Category Archives: Breaking News (All Categories)

GoAir has inducted 50th aircraft to its fleet and is planning to add one aircraft each month to move forward aggressively. With an Airbus A320 Neo in its kitty, the budget carrier is aiming to touch 100 million passenger-mark in the next two years. The airline flew 13.55 lakh passengers in May, which is 11.1 percent of the total 122.07 lakh domestic passenger traffic in the month. Operating 270 daily flights connecting 24 domestic and four international destinations, the airline has remarkably doubled its fleet size in less than two years. “In 2016, we looked at an aggressive business strategy. That year we doubled our Airbus A320 aircraft order to 144 to accelerate our growth and at the same time staying profitable. Those goals continue to be our guiding principle from a business perspective,” Jeh Wadia, Managing Director & acting Chief Executive was quoted as in a statement.

The number of passengers flying from Visakhapatnam has been on the rise but there has not been a consequential  increase in the number of flights to cater to the demand. Recently, Alliance Air, proposed to withdraw its Visakhapatnam-Tirupati-Vijayawada daily flight from July 16.  Vice President of Andhra Pradesh Air Travellers’ Association (APATA), Naresh Kumar said that there has been an annual increase of 20% in the number of passengers travelling by air. However, there has been no addition of aircraft. However, Vizag Airport Director, Prakash Reddy, talking to daily, says that there is no confirmation on the withdrawal of Visakhapatnam-Tirupati-Vijayawada operations. Source: TOI

Leading Destination Management Company and travel agent, Pacific Travels has been appointed as the India Representative for Activo Travel, a leading European destination management company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. This new and exclusive deal enables Pacific Travels access to a wide range of high quality Activo tour and travel services within EU territory, spanning countries like Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Czech, Poland, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and other European countries. Activo Travel is a big name in four major business segments including local ground service for series travel groups, tour bus rental and schedule planning service, customized tour service and MICE service. Every year, more than a hundred thousand travelers from all over the world, benefit from the high quality services offered by Activo Travel. The company is also highly popular in China and brings a good number of Chinese tourists to Europe.

Sanjay Datta, MD, Airborne Travels-Holidays-Meetings-Events, has been elected as the President, Skål Asia. Speaking to Tourism Breaking News, he said, “We have won with an overwhelming majority and we have to live up to the confidence and expectations that people have given us. My agenda is to first put the house in order and improve the communication level. I have already had the first meeting with the board members and we are changing the process. Now all the board members will give a monthly report to all the members. That’s how we will work as a team and will no longer work as individual players. We are all going to be a team and it’s going to be a team effort, which was lacking in the earlier management. It’s a huge challenge for us. We have to work very hard.” Datta was President, Skål Delhi from 2015-2017.

IndiGo has announced new flight cancellation and change charges effective from midnight of June 27 for domestic and international flight booking. The order includes a hike in particular categories by Rs 500, to modifications which are done in a three-day period before the flight’s departure. There is no hike, if a passenger is making the change four or more days in advance of the travel dates. The airline said in a statement, “The revision only applies if the change or cancellation is made within 0-3 days of the travel dates. The charges remain the same in case a passenger is making the change four or more days in advance of the travel dates. For domestic bookings, customers can make any changes or cancellations free of charge within 24 hours of booking, if booked at least 7 days before the travel dates.”

A recent report by India Brand Equity Foundation on tourism and hospitality revealed that the share of revenues from leisure travel to the total tourism revenue stood around 94.8 per cent in 2018. According to statistics shared in the report, leisure travel spending reached US$ 234.16 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach US$432.3 billion by 2028. On the other hand, business travel revenues were US$ 12.84 billion in 2018 and are projected to increase to US$ 24.4 billion by 2028.

SpiceJet has recorded the highest Passenger Load Factor amongst all the domestic carriers in India, recording a 93.9 per cent PLF for the month of May, according to recent statistics revealed by DGCA. Closely following this number was GoAir with a PLF of 93.3 per cent, preceding IndiGo at 90.9 per cent. Fourth in line was Air Asia with 87.8 per cent, while Vistara recorded 85.6 per cent, which was followed by Air India at a PLF of 85 per cent.

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has sanctioned the highest number of projects in Uttar Pradesh under its Swadesh Darshan scheme. This number stands at eight with Rs 505.38 cr sanctioned for it. Following close on its heels are Kerala with six sanctioned projects at a budget of Rs 503.83 cr sanctioned for it and an equal number in J&K with Rs 561.45 cr set aside for it, making the state the recipient of the largest dole from MoT under this scheme. At the other end of the spectrum though is Karnataka with zero projects sanctioned under both schemes that were launched in 2014-15. MoT, under its schemes of Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD, provides financial assistance to state governments/Union Territories/Central agencies for developing tourism infrastructure in the country. For this, the state governments and Union Territories administrations regularly submit utilization certificates for the funds released to them by the Ministry based on which the next instalment of funds are released in conformity with the GFRs and the directions issued by the Ministry of Finance from time to time.  

Skål Congress 2019 kick-started in Bengaluru. The event is being held from 27-30 June at Taj MG Road, Bengaluru. The event was inaugurated by Sa Ra Mahesh, Honourable Minister for Sericulture and Tourism, Govt. of Karnataka in presence of Lavonne Wittmann, President, Skål International TK Anil Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Karnataka Tourism and Manoj Mathew, President, SKAL Bengaluru. Speaking on occasion of the inauguration, Manoj Mathew, President, Skål Bangalore said, “Bengaluru among other eloquent sobriquets is one of fastest growing cities in the world, with footprints getting stronger each day with the emergence of high – end technology and a global hub for the start-up bandwagon.   The three-day action-packed event shall see over 250 delegates from across ten countries all aligned to promote friendship and fellowship through the world of tourism. ‘Doing Business among friends’ will help you evolve and nurture relationships to facilitate business among our members. The Congress shall have several opportunities for discerning members to explore opportunities among ourselves.”   He further added “The event will add tremendous value to Karnataka and India Tourism’s marketing effort, where in industry leaders from all over Asia will get rich exposure to the India’s diverse culture and heritage”.    

SpiceJet will commence eight new daily international flights from Mumbai in July, offering connectivity to destinations including Riyadh, Dhaka and Jeddah. The flights on Mumbai-Dhaka-Mumbai route and Mumbai-Riyadh-Mumbai route will start from July 25 and August 15, respectively. Ajay Singh, CMD, SpiceJet, said, “SpiceJet is the only Indian budget airline to operate to Saudi Arabia and our new flights to Riyadh and Jeddah should greatly benefit the thousands of pilgrims travelling from India.”