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Bagdogra flight fares soar as airport gets ready for reopening after a 2-week closure

Flight fares to Bagdogra from Kolkata have doubled for the next week as the airport in north Bengal reopens after a two-week closure for runway maintenance on April 26. While most of the flights are either packed to capacity or filling up fast leading to the exponential rise in fares, many tourists who had deferred their tour to north Bengal - due to the airport closure - are resuming their rescheduled trips to escape the gruelling heat in the city. Usually, during the peak period, tickets to Bagdogra are available for anything between INR 3,000 to INR 4,500 depending on the gap between the booking and flying date. But from April 26, direct flight fares are ranging between INR 8,500 and INR 11,500. "There is a huge rush and seats in all flights are filling up fast for the entire week starting from Tuesday. This has led to the spike in fares. But the fares are likely to come down by the second week of May," said an airline official that operates flights along the sector. "I had rescheduled my trip to Darjeeling and Kalimpong because of the airport closure. Now that the airport is reopening, I was trying to book tickets. But the fares are so high that it is overshooting my entire travel budget. I will wait for two more weeks before the flight fares ease," said Sougata Paul, a Behala resident. Some others like entrepreneur Rohini Paul are ready to ignore the rising fares and are still booking their flight tickets for next weekend for a trip to Sikkim to escape the city heat. "Some of my friends from abroad are here after several years and are struggling in the heat. Hence, we have planned an all girls' trip to Sikkim next week," said Paul. The Himalayan Hospitality and Tourism Development Network, an apex body of tourism stakeholders in North Bengal, said the bookings had started peaking up for next week after a fortnight's lull amidst the peak season. "We are going to have many arrivals on April 26 itself. It's a very good sign for tourism in this part of Bengal," said Samrat Sanyal, the general secretary of the network.

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Many flights canceled at Amsterdam's airport due to strike

Dozens of flights were cancelled or delayed Saturday at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport as a group of KLM baggage handlers went on strike on one of the busiest days of the year at the major aviation hub to protest working conditions and staff shortages. The strike by KLM baggage handlers coincided with the first day of school holidays and families flying on holiday for the first time since coronavirus restrictions were lifted in many countries. KLM said in a statement that the strike "has far-reaching consequences for our customers and other colleagues at this busy time." The carrier said it was in talks with the striking staff. Schiphol warned on its website of delays and cancelations and advised passengers to contact their airline for flight information. In a related development, shortage of staff with vendors like caterers is also posing challenges for airline operators in many parts of Europe.

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In tit-for-tat move, India suspends tourist visas for Chinese nationals

Global airlines body IATA says India’s “tourist visas issued to nationals of China are no longer valid”. India’s decision to keep Chinese tourists out also comes in the wake of Chinese reluctance to allow Indian students, more than 20,000 of them, to return to China after leaving that country because of Covid. They have been kept waiting even as Beijing allows students from Thailand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to return. External affairs minister S Jaishankar had taken up the issue with his counterpart Wang Yi during the latter’s visit to India last month but Beijing is yet to respond. UK and Canada are among the countries whose citizens can’t fly to India on etourist visas but can come on regular paper visas issued by Indian missions in those countries. Indian tourist visas with a validity of 10 years are no longer valid, except for those issued to nationals of Japan and the US. IATA issues these updates regularly so that airlines know which nationalities are allowed to be flown to which countries. The latest India-specific IATA update, issued April 19, is about the countries whose nationals cannot travel to India on e-tourist visas. India had late last month restored the electronic tourist visa facility for 156 countries, in time for resumption of scheduled international flights from March 27 this year, after a gap of over two years. The April 19 IATA update issued by India says the following are allowed to enter the country: nationals of Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal; those with a residence permit issued by India; those with a visa or e-visa issued by India; those with an overseas citizen of India (OCI) card or booklet; those having a PIO card; and diplomatic passport holders.

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DPCC closure notice to 400 hotels in central Delhi revoked

Arvind Kejriwal led-Delhi government on Saturday granted relief to 400 hotel owners of the Paharganj and Karol Bagh area by revoking 'closure notices' issued to them by Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). On Friday, a delegation of the affected hotel owners met Delhi's environment minister Gopal Rai to press for relief on the matter. The Aam Aadmi Party MLA Vishesh Ravi has also written to the environment minister, requesting relief to the hotel owners. ''I have to intervene in the matter immediately because these hotels are already struggling to make ends meet and more importantly, they employ residents from the area who would be distraught and left unemployed if this order came into effect,'' reads the MLA Vishesh Ravi letter. However, 10 hotels had already been sealed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Karol Bagh. After the revocation of the said order, these will be opened once again.

