Leading Nordic airline, Finnair is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in the Indian market. Finnair commenced operations to New Delhi on November 1, 2006, flying three times a week. Currently, Finnair offers three weekly services between Delhi and Helsinki during the summer timetable period and five weekly services during the winter period. Thanks to Helsinki’s optimal geographical position, flight time from Helsinki to New Delhi is only 6 hours and 35 minutes, over 30 minutes faster than on any other route from Western Europe to India. Finnair’s convenient day time departures from Delhi fly the short and efficient route via Helsinki, to more than 50 major destinations in Europe. The convenience of Finnair’s flights ensures customers arrive refreshed for business or leisure once they arrive at their destination. Finnair operates a modern Airbus fleet ensuring maximum passenger comfort while minimizing the environmental burden of air travel. “This is an important milestone for our airline. In the last decade, Finnair has offered excellent day time departures from Delhi and efficient flight connections to the European continent,” says Desmond Chacko, General Manager for Finnair in India. “With our modern fleet and the convenience of our Helsinki hub as a transit point for our Indian customer, we aim for another 10 years of successful operations.”

Hilton Worldwide Holdings, HNA Group and Blackstone has announced that HNA will acquire an approximate 25 per cent equity interest in Hilton from affiliates of Blackstone, establishing a long-term strategic investment in Hilton and Hilton’s planned spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts (Park) and Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV). The transaction is valued at approximately $6.5 billion, or $26.25 per share in cash, reducing Blackstone’s interest in Hilton to approximately 21 per cent. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Following Hilton’s previously announced spin-offs of Park and HGV, which are expected to occur on or about the end of the year, HNA will own approximately 25 per cent of all three companies.

China’s Ctrip, the second largest online travel agency in the world after Priceline has set its eyes on the U.S. market with its acquisition of three U.S. based tour operators in a bid to boost business and improve service levels for Chinese outbound travellers vacationing in the U.S., said Tao Yang, a Ctrip senior vice president and head of its vacation business. The tour operators — Universal Vision, Ctour and Tours for Fun — stated they would also benefit from access to Ctrip’s customer base and technology. Ctrip took a majority stake in each of these tour operators for what the online travel agency describes as a marriage to form a Quartet focusing on Chinese travellers touring and visiting attractions in the U.S. But that partnership is distinct from Ctrip’s strategic plan to create a U.S. point of sale to sell travel globally, and this would put Ctrip in competition in the U.S. with partners such as the Priceline Group and Expedia, Yang said. He also said the relationships with Expedia and the Priceline Group would include elements of both partnership and competition, as is common in the travel industry.

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic announced expanded cooperation with Jet Airways to provide convenient codeshare connections for customers between key destinations across North America and India via London-Heathrow. Effective Nov 2, Jet Airways customers flying between India and North America will be able to connect through London-Heathrow on to nine U.S. destinations operated by Delta. These destinations include: Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, Salt Lake City and Seattle. In turn, Delta and Virgin Atlantic customers flying between North America and India will be able to connect with Delta codeshare onto Jet Airways’ flights to Mumbai and Delhi via London-Heathrow and onward to 20 destinations within India. The new Delta codeshare destinations include Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Calicut, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mangalore, Pune, Trivandrum and Vadodara. The new routes complement Delta and Jet Airways destinations available through existing codeshare agreements via Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Paris-Charles de Gaulle. “With up to 11,000 people flying daily between India and North America, and with trade and tourism flows increasing between the U.S., U.K. and India, we are giving our customers more versatile schedule options between North America and India,” said Nat Pieper, Delta’s Senior Vice President – Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. “For the first time, customers will be able to hold a single Delta ticket from North America through London to India providing coordinated customer service all the way through to their final destinations.”

Vistara surprised its three millionth customer at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport with a grand welcome and a live acoustic music performance. The passenger also received a courtesy upgrade to Vistara’s Business Class cabin on his flight to Delhi. Expressing delight on the milestone achievement,  Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara, said, “There’s nothing more satisfying for us than to see our customers reacting positively to our product and service. 3 million is not just any number to us. It is a significant milestone in our journey to become a world-renowned airline of choice esteemed for its exceptional customer service. This milestone celebration could not have been more timely, taking place just before Diwali. Our fast growing fan base is a strong endorsement of our brand and a fruition of our relentless commitment to transforming the flying experience in India, forever. This milestone achievement only strengthens our resolve further to delight our customers at every encounter, on every journey. We look forward to welcoming our five millionth customer on board soon.”

