demanding greater omni-channel support throughout their travel journey. This presents a significant opportunity for travel management companies, as well as other businesses that support them. Such companies need to provide digital processes and support to enhance their customer’s experience.

Sarovar Hotels and Resorts expands its portfolio in Delhi- NCR region with the signing of another project in Ghaziabad. This will be Sarovar’s eighth property in Uttar Pradesh. The other hotels of the group are in Agra, Vrindavan, Lucknow, Jhansi and a recently signed hotel in Greater Noida West. Commenting on the development, Anil Madhok, Executive Chairman, Sarovar Hotels & Resorts, said “In order to maximize further growth and expansion opportunities, we are delighted to consolidate on our presence in Delhi NCR. With the opening of Sarovar Portico, we aim to cater to these markets by offering best value to business and leisure travellers in sync with Sarovar’s signature hospitality.  

The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), New Delhi, is planning to roll out express check-in counter service for air passengers taking domestic flights from the airport. The service can only be availed by travellers with handbags as luggage. Reportedly, the Delhi airport will introduce this facility by April 2019 at Terminal 2, where low-cost airlines such as Indigo, SpiceJet and GoAir operate. The facility is expected to be extended to Terminals 1 and 3 in future.  

The growth of more than 20 per cent in the number of new routes in India provided a sizeable boost to passenger demand in the market, according to a latest report by International Air Transport Association (IATA). The surging number of international flyers is drawing airlines to new air routes in India. The increase in international air traffic from India and a focus on business and leisure travellers has prompted not only foreign airlines such as Air Italy and NokScoot to launch new routes to destinations in the country but has also got several Indian carriers including Jet Airways and IndiGo to start operations on foreign routes. Although the combination of GDP and network developments explain more than three quarters of the variation in domestic revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) growth rates over time, other factors such as tourism attractiveness, availability of travel alternatives, trade flows and demographics account for the residual growth in traffic in the country. India has become the third largest domestic aviation market in the world and is expected to overtake the UK to become the third largest air passenger market by 2025, states a report by India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). The report reveals that by 2036, India is estimated to have 480 million flyers, which will be more than that of Japan (just under 225 million) and Germany (just over 200 million) together.

Atlas Tours & Travels, a pioneer in the Hajj, Umrah and Halal tourism business in India with over 33 years of experience in this industry, launched India’s first online Umrah booking portal in 2018 to further widen its reach across the country. The platform serves as an end-to-end reservation and servicing tool for its booking centers. Hasan Patel, Director, Atlas Tours & Travels, says, “With listings of our various tour programs year-round, it serves as an easy to use booking engine for our partners. India is seeing very high growth for Umrah tours and many travelers are from tier II and tier III cities. This surge of new travelers in the interiors provides us with a great opportunity to empower our partners present in various cities, towns and districts in India. Atlas is a brand synonymous with Umrah and is known for providing quality. We do this by controlling the entire supply chain and our strong operations team based in Saudi Arabia. Our on-ground capabilities combined with technology and distribution makes us a formidable strength in the industry.”

Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced that 2019 will mark record growth for Hyatt in India. Expansion plans foresee the addition of over 2,100 guestrooms through the opening of more than 14 new properties over the next 24 months. Aside from growth in the larger capital cities, the emphasis will be on leisure and cultural destinations, with a focus on emerging cities within India. As a result of an increasingly favorable business climate and heightened tourism spend, encouraged by relaxed visa rules and a growing upper middle class, there is a general demand for growth in the hospitality industry in India. This expansion includes hotels in eight new markets in the country, thereby establishing Hyatt’s brand presence across 27 cities in India over the next 24 months. “Hyatt is one of the longest-running international hotel management brands in India, the first Hyatt hotels in India opened over 30 years ago,” said Dhruva Rathore, Vice President Development-India, Hyatt. “Our heritage and experience in this complex market, paired with the strong relationships we hold with local developers and owners has helped make India one of the top three growth markets for Hyatt globally.”

TBO Group has announced the acquisition of Island Hopper and Clickitbookit; who are leading companies in terms of passengers visiting the island nations of Mauritius, Maldives and Seychelles. Speaking on the acquisition, Ankush Nijhawan, Co-Founder, TBO Group, said, “Island Hopper and Clickitbookit has enjoyed a ‘Numero Uno’ position in these markets and with this acquisition TBO will expand its leisure travel product footprint and scope in these island nations too.”