Category Archives: Movements

The Ministry of External Affairs has eased the process of issue of passport by allowing applicants to submit any one of their photo identification cards with date of birth (DOB) as proof of DOB. Applicants of passports can submit any one of the following documents – Birth Certificate, PAN card, school certificate, Adhaar card, driving licence, or election card, etc. as proof of date of birth. The online passport application form now requires the applicant to provide the name of father or mother or legal guardian, i.e., only one parent and not both. This would enable single parents to apply for passports for their children and to also issue passports where the name of either the father or the mother is not required to be printed at the request of the applicant. The total number of Annexes prescribed in the Passport Rule, 1980, has been brought down to 9 from the present 15. No attestation/swearing by/before any Notary/Executive Magistrate/First Class Judicial Magistrate would be henceforth necessary. Married applicants would not be required to provide Annexure K or any marriage certificate.

Tourism New Zealand has announced the appointment of Stephen England-Hall to the position of Chief Executive at Tourism New Zealand. He will commence in the role in early April 2017, based in Auckland. He will join Tourism New Zealand after three years as Chief Executive at Loyalty New Zealand and prior to that Chief Marketing Officer with Syncapse Corporation and Chief Executive Officer for Razorfish in London. England-Hall was born in Papakura and spent his teenage years in the Manawatu. He has worked across New Zealand, the United Kingdom and North America as a senior executive of leading digital marketing, data and technology companies. He holds an MBA from Cambridge University and also attended Victoria University in Wellington

Sabre Corporation’s board of directors has appointed Sean Menke as President, CEO and a member of Sabre’s board, effective Dec 31, 2016. Menke will succeed Tom Klein, who has served as president, CEO and board member since 2013. “After an extensive search of qualified candidates, the board unanimously concluded that Sean is the right choice to lead Sabre. Since his arrival last year, Sean has demonstrated that his strong industry knowledge and expertise coupled with his decisive, results-oriented management style are an effective combination. These traits will help Sabre drive innovation as the travel industry’s technology leader and serve the needs of airlines, hotels, travel agents and travelers alike.  I look forward to working with Sean to make this happen,” said Larry Kellner, executive chairman of Sabre’s Board of Directors. Menke joined Sabre in October 2015 and currently serves as executive vice president of Sabre and president of Sabre Travel Network, Sabre’s largest line of business.  Under Menke’s leadership, Sabre Travel Network has won major new business opportunities, increased global market share and secured Sabre’s position as the leading global distribution system in three of its four major operating regions (North America, Latin America and Asia-Pacific), and successfully extended new multi-year agreements with many of its largest global travel management companies, online travel agencies and travel retailers.  In addition, he has led the innovation that enables the sale of more customized fares and ancillary products through Sabre Travel Network and strengthened the technology solutions that will be offered to travel agencies next year as part of the launch of the new Sabre Red platform.  Prior to Sabre, Menke served as CEO of Frontier Airlines and held senior executive positions at …

Dhananjay Kumar is the new General Manager at The Suryaa. With over 21 years of experience, having worked with brands such as Radisson Blu Hotel (Chennai), Hilton (Chennai), Technopak Advisors Private Limited (Gurgaon), The Claridges Hotel (New Delhi), Shangri – La (New Delhi), The Oberoi Hotels and Resorts, The Park Royal (New Delhi), DLF Hospitality (Gurgaon), & Hyatt International. His last assignment was with Radisson Blu Marina as General Manager. Kumar’s last stint at The Suryaa was as a Resident Manager for a year in 2012. He specialises in hotel operations, revenue management, performance enhancement, best practices implementation, setting up process and implementation, organization development and human resources and training. Throughout his career DJ has been certified with various recognitions for commendable work in the field of hospitality.

AirAsia India has announced that Amar Abrol will be taking over the reins from Mittu Chandilya as the CEO of AirAsia India. Effective April 1, Abrol, who has over 20 years of experience, will be in charge of the low cost airline. Abrol was most recently the CEO of Tune Money, a start-up that aims to deliver low-cost financial products in South East Asia. Before joining Tune Money in 2013, he spent 19 years with American Express, leading diverse teams across multiple markets including Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, India and Malaysia. Born and raised in India, Abrol graduated from Delhi University and is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Abrol said, “AirAsia India is poised for strong growth. I look forward to leading the team and together, giving many more Indians the opportunity to access the exciting promise of Indian civil aviation.” Chandilya’s contract ends March 31, 2016 but he will continue with the company until the end of April to ensure a smooth transition of the CEO role. Chandilya has led AirAsia India from June 1, 2013 and under his leadership, the airline has established a fleet of six aircraft, covering 12 routes and carrying over 1.8 million passengers. In the most recent quarter of operation, October-December 2015, AirAsia India clocked a 134% growth in passenger traffic as it flew over half-a-million customers, and operated 3,376 flights as compared to 1,444 flights in the same period of 2014. Chandilya said, “The past three years has been a rewarding and enriching journey for me and AirAsia India. I am delighted that AirAsia India is today a customer-preferred airline in the sectors that it operates. I …

Jet Airways’ Chief Financial Officer, Amit Agarwal has been given additional responsibility of Acting Chief Executive Officer with effect from March 1, 2016. Agarwal joined Jet Airways in December 2015 and has more than 24 years of experience having held leadership positions in India, Europe and North America. Naresh Goyal, Chairman, Jet Airways, said, “Amit will spearhead the Executive Management Committee of Jet Airways in delivering our strategic objectives. Jet Airways has made demonstrable progress towards achieving long-term sustainable profitability, having recorded three consecutive profitable quarters. Our business performance clearly demonstrates that our efforts are showing positive results.”

Sriram Rajmohan has been appointed as CEO and Managing Director of Club7 Holidays Limited with immediate effect. He is currently an Independent Director in Club7 Holidays Ltd and has been instrumental in securing relationship with various tourism boards, adding new corporate customers and growing the relationship with the trade partners. In the last two years of his association with the Centrum Group he has brought in tremendous value to the group through on-line visa and other travel products. Prior to joining Centrum Group, Rajmohan was the Group CFO of Kuoni Travel India.