Airbus has appointed Anand E Stanley, a veteran leader in the global aerospace and defence industry, to succeed Pierre de Bausset as President and Managing Director of Airbus India. Stanley and Bausset will work through a transition before the new appointment takes effect on October 1, 2018. Stanley brings a wealth of international experience in Sales, P&L management, M&A, Aftermarket and Manufacturing. His knowledge of the Indian market will deepen Airbus’ commitment to the local aerospace and defence industries, and will drive its indigenisation to boost India’s economic growth. He will pursue the consolidation of Airbus businesses in India with a view to further reinforcing the position of the group for long-term success and growth in India. “Anand will successfully leverage the large fleet of our products flying in India, our support and services capability, the quality of our engineering team and the deep links that have been forged with local aerospace and defense industrial partners,” said Patrick de Castelbajac, Executive Vice President – Strategy & International, Airbus. A polyglot who has lived and worked in eight countries, Stanley served as Global Executive Vice President – Strategy, The Linde Group prior to joining Airbus. He started his aerospace career at Pratt & Whitney before holding multiple leadership roles within UTC and Lockheed Martin.      

In a crucial update, Air China has announced that it will discontinue IATA commission on SOTO (sold outside ticketed outside) tickets effective September 1, 2018. According to a statement released by the airline, any ticket issue with wrong commission would attract Agency Debit Memo (ADM). Earlier, Jet Airways and Oman Air have also have withdrawn IATA commission for agents.

In the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for creating digital museums at stations using QR code, Ministry of Railways has recently made ‘digital screens’ operational at 22 stations as an innovative low-cost solution to spread awareness among public about the heritage of Indian Railways. Being initiated on a pilot basis, the project aims at showcasing the legacy of Indian Railways through one to two minute-long movie clips on digital LED screens at the entrance gate of railway stations and also at different comfort areas. The short films will showcase heritage buildings, locomotives and much more to make people aware of the rich heritage of Indian Railways. For now, the screens have been set up at New Delhi, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Howrah, Sealdah, Jaipur, Agra Cantonment, Coimbatore, Lucknow, Varanasi and other railway stations. In addition, QR code based posters on Railway Heritage are also being displayed at these stations. Passenger can scan the QR code on their mobile to view a streaming video on their mobile on various facades of Railway heritage.  

Due to heavy rains in Kerala, operations to and from Cochin airport have been suspended from August 15-18, 2018 on account of water rising in the operational area. However, Trivandrum and Calicut airports are available for scheduled operations. For international operations, both immigration and customs facilities are available 24*7 at these airports. Trivandrum airport can also accommodate wide-body aircraft. In view of the above and to cater for the stranded passengers, scheduled domestic airlines have been advised to reschedule their flights to/from Cochin to Trivandrum and Calicut airports till such time the situation at Cochin airport returns to normal. All scheduled domestic airlines have been advised to ensure that airfares for flights to/from   Trivandrum   and   Calicut  airports  in   Kerala are kept at optimal level proportionate to sector distance so that travelling public is not inconvenienced.

TruJet is now connecting 14 major destinations in South India including Cuddapah, Nanded, Bellary, Mysore and Salem in the Regional Connectivity Scheme. The airline has been further awarded with 20 new routes in the western and eastern states, and will connect Kandla, Porbandar, Keshod, Jaisalmer, Jalgaon & Nasik from Ahmedabad & Burnpur, Cooch Behar, Tezu and Rupsi from Guwahati. This ushers the commencement of the second phase of TruJet‘s “Sky for ALL” effort where Trujet connects Bharat with India and promotes the unserved/underserved cities to the metropolitans. TruJet has been the first airline to complete all the route connectivity in the first bid of UDAN and Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued a citation for TruJet for being the first airline to commence flight operation in all the RCS routes awarded in UDAN.  

India’s currency, the rupee, fell to an all-time low, breaching the 70 mark against the US dollar. Guldeep Singh Sahni, Founder President, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI), said, “The drop in currency is definitely going to affect the outbound tour operators. Family travel is also going to be hit adversely as they are majorly in groups; so the amount involved is huge. However, the impact is only going to be momentary and not last for long.” On the impact of outbound tourism, Mahendra Vakharia, President, OTOAI, said, “Agents need to secure higher rates with their banks before pitching to clients and watch the movements of the market.”