The Skål International Club of Mumbai recently held its 60th Annual General Meeting in Mumbai where it announced its new team. The new incoming board has Partha Chatterjee, a veteran hotelier taking over the mantle of the President for the term 2016-2018. Others include Burjis Mehta (Vice President), Kuldeep Bhartee (Vice President), Sunil Acharya (Secretary), Vaibhav Kedia (Treasurer), Rosita Haribal (Member – Memberships), Jyot Jhaveri (Member – Memberships), Arvind Tandon (Member – PR), Ajay Chhabria (Member – PR), Sujata Mariwala (Member – Sponsorships), Vinayakk Laud (Member – Sponsorships), Kunal Sampat (Member – Events), Suresh Gulrajani (Member – Events) and Sonalee Vaz (Member FVF). Speaking about the focus of the new team Chatterjee said, “Events, Networking across Fraternal clubs and Chambers of Commerce, trade with each other and introductions to Government bodies for improving tourism in the country will be the focus for the coming year.” Carl Vaz, Outgoing  President for Skål Club of Bombay and current Second Vice President, Skål International India, said “It has been a memorable journey since taking over in 2012. We have managed to bring back Skål Bombay from the brink of closure where it languished at just around 30 odd members to over 150 as on date. Skål Bombay now boasts of a wide representation of senior travel professionals comprising travel agents and tour operators, hospitality, airlines and tourism boards. My goal of turning around Skål Club of Bombay has been achieved.” Skål Bombay has 154 members across every sphere of tourism activities from hotels, travel agents, airlines, railways, cruise liners, airports, car rentals, restaurants, golf courses, conference organisers, casinos, etc.

After strategic tie-ups with four state tourism departments across India for joint promotion of homestays, Stayzilla the largest homestay aggregator now gets on board with Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) to promote and launch more homestays in the region. The MoU was signed and exchanged in the presence of Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Dr. Raman Singh, M.T. Nandi – IFS – Managing Director – Chhattisgarh Tourism Board, Shreerang Pathak – Deputy General Manager – Chhattisgarh Tourism Board, Dilip Acharya – Head Operations Section – Chhattisgarh Tourism Board and Ankit Rastogi, VP Marketplace, Stayzilla.com. Under this agreement, Stayzilla will support verification procedures, jointly boost homestays in cities & places of interest within Chhattisgarh. All homestays registered within the state will receive technical support in the form of inventory management and software applications to ensure seamless booking procedures. Stayzilla & Chhattisgarh Tourism Board (CTB) will also jointly conduct educational and training sessions for Chhattisgarh registered homestays on best practices such as online usage, content management, operations and expense management.

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has announced the launch of its special Diwali package to Alibaug this festive season. The tour will start from Gateway of India and will proceed to Mandava by ferryboat and will further proceed to the majestic Murud Janjira fort. Tourists will get to experience destinations like the beautiful Birla Mandir which lies on the Alibaug-Roha route, near Salve Village and sightseeing at beaches like Alibaug, Nagav, and Kihim. The 1 night, 2 days package is valid for October 30, 2016. Swati Kale, General Manager, MTDC commented on this initiative and said, “Under the guidance of Jaykumar Jitendrasinh Rawal, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra, MTDC has introduced this package to celebrate the festival of lights in a whole new illuminating way. This initiative will not only increase tourism activities in the state, but also give an opportunity to tourists from outside the state and experience the pristine and tranquil beaches of Alibaug. The pick-up for this package will be at 7.30 am from Gateway of India.” The cost of this tour is Rs 6,897 for Single Room Occupancy and Rs 5,419 on Twin Sharing Basis and includes all meals.

India’s first Aero Expo organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Civil Aviation in association with Litmus Communications, will be held in New Delhi this November. The expo aims to deliberate on remote and regional connectivity, development of technology and infrastructure, along with the new opportunities embodied in the industry in terms of enhancing connectivity, technology integration and performance optimisation. The two-day event will take place near New ATC Tower, IGI Airport, New Delhi, in the presence of Ashok Gajpathi Raju, Civil Aviation Minister and officials from the aviation industry across the globe. The Aero Expo 2016 will also showcase aircraft, aircraft machinery and equipment, aircraft interiors, airlines, airline services and air cargo and airport infrastructure developers. Commenting on the event K. N. Rao, Chairman, Civil Aviation Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “In a major boost to regional air connectivity, the recently announced plans and policies in India are noteworthy. India is already the fastest growing aviation market in the world and the move to improve regional air connectivity is expected to further boost the industry by providing a new set of growth opportunities to both domestic and international airlines alike along with a new lease to the allied aviation services and skilling industries.” “I would like to encourage professionals from the different industries to participate including national and international companies, professional associations and universities to have a memorable and rewarding event, and I am confident that we will all benefit from our mutual interaction at the event,” said Dr Mahesh Gupta, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

Mumbai-based Global Destinations will provide all General Sales Agency support to Air New Zealand in India effective November 1, 2016. Pranav Kapadia, Managing Director, Global Destinations, said, “With our strong knowledge of destination New Zealand, we will be a valuable partner to Air New Zealand. Over the coming months, we will appoint two new staff – a sales manager for Air New Zealand and a Market Development Executive for Air New Zealand. We are excited about this new partnership as Air New Zealand expands its sales and marketing activity in India.” Global Destinations has more than 18 years of experience in the industry. Mischa Mannix-Opie, Area Manager South & South East Asia, Air New Zealand, added, “While Air New Zealand continues to grow its sales and marketing activity in India, it’s vital we work alongside effective agency partners. We’re confident Global Destinations will help us to further strengthen our relationships across the India travel industry.” Air New Zealand’s alliance and code share services with Singapore Airlines connect customers from 11 Indian cities on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir services to Singapore. From there, customers can access three non-stop flights a day from Singapore to Auckland and Christchurch, four times a week to Wellington; connecting to Air New Zealand’s 21 domestic destinations within the country.