Tag Archives: Delhi

Delhi and Mumbai airports are set to close their runways for maintenance at different periods starting next month. IGIA’s one of the runways will be closed for repair work for 13 days starting November 15. Mumbai airport in will remain shut for six hours thrice a week between February 7, 2019 and end of March. “The works are scheduled to be undertaken for 13-day duration starting from November 15, 2018. This will lower the capacity of IGI Airport by 50 arrivals and 50 departures per day in this duration,” a DIAL spokesperson said. The spokesperson also said these works are essential for safe aircraft operations and to avoid sudden disruptions that cause greater impact due to time required for planning the logistics. Mumbai airport will also undertake runway maintenance and repair in two phases between October and March, a move that is likely to affect as many as 300 flights per day during the period. Due to the work, both the runways– 09/27 and 14/32– will remain shut for operations between 11 am and 5 pm on October 23, a spokesperson said. In the second phase, the maintenance and repair work on the intersection will be carried out between February 7 and March 30 (except on March 21) from 11 am to 5 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  

The Turkish Culture and Tourism board in India will be conducting a roadshow and destination workshop in six cities across India from October 8-13, 2018. To be held in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mumbai, the aim of the roadshow is to interact with stakeholders, agents, policy makers and travellers in these cities on current tourism offerings of Turkey and create more awareness on destination. The roadshow will also help in positioning Turkey as a leisure, wedding and MiCE destination amongst Indian travellers. Deniz Ersöz, Culture & Tourism Counsellor, Turkish Culture and Tourism Office in India said, “India is a very important market and we are aware of the potential it holds in terms of inbound visitor traffic to Turkey. In 2017, Turkey hosted more than 32 million international tourists while from India the number was 87,000. This year, from January to July, we recorded 25 per cent increase in the number of overall tourists. That means we will be hosting 40 million international tourists by the end of 2018. When we look at figures from India, we see 95 per cent increase for the same period. If this trend continues we will be hosting almost 2 lakh Indian tourists by the year-end.” The roadshow will also witness participation from Turkish Airlines, luxury hotels and important delegates and officials from Turkey.

Dubai Business Events (DBE) has showcased the city’s capabilities and services to business event planners during a a three-city roadshow in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, attracting an attendance of approximately 490 business events and incentive buyers as well as wedding planners. DBE was joined on the roadshow by a number of stakeholders from Dubai, including Dubai Parks and Resorts, Jumeirah Hotels and Emaar Hospitality. The roadshow offered a platform for the DBE team to meet and engage with key decision makers, educate them about the services available to them, and detail how the convention bureau can support in planning their events in Dubai. Attendees were also able to discover Dubai and the world-class factors that combine to make the city a premier destination to host business events. Over the coming months, DBE and stakeholders from the city will conduct further in-market activities in UK, Sweden, Finland and Russia while also continuing to welcome business event planners for study missions from around the world to Dubai.

Uzbekistan airways has announced direct flights to Tashkent from Mumbai, effective October 30, 2018 with a frequency of three times a week. This makes Mumbai the third Indian destination on the airline’s network, along with Delhi and Amritsar. The airline will be flying its A320 aircraft on this route on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Uzbekistan airways is promoted by Delmos Aviation, GSA for the airline in India since 2003 headed by Dr Naveen Rao, Director, Delmos Aviation headquartered in New Delhi.

The Wallonia Foreign Trade along with Wallonia Export-Investment Agency (AWEX) recently took a tourism mission to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi. The Consulate General of Belgium, AWEX and BIE in association with Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) organised the event for its members in Mumbai. Nine delegates from different tourism attractions from Brussels and Wallonia (Southern Belgium) presented its undiscovered and unique tourist attractions to the TAAI members. The delegation also visited top tour operators in the city. Peter Huyghebaert, Consul General, AWEX Team; Emmanuelle Timmermans, Trade and Investment Commissioner, and Dominique Andre from Wallonia Belgium Tourism, joined Ellona Pereira, India Director, Visit Brussels, for the roadshow. Also part of the delegation were Albert Joris from Caves of Han, Catherine Vuidar from Euro Space Center, Rodolphe Brohée from Durbuy, Malati Dasi and Martin Gurvich from Radhadesh Castle, Jérôme Aussems from Ardennes Incoming and Steven Truyman from Hey Belgium. Top tour operators from Mumbai and Pune attended this event.