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Railways to invest in startups; policy promises up to INR 1.5 crore seed money for innovations

The railways will invest in startups to get a head start in procuring innovations directly from them with a promise of up to INR 1.5 crore of seed money for innovative technological solutions for the national transporter, according to a policy paper. The Indian Railway Innovation Policy will identify and enable Indian innovators to engage with the railways for developing cost-effective, implementable, scalable solutions and functional prototypes for the national transporter, officials said. "Since there is a major constraint of capital inadequacy in the startup ecosystem, particularly in the seed and 'Proof of Concept' developmental stage, this policy aims at providing the necessary seed fund support of up to INR 1.5 crore (on matching contribution basis) to the startups that show the capability, intent and promise to produce functional prototypes, based on new innovative concepts, for potential use of the Indian Railways," a senior official said. One of the major objectives of the policy would be to leverage new innovative technologies, developed by entrepreneurs and startups, for improving operational efficiency and safety on the railway system, the officials said. The eligible organisations or beneficiaries of the support will include any Indian company incorporated under the Companies Act 1956/2013, primarily micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) as defined in the MSME Act, 2006, and individual innovators. The policy also encourages research and development institutions to apply for the grant. The innovators can apply through a dedicated portal, which will be launched later this month, and once chosen for the grant, its disbursement shall be linked to pre-decided milestones. The funding scheme has been fixed on a cost-sharing basis in equal proportions, 50:50 by the Indian Railways and the innovator. The maximum amount of grant will be INR 1.5 crore per innovator, even in cases where the total project cost exceeds INR 3 crore, the officials said. Under the policy, the innovator will exclusively retain the ownership of the intellectual property rights generated under the project. However, it can be extended to include any associates as joint owners only after obtaining a prior approval from the Railway Board, the officials said. The railways shall retain the government purpose rights (GPRs), which shall be an exclusive, transferable, irrevocable licence to use the IP (intellectual property) for internal consumption or manufacture. The railways may use the GPRs to manufacture either directly or through sub-contractors for its use. In this case, the government shall pay a royalty fee for the use of GPRs in intellectual property or technology or product. "With innovation through technology becoming more and more significant in the railways, this policy would mean that we would have innovators vying to make products just for our use. They will be the best and the latest. It is a win-win situation for both the railways and the innovators. While we get the latest technology, they will get the railways as a client," said an official.

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Canada draws 1 mln travellers in one week for first time since pandemic

Canada attracted more than one million travelers in a week for the first time since the pandemic, government data showed on Friday, as easing of COVID19 border restrictions encouraged visitors back into the country. As Canada heads into its peak summer holiday season, tour operators are betting the revival seen in the first week of April would gather pace. Tourism was among the worst sectors to be hit by the pandemic. "People are ready to spend more after being stuck at home for two years and want to stay at high-end properties in case Covid is still around," said Alla Weintraub, a luxury travel advisor for F1S. "People believe those hotels will take better care," she added. Canada had imposed some of the strictest border measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, but after Ottawa dropped the requirement for Covid tests for vaccinated travellers starting April, tour companies began to see an uptick in bookings. Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) said more than 1 million travellers were admitted into the country during the week of April 11. Still, visitor numbers are down about 44% from the April 15-17, 2019 period. "Our phones became busier and busier, it gave more confidence to people. We're still being careful, but it's been encouraging," said Elyse Mailhot, Marketing and Communications Manager at Discover Canada Tours. Rising travel demand is expected to be a theme when Air Canada releases quarterly earnings next week. Tourism spending in Canada rose 4.4% in 2021 to C$50.8 billion ($40 billion) from 2020, when it fell 49% from 2019, official data released in March showed. In 2021, tourism accounted for 4.1% of Canada's GDP. While tours are picking up, it has become tough to find talent to lead them. "I think people moved to other industries," Mailhot said. "Even students seem to be pickier."

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