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China Eastern airlines has announced its joining forces with Hainan Communication Investment Holdings, Sanya Development Holdings, Juenyao Airlines and Ctrip to form a new airline despite COVID-19 scars. The new airline will be called Sanya International Airlines and will be based in the island city of Hainan which is often terms as ‘Hawaii of China’. China Eastern will hold majority shares in the airline with 51 per cent stake.

Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Civil Aviation, has said that a he wants to see Indian Civil Aviation emerge stronger from this pandemic, especially with India having a strong domestic civil aviation system where the number of passengers travelling and with an intent to travel is very high. “Indian aviation would be one of the three largest international markets in a few years, and I would like to see our carriers including private sector to reclaim the space in international civil aviation, which regrettably we have not been able to claim,” he said.    

The Uttarakhand government has decided that the Char Dham Yatra for pilgrims from outside the state will start after June 30. Till then only locals from Uttarakhand districts where temples are located will be allowed to visit the shrines with a cap on the number of devotees allowed per day at the constituent shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath as per the guidelines and standard operating procedure (SOP) released by the state. Pilgrims will be allowed to visit the shrines between 7 am to 7 pm after taking a mandatory free of cost token from counters set up at the shrines.

The Supreme Court has asked airlines to find a way out to refund the air fare of passengers whose flights were cancelled during the lockdown, along with the ministry of civil aviation withhin 3 weeks. The apex court said that the credit facility must be for at least two years and passengers should be allowed to avail it across all sectors.

Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of State (I/C), Tourism & Culture, has said that while domestic tourism will be a priority in the near future, inbound is also important. He claimed that by 2024, he will fulfil his promise to the Prime Minister, of doubling the number of international arrivals to India. Citing UNWTO Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index, he said that India jumped from 65th to 34th rank in 2019. “We wanted to travel to 1st position, but the COVID-19 crisis came in between. However, I can confidently say that in 2024, I will fulfil my promise to the PM to double the number of international arrivals in the country. In fact, I am sure that we will achieve that before time. We are capable of doing it and all the stakeholders are participants in that journey,” asserted Patel.

A NITI Aayog working group under the chairmanship of Amitabh Kant has presented an action plan for improving heritage management of monuments in the country and key action points for separate sections have been outlined. The implementation strategy covers, among others, creation of a National Archaeological Database, and a National GIS Database for monuments and sites to be authenticated and validated with ISRO.

Alitalia will increase number of flights and destinations served in July, operating over 1,000 weekly flights reaching 13 new domestic and international airports that will include Amsterdam, Athens, Boston, Malta, Nice, Tel Aviv, Tirana, Tunis and in Italy, Brindisi, Florence, Lampedusa, Pantelleria and Reggio Calabria. Alitalia will operate 60 per cent more flights compared to June, and double the number of services compared to May.

Jatinder Taneja, Vice Chairman, PATA India Chapter, has revealed that they will start holding their EC meeting, webinars and an Update & Outlook Meeting with Ministry of Tourism (MOT) from this month. “PATA India Chapter has already planned and is starting with the EC meeting. We will also hold webinars and an Update & Outlook Meeting with the Ministry of Tourism from this month,” he shared.

Deep Knowledge Group recently completed a study assessing the Covid-19 condition in 200 countries. Switzerland has been ranked as the safest country in the world, with a total score of 752 points against all 130 parameters under categories of quarantine efficiency, healthcare readiness, risk management among others. Germany emerged as a close second with 749 points. Even though Switzerland was very close to major epicentres of initial COVID-19 spread in Europe, the country has managed to control the virus.  Despite experiencing significant volumes of infection spread and mortality at the early stages of the pandemic, the rates of mortality and new cases now, continue to decline.

Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has announced that the country will open its borders to the Schengen Zone and the UK on June 21, which were originally due to remain closed until July 1. The Portuguese border, however, will remain shut until July 1. It has also been announced that travellers from non-Schengen countries will not need to self-quarantine July 1 onwards, based on the reciprocal agreement on travel.