Tanzania Tourist Board, with a vision to establish Tanzania as the most favourite destination globally, recently hosted a roadshow in Delhi to showcase the unmatched cultural richness of the land. “Tourism is the number one foreign currency earner in Tanzania. The total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP is 17.2 per cent and is forecast to rise by 6.6 per cent in 2025. In 2017, tourism contribution to direct and indirect employment measured over one lakh jobs. This is expected to rise by 2.7 per cent in 2025” said Devota Mdachi, Managing Director, Tanzania Tourist Board. As a tourist destination, Tanzania is endowed with some of Africa’s world-class tourism assets that encompass natural, cultural, historical and archaeological sites. The state of Tanzania is home to more than 20% of the African continent’s large mammals. Tanzania has 16 National Parks, 31 Game Reserves, 44 Game Controlled Areas, 4 Ramsar Sites and 33 Wildlife Management Areas. “Tanzania offers a complete package of adventure, exploration and relaxation to the tourists. This has significantly increased the number of travellers each year. From 7 lakh travellers in 2007, it crossed 13 lakhs in 2017. We expect this number to reach over 2 million tourists by 2020” said Mdachi. Tanzania is famous for its history, impressive ruins of 14th to 16th century tombs, mosques and palaces. The diverse cultures, traditions and customs can be experienced through traditional dances, handcrafts, rock paintings and archaeological sites.  

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), at International Aviation Summit held in Delhi, called on the government of India to maximise the potential contribution of aviation to India’s development by addressing infrastructure constraints that limit growth and government policies that impose excessive costs on aviation. Growth forecasts for India indicate a trebling of passenger demand by 2037 when some 500 million people are expected to fly to, from or within India. Already aviation supports 7.5 million Indian jobs and Rs 30 billion of GDP (1.5% of the economy). The Summit, being co-hosted by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Airports Authority India (AAI) and IATA, commemorates the approaching milestone of 50-straight months of double digit domestic growth for Indian aviation. “While it is easy to find Indian passengers who want to fly, it’s very difficult for airlines to make money in this market. India’s social and economic development needs airlines to be able to profitably accommodate growing demand. We must address infrastructure constraints that limit growth and government policies that deviate from global standards and drive up the cost of connectivity,” said Alexandre de Juniac, Director General and CEO, IATA. India’s aviation infrastructure has benefitted from significant upgrades in recent years. “It is clear that India has the capacity to develop effective infrastructure. But the job is not done. Passenger numbers will grow. And infrastructure must not be a bottleneck in fulfilling the needs of travelers and the economy,” said de Juniac who called for work in four priority areas – develop a comprehensive and strategic master plan for India’s airports, remove all obstacles to successfully opening Navi Mumbai as quickly as possible, modernise airport processes using technology in …

Continuing its focus on growing its domestic presence, Jet Airways is set to introduce 28 new flights in the coming month. Jet Airways’ new services – including industry firsts as well as a mix of non-stop and one-stop flights – will strengthen the airline’s footprint, enabling it to meet the rising demand for domestic and international air travel in emerging cities. The new services will also help connect guests with other cities including metros as well as the airline’s global network via its hubs in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru. In a series of industry-firsts, Jet Airways will introduce daily flights from Indore, connecting the ‘largest city in Madhya Pradesh’ to Jodhpur as well as to Vadodara. In other notable firsts, Jet Airways is also set to commence flight operations between Chandigarh and Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Jodhpur as well as Vadodara and Jaipur. Jet Airways will be the only airline in the country operating these routes which will improve connectivity between north India and central as well as western India. Raj Sivakumar, Senior Vice President – Worldwide Sales & Distribution, Jet Airways, said, “As air travel gains prominence in emerging cities across India such as Indore, Jodhpur, Guwahati, Visakhapatnam and Vadodara, there is an increasing need to introduce connectivity solution for these cities. New flights, additional frequencies, greater capacity across more sectors are meant to offer our discerning guests additional choice, convenience, connectivity and superior comfort.”

In 2017, Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport handled 63.5 million passengers and made it to the list of the top 20 busiest airports of the world. As per the Airports Council International (ACI), which has come out with these rankings, the IGI Airport is now one of the fastest growing airports in the world. According to ACI, “Delhi, the country’s busiest airport for passenger traffic, grew by 14.1 per cent year-over-year at 63.45 million, pushing it up from 22nd to the 16th busiest airport in the world.”

Vienna has witnessed a 4.3 per cent rise in Indian tourists this year with 66,828 bed nights in the first six months. India is one of the high growth tourist markets for Vienna along with China and Russia. Last year in the same period, 64,075 Indians winged their way to Vienna. Tourist arrivals rose to 30,445 in January-Jun 2018 recording a growth of 5% (compared to 29,022 the same period last year). June 2018 saw a growth of near 8 per cent with Indian travellers recording 23,499 bed nights. Tourist arrivals grew 11.7 per cent to 10,659 in the Jan-June 2018 period from 9543 in the year ago period. The rising number of Indian travellers to the city of castles and palaces has been aided by growing direct air connectivity. Air India had been operating a direct Delhi-Vienna flight three days a week. This year, the Maharaja added one more flight to the Austrian capital in its summer schedule enhancing seating capacity by 33 per cent.