Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

Air India has decided to reduce the frequency of its Kolkata-London flight from twice-a-week to now only once-a-week, owing to poor load factor. An AI official has reportedly revealed that after Navami, October 25, the flight will arrive in Kolkata and take off for London only on Sundays. The flight that operated on Thursdays has ben withdrawn as it isn’t sustainable to continue with the present load.

Offering a boost to domestic air travel, Maharashtra Government has suspended quarantine rules for arriving domestic passengers. According to the state’s unlock order, domestic passengers will be checked for COVID-19 symptoms. A symptom-free passenger can go back home without the indelible home quarantine stamp, which was a must earlier.

Malaysia Airlines might have to shut down if its lessors decide not to back its latest restructuring plan, said Izham Ismail, Group CEO, Malaysia Airlines. According to reports, a group of leasing companies have turned down the airline’s restructuring plan, which has brought the state carrier closer to a showdown over its future. Ismail said that the group would have “no choice but to shut it down” if lessors decide against backing the restructuring plan. “There are creditors who have agreed already. There are others still resisting, and another group still 50:50. I need to get the 50:50 ones (on board) with those who have agreed. I understand quite a sizeable amount of creditors have agreed.” He revealed that the plan was to restructure the airline’s balance sheet over five years, achieving break-even in 2023 on the assumption that demand in the domestic and Southeast Asian markets returns to 2019 levels by the second and third quarters of 2022. Under this plan, a fresh cash injection will be required from its major shareholder, the state fund Khazanah Nasional, which will be user to aid the airline for the next 18 months. According to a report, lessors who claim to represent 70% of the airplanes and engines leased to the group, have called the plan ‘inappropriate and fatally flawed’ and pledged to challenge it. Izham has revealed that the lessors will need to come to a decision by Sunday, so that the airline can decide whether to proceed with its restructuring plan or “execute Plan B”, which could involve shifting Malaysia Airlines’ Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) to a new airline under a different name, or using the certificates of sister airlines …

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The Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) voiced its concern about the state of the airline industry in India on Twitter. It said that the government needs to look into protecting the airline industry. ‘SpiceJet and GoAir have not paid crores of rupees as refunds to customers and agents and yet they are in this state. The government needs to give them some breather space when putting fare blankets. Don’t kill the airlines.’

Tripjack’s competition based on IPL matches not only has more than 3,000 winners till date but has also managed to engage its travel partners & create some buzz in the industry. Hasan Patel, Director, Tripjack, says, “We are seeing more and more users participate daily. Visit Tripjack.com and start playing now!” he said.

A new entrant in cloud-based hotel management software domain StreetGooser is offering free tech support to help the industry recover from the pandemic. Shakthivelu M, its MD & Co-Founder, says, “Our focus is on small to mid-sized properties to provide them with technology that won’t break their banks. We tweak our technology based on the clients’ needs.”

A consumer survey of nearly 3,000 frequent travellers conducted by WTTC in US and Canadian market has revealed that 70 per cent respondents plan to take a holiday in 2021 while 45 per cent of respondents have already made plans or are starting to make finite plans for their next holiday.

The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have signed an MoU to open doors for tourists to the BMC headquarters on weekends in a few months’ time. Tourism Minister of Maharashtra, Aditya Thackeray on Twitter informed that not just tourists, but many Mumbaikars would also love to see the building of the BMC HQ, the way Mumbai is run from in here and seek inspiration from the historic figures that built the city from here.