In line with its stated objectives of driving higher online revenues and tech adoption in its 68 properties, Madhya Pradesh Tourism has chosen DJUBO as its hotel technology ERP partner providing them an all-in-one offering including cloud-based property management system, online channel management, direct booking engine, point of sale and accounting back end integrations. Speaking on the occasion of the launch of this partnership, Sankalp Goel, Co-Founder, DJUBO stated, “It is an honour that DJUBO has been chosen by MP Tourism after a thorough examination of various national and international technology product companies. It is a great testament to the all-in-one hotel technology solution that DJUBO has been building for 3 years and gaining rapid traction for.” Vijay Kumar, Chief Corporate Marketing Executive, Madhya Pradesh Tourism said, “DJUBO offers state-of-the-art capabilities coupled with new age integrations and an extremely user-friendly interface to ensure quick and widespread adoption across all our hotel staff members. DJUBO will help MP Tourism increase its revenues through online platforms both domestic and international through its channel management capabilities. At the same time, we will be using DJUBO’s Property Management and Point of Sale capabilities to manage their front office, restaurant and travel desk.” MP Tourism and DJUBO have also worked together to launch a new product called DJUBO AgentConnekt which will connect hundreds of MP Tourism travel agents across the country to the Centralized Reservation System offered by DJUBO.  

Dr Najma A Heptulla, Governor of Manipur, has recently inaugurated the project ‘Development of North East Circuit: Imphal & Khongjom’ implemented under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India in the presence of N Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Manipur; K J Alphons, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Rashmi Verma, Union Tourism Secretary in Imphal at a function held at Kangla Fort. Speaking on the occasion, Heptulla drew the attention of Government of India on the huge potential of the tourism industry of the state which comes in the form of culture, sports, arts, eco, histor, handloom and handicrafts. Alphons, in his speech, congratulated the Government of Manipur for its commendable work in tourism sector of the state and suggested to come up with even more brighter projects and express his willingness to be generous on the projects to be taken up in North East. Singh, in his remarks, has proposed for three more projects for development and strengthening of eco, ethnic and sports tourism at Loktak Lake, Mapithel Dam and Shadu Chiru. He also expressed his happiness on the progress of Kangkhui cave tourism project. The project under inauguration was sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism in September 2015 for Rs 72.30 crores. The project covers two sites, namely, Kangla Fort and Khongjom.

Since the introduction of the new visa system by the Department of Home Affairs (HA), arrivals from India to Australia have surged by 20 per cent. The online application process provides a more convenient option for Indians looking to visit Australia, by allowing them to apply for their Australian tourist visa within the comfort of their home, without any biometric requirement or physically submitting their passport to the Department. Tania Gerlach, Chief Migration Officer, Department of Home Affairs, commented, “The expansion of online lodgement to Indian applicants is an important step in managing the large number of visitor visa applications processed in India. Processing times for these visas are now faster, as both applications and supporting documentation are immediately available to the processing office.” Nishant Kashikar, Country Manager – India, Tourism Australia, said, “We see the introduction of online visitor visa lodgement as a progressive and innovative measure to ease travel logistics. In addition to destination delights to woo potential tourists, ease of access is usually seen as a catalyst that drives decision making.” Consumers can conveniently apply for their Australian visitor visa through the Department’s Immi Account portal. Online visa lodgement offers benefits such as 24/7 accessibility, electronic payment of the visa application charge and the ability to check the status of applications lodged online.

The Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) unveiled its new initiative on digital empowerment called TAAI Connect. This will support member agencies to encounter the fast evolving, challenging and demanding market scenario. TAAI Connect will enable agents to have their own website, combine their website with a booking platform integrated with their GDS and ticketing, connect the website with payment gateway linked with their own bank, a corporate booking tool and a mobile application to manage bookings through smartphones and many more services. TAAI has associated with TPConnects, a Dubai based technology company for TAAI Connect which will provide all technical support and integration. Speaking at the launch in Mumbai, Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI said, “TAAI Connect is a revolutionary initiative in the area of technology offering handholding and empowering travel agencies to go digital. A lot of online companies have lost money in creating the online platform rather than running it. Here the agents do not have to invest in technology and integration that TAAI is offering. This will also be available to non-IATA travel agents and non-TAAI agents while they would have to take up membership with TAAI. We will be working with all suppliers in the industry.”