Category Archives: Aviation

The Centre has mandated pre-booking of RT-PCR tests from December 20. In the first phase, it will be applicable to those arriving at six airports —Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad—for passengers arriving from “at-risk” countries or those who have been in such countries in the preceding 14 days. The Air Suvidha portal would be modified to allow passengers to pre-book.

Swiss International Airlines will be restoring the services from Mumbai to Zurich in India from 12th January 2022. The flights were suspended in view of pandemic developments earlier. “Provided all necessary approvals are obtained, we indeed plan to resume the Mumbai-Zurich route on 12 January 2022”, revealed Swiss International Airline official. The airline is to further expand its range of scheduled services next summer and will be adding six new destinations to its European route network.

The Civil Aviation Minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia recently took stock of the preparedness, testing capacities, and the situation on the ground with regards to crowd management at both private and AAI airports. He tweeted, “Have put an action plan with 8 compliances on immigration queues, expanding RT-PCR service providers, ramping up help desks and forex counters, along with seamless floor management. Rest assured, MoCA  is monitoring the situation on a daily basis and passengers shall not face any inconvenience at airports.”

Average economy class fares on flights of Air India, United Airlines and Lufthansa, operating under the ‘air bubble’ arrangement currently, are comparable to the average fares of pre-pandemic era, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh has said. Since July last year, India has formed bilateral air bubble arrangements with around 31 countries so that special international pax flights could be operated.

All international passengers arriving in India are mandated to declare their current health status prior to boarding on the Air Suvidha Portal. Ministry of Civil Aviation has mandated contact-less self-declaration at ‘Air Suvidha Portal’ for international passengers. This portal developed by MoCA aids passengers in providing their details of travel and final stay along with RT-PCR, vaccination status etc.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of Civil Aviation, told in Lok Sabha that India has sent a proposal to ten countries, including Saudi Arabia, Australia, and New Zealand, that is still pending. While India already has air bubble agreements with a total of 31 countries. International passenger flights are currently being operated in a restricted manner under bilateral air bubble arrangements with various countries.

IATA issued a statement that, “Governments are reacting in an emergency mode to the risks posed by the new coronavirus variant, causing panic among travellers. We must move as quickly as possible to a coordinated data-driven approach to find safe alternatives to border closures and quarantine, based on the lessons learned over the last two years. Travel bans aren’t a long-term solution for COVID variant control.”

DGCA in its latest order has shared that in view of the emergence of new COVID variants, they will be reviewing the resumption of scheduled commercial international passenger airline services to or from India. They will currently watch the situation and would notify its decision on the same in due time. Hence, international flight services, which were earlier touted to restart from 15th December, might face a delay now.

Accor has renewed its ongoing partnership with IndiGo to offer accelerated 6E Rewards, enhanced benefits and discounts on spends on stays and dining experiences across properties in India, Sri Lanka and selected hotels in Maldives. Through this partnership, IndiGo’s 6E Rewards members can now avail an exhilarating 15% discount, when they book directly with Accor and  earn up to 6% 6E Rewards as feature partner on any spends across Accor properties in India, Sri Lanka & participating hotels in Maldives with brands such as Raffles, Fairmont, Sofitel, Pullman, Mövenpick, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure ibis and ibis Styles. These offers are also valid at the newly launched Accor properties – Raffles Udaipur, Novotel Chandigarh Tribune Chowk and most recently launched ibis Mumbai Vikhroli. Special Welcome benefit vouchers for 6E Rewards members at Accor hotels in India & Srilanka hotels only: Flat 30% discount on room nights when booked through Accor and IndiGo booking page INR 1000 discount voucher for spends on Food & Beverages across Accor Hotels, Restaurants & Bar Through this partnership, Accor and 6E Rewards will be putting forward exclusive offers to members in addition to the other benefits across hotel stays, dining and events. 6E Rewards members can also earn additional Reward points on hotel stays and dining by signing up on to Accor’s ALL – Accor Live Limitless – loyalty program. Jad Doumet, VP Partnerships, India, Middle East & Africa and Turkey adds, “We are thrilled to renew Accor’s partnership with IndiGo as it relays our intentions of providing the best hospitality service to guests across the nation. Accor operates an extensive portfolio of properties across the country- ranging from the economy to midscale, further to the …

As more destinations ease restrictions and vaccination rates continue to improve, WTTC’s latest predictions show strong growth in foreign spending for 2022 and beyond, with overseas spending projected to surpass domestic spending. The report focuses on consumer booking trends, considerations, and profiles. It also includes examples of markets whose endurance has served as a platform for the Travel & Tourism sector’s revival.