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Korean Air to resume Seoul-New Delhi route from May 5

Korean Air announced on Friday that the airline will resume its operations on the Seoul-New Delhi route from May 5. The airline will offer two flights a week on this route. The Airline is resuming India operations after almost two years. Currently, travellers on a business visa will be granted entry to South Korea. The South Korean govt. is looking at opening the country to foreign tourists from July onwards. International Visitors to Korea who have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations will be exempt from mandatory quarantine. Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the exemptions will be expanded to include overseas vaccinations that have not registered for vaccination status in Korea as well. Quarantine exemption will be available for those who have completed their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or received two doses (one dose for Janssen) at least 14 days prior but within 180 days. However, this does not apply to vaccinated visitors from Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Myanmar, and must quarantine for seven days. Overseas visitors must enter their vaccine records to Q-CODE prior to arriving in Korea and scan the provided QR code upon immigration. Q-CODE will require personal information (passport number), entry information (departure country, airline, address in Korea, phone number), and vaccine records.

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UK-bound Indians can transit via Amsterdam without Schengen visa

Dutch Carrier KTM has said UK-bound passengers transiting on its flights via Amsterdam do not require a Schengen visa to do so. However, it said this is true only for KLM and not for its partner airline Air France. “Indian nationals destined to the United Kingdom, do not require a transit/Schengen visa while transiting Amsterdam Schiphol, provided they hold a valid visa for the United Kingdom and comply with all applicable conditions in transit and entry conditions at destination. Passengers are personally responsible to ascertain eligibility. For general overview of travel conditions refer to klm.traveldoc.aero ,” KLM said in a statement while adding this “applies to KLM only” (and not Air France). Post Brexit, the EU has decided that non-EU citizens must have a transit Schengen visa to fly to the UK on transit flights of many of its member carriers. Swiss of Switzerland, which is not a part of the EU, is exempt from this requirement. Indians supposed to travel to the UK on many European Union (EU) carriers like Lufthansa and Air France by transiting via these airlines’ hubs at Frankfurt/Munich and Paris, respectively, have been denied boarding at the origin in India if they do not have a transit/regular Schengen visa. The reason: Post Brexit, the EU has decided to “punish” the UK by insisting non-EU citizens must have a transit Schengen visa to fly to the UK on transit flights of its carriers, say top airline officials. Interestingly, Switzerland, which is not a part of EU, is spared this rule for its airline Swiss. People going from India to the UK on one-stop flights can do so via places like the Gulf and Switzerland without requiring a transit visa for these places. The other option remains nonstops of Air India, Vistara, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. The change, say airline officials, took place in the middle of the pandemic from January 1, 2021.

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Need for transformative strategies to revive Covid-hit tourism sector

Union Minister Rajkumar Ranjan Singh recently said that there is a need to adopt transformative strategies and new technologies to revive the tourism sector which was hit severely by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Minister of state for Education and External Affairs also emphasised on new avenues in the hospitality and tourism sector to reach out to travellers. Religious tourism could be a way to attract travellers across India and also from foreign countries like Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, which has a sizeable Buddhist population, he said. "As Covid-19 swept the continents, people were virtually fighting a world war to save themselves and the leisure industry indicated a steep decline, amounting to USD 2.86 trillion, which quantified more than 50 per cent revenue loss," Singh said after inaugurating a two-day programme - International Conference on Trends and Disruptions in Hospitality and Tourism - at Siksha 'O' Anusandhan, a deemed to be university in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. India's relationship with the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which had immense strategic and economic significance, could be leveraged to revive the tourism sector, he said. Pointing out that BIMSTEC and ASEAN countries had a deep connection with Buddhism, Singh said the Buddhist tourist circuits in India could provide an impetus to the sector. The Minister also said innovations often come to the fore to solve a problem. "Tourism is one of the sectors with such innovation and growth potential," he said. The conference, 'Aatithya- Past, Present and Future 3.0', was organised by the School of Hotel Management of the institute.

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Thailand and Singapore lift test-quarantine rule, travel hopes brighten for Kolkatans

Thailand and Singapore, the two most popular destinations for Kolkatans, will allow in fully vaccinated visitors without subjecting them to Covid tests or requiring them to produce negative reports, raising hopes of revival of air traffic. The decision will come into effect in Singapore on April 26 and in Thailand on May 1. Now, there are barely any passengers from Kolkata to these destinations, despite the resumption of normal international flights, because of testing and quarantine requirements. Airlines and tour operators said the decisions by Singapore and Thailand could boost tourism in June, when schools have summer recess. Officials at the Kolkata airport, too, expressed the hope that the decisions would boost international traffic from Kolkata. On Thursday, 1,390 international passengers left the city airport and 1,400 arrived. Thirteen international flights took off and a similar number arrived during the day, airport officials said. Kolkata now has only one flight to Singapore and three to Thailand (two to Bangkok and one to Phuket). Before the pandemic, many more flights would connect the city with these destinations. “With the ease of travel norms in Singapore and Thailand, we are expecting the international traffic to grow from next month,” said C. Pattabhi, Kolkata airport director. The Thai government on Friday announced that fully vaccinated incoming travellers will not be subjected to on-arrival tests for Covid from May 1. The government said it was dropping the “Test And Go” scheme but urged travellers to undergo self-tests with antigen kits. Unvaccinated travellers, however, will still have to produce a negative RT-PCR report before gaining entry. Apart from testing negative, travellers entering Thailand have to be quarantined at a hotel for a day. The expense of travelling to the hotel has to be borne by the travellers. “Test, transportation and hotel quarantine entail an additional expenditure of around Rs 25,000. So, tourists from Kolkata were not interested to go there,” said Anil Punjabi, chairman, east, Travel Agents Federation of India. However, even after the new system takes effect, travellers will still have to obtain a Thai travel pass, according to the government’s website. For a pass, a traveller needs to produce a proof of vaccination and the passport and pay for a medical insurance of $10,000 (it has been reduced from $20,000). “We will appeal to the Thailand tourism authorities to withdraw the pass, too,” said Punjabi. An official at a low-cost airline said they had planned a flight to Bangkok from Kolkata but withdrew it in the absence of demand. “We are planning to introduce the flight from the middle of May,” he said. Kolkata businessman Aroon Shahani said he used to visit Thailand four times a year with his wife and two daughters before the Covid pandemic broke out. “Now, even after the resumption of flights, we were reluctant to go because of the restrictions. If the restrictions are withdrawn from May 1, we'll travel within a couple of weeks,” he said. The Singapore government, too, announced on Friday that fully vaccinated travellers will not have to produce any negative RT-PCR report from April 26. “Singapore Airlines welcomes the government’s decision to do away with the requirement of a pre-departure test for fully-vaccinated international travellers into Singapore. This will encourage easier and more seamless travel into Singapore from India,” said a spokesperson for Singapore Airlines, which flies between Singapore from Kolkata.

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Canada further relaxes Covid-related travel restrictions

Canadian authorities on Friday further relaxed Covid-related travel requirements for passengers, including those from India, like dropping the need to provide a quarantine plan or having to remain masked in public places for a period of 14 days after arrival. However, federal authorities have not removed the mask mandate. “All travellers, regardless of vaccination status, must also continue to wear a mask throughout their entire travel journey,” a statement issued by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said. Canada “continues to take a measured approach to adjust border measures,” Canada’s health minister Jean-Yves Duclos tweeted. The new measures will come into effect on Monday at 1am (10.30am IST). Fully-vaccinated travellers coming to Canada will no longer have to monitor and report if they develop signs or symptoms; quarantine if another traveller in the same travel group exhibits signs or symptoms or tests positive; or maintain a list of close contacts and locations visited. While negative test results are not required for those considered fully vaccinated, those unvaccinated or partially vaccinated will still have to provide pre-entry results prior to boarding a flight for a Canadian destination. That requirement, however, has been waived for unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children between 5 and 11 who are accompanied by a fully vaccinated parent, step-parent, guardian or tutor. Children below 5 are already exempted from the test result requirement. “All travellers, regardless of vaccination status, must also continue to wear a mask throughout their entire travel journey,” a statement said. “The health and safety of Canadians remains our top priority and as vaccination levels and healthcare system capacity improve, we will continue to consider further easing of measures at the borders based on science,” Duclos said in the statement. All travellers eligible to enter Canada who do not qualify as fully vaccinated will continue to be tested with Covid-19 molecular tests on arrival and on Day 8, and will need to quarantine for 14 days.

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Taxi cab operators in crisis despite rise in travel demand

Tour and taxi cab operators continue to stare at a crisis situation, despite demand for travel from commuters resuming in a big way, as a substantial number of drivers opted for alternative job avenues following the pandemic-induced lull. Mounting operational expenses owing to frequent rise in fuel prices have made matters worse, with many of them saying that the implementation of fare revision that the government approved on Wednesday, increasing minimum fare of taxis from ₹175 to ₹200, could be tricky in a competitive market where big fleet operators are willing to operate at a lower fare. “The sector is facing a grave crisis, as over 50% of taxis went off the road, as compared to March 2020 when the pandemic was in its infancy. So much so that people were struggling to get cars during the Vishu-Easter festive season,” said Riyaz U.C., who owns a tour and travel agency in Kochi. There is a need to gradually usher in confidence among taxi drivers and other stakeholders, so that they are bold enough to return to the field. The process could take up to two years. In their eagerness to slowly bring tourist footfall to the pre-pandemic level, most stakeholders are in a catch-22 situation, since any increase in fare could affect tourist arrivals, he added. Shiyas C.A., treasurer of a city-based cooperative society that has over 350 taxi car drivers as members, said taxi drivers and those who operated a handful of cars were facing an existential threat, since online taxi aggregator firms have resumed operations at rock-bottom rates. “Drivers are left in the lurch, as the firms charge 26% to 40% as commission. Similar is the case with autorickshaw drivers, since a good section of passengers opt for online taxis whose rates are oftentimes comparable with those of autorickshaws. There is also a looming threat of big fleet operators undercutting government-approved rates and deploying drivers in two shifts to operate their cars 24x7 to woo corporate clients and commuters. In this situation, we may even be forced to block cars of such operators,” he added. Drivers and taxi operators are banking hopes on ‘Yatri’ app of the Kochi Metropolitan Transport Authority (KMTA) to get fair remuneration for trips, since they need not pay commission to promoters of the app, said Mr. Shiyas. On the plight of tourist taxi drivers, regional-level tour guide Shine Aroor said travel curbs and the uncertainty brought in by the pandemic had resulted in over 50% of drivers foraying into street vending and also taking up job as drivers of goods carriers where they earn good batta. Many others sold their cars to clear loans, he added.

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