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Vistara takes delivery of 7th wide-body Boeing aircraft.

Full service carrier Vistara on Thursday said it has received the delivery of the seventh wide-body Boeing 787-9 plane, thus completing the order it had placed for 56 aircraft in 2018. The airline has now a total of 70 Dreamliner aircraft. Vistara, which is a 51:49 joint venture airline between India's Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, had announced an order of a total of 56 planes with Airbus and Boeing. "We recently took delivery of our last Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and that's also the 70th aircraft in our fleet. This marks the culmination of the order that we had placed in 2018 for 56 aircraft across Airbus and Boeing," Vistara said in a statement.

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Ireland records surge in foreign travellers

Ireland has recorded a rapid recovery in the number of foreign travellers in February, following the country's lifting of Covid-19 restrictions. A total of 787,300 foreign travellers arrived in February, up over 34 per cent and 1,300 percent respectively when compared with January 2022 and February 2021, Xinhua news agency quoted Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) as saying on Monday. Nevertheless, the February 2022 figure is still 35.2 per cent lower than that recorded in the pre-pandemic February 2020 when more than 1.21 million overseas passengers arrived in Ireland, it said. In January 2022, there were 584,100 foreign arrivals in Ireland while in February 2021 there were only 54,800, said the CSO. Ireland reported its first Covid-19 case at the end of February 2020 and its tourism sector suffered greatly as more and more travel restrictions were imposed across the world, resulting in a sharp drop in the number of foreign travellers. Tourism is a pillar industry of Ireland. In 2019, nearly 9.7 million people visited Ireland from overseas, bringing in over USD 5.6 billion for its hospitality sector, according to Tourism Ireland. Earlier this month, the Irish government removed all the Covid restrictions regarding travel.

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Srinagar International Airport marks busiest day in history with over 15,000 passengers

The Srinagar International Airport marked the busiest day in its history, handling 15,0 14 passengers who boarded 90 flights to travel in or out of Kashmir on the first day of the week, officials said on Tuesday. "We handled 45 arriving flights with 7,824 passengers and 45 departing flights with 7,190 passengers on March 28," a spokesperson of the Sheikhul Alam International Airport said in a tweet. "A total of 90 flights with 15,014 passengers makes it the busiest day in our history. And this is only the beginning of Summer Schedule!" he added. The current design of the airport is to handle around 7,000 passengers on a daily basis but work will soon start on the construction of a new terminal building that will augment its handling capacity, the officials said.

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Abu Dhabi Unveils New Home For Natural History

Abu Dhabi recently unveiled plans for the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, which will feature some of the rarest wonders of natural history ever found. Visitors will travel on a 13.8-billion-year journey through time and space. The new museum, currently under construction and due to be completed at the end of 2025, will be located in the emirate’s Saadiyat Cultural District, which is establishing itself as one of the world’s leading cultural centres. Conceived and developed by the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) in partnership with Miral, Abu Dhabi’s leading creator of destinations and experiences, the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi will be a scientific research and teaching institution and an educational resource for learning about the evolving story of our planet, aiming to ignite a life-long passion for the natural world in visitors of all ages. According to Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, nurturing awareness of how we are impacting the planet has never been more important. “Natural history has a new home in Abu Dhabi. A new museum which tells the story of our universe through some of the most incredible natural wonders known to mankind. These are awe-inspiring gifts from nature that we are proud to share with the world – unlocking millions of years of knowledge to not only advance scientific discovery but to inspire our children to protect our planet’s future,” said HE Al Mubarak. “As we nurture a new generation of global advocates that are incredibly curious and passionate about natural history, we are fulfilling our vision to enrich lives and make Abu Dhabi the place for research, research, collaboration and discovery.” The museum will join the diverse cultural institutions and museums in the Saadiyat Cultural District, which include Louvre Abu Dhabi and the upcoming Zayed National Museum and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, as part of Abu Dhabi’s strategy to position the emirate as a centre for culture, arts and creativity.

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Abu Dhabi Program For Effortless Customer Experience Launched

Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, launched the Abu Dhabi Program for Effortless Customer Experience to provide world-class, effortless customer experiences for everyone who interacts with Abu Dhabi Government. Building on Abu Dhabi’s human-centric approach, the new model will enable everyone living and working in the emirate, as well as visitors, to carry out tasks from buying a home, to starting a business, or exploring the emirate, quickly, seamlessly, and effortlessly. Saeed Al Mulla, Executive Director – Customer Experience Sector at Abu Dhabi Executive Office, said, “Launching this first-of-its-kind programme in the Middle East reflects our commitment to transforming customer experience across government and to becoming a leader in this exciting, growing field. Abu Dhabi Government has always put people at the heart of everything it does. The launch of the programme is an extension of those efforts, making it even easier for people – whether they live here or are visiting – to carry out every task quickly, conveniently, and effortlessly.” The new model is benchmarked against international standards, including the first ever International Model for Customer Experience in Government, designed by the International Foundation for Customer Experience in Government (a non-profit organisation headquartered in Canada). This model is supported by 80 toolkits and case studies from 20 different countries. The launch follows a successful pilot phase in three government entities, the Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT), the Department of Economic Development (DED), and the Department of Community Development (DCD), which streamlined customer experiences by almost 50 per cent on average, enabling quicker completion times and fewer touchpoints. The launch also follows an extensive and full maturity review at a whole-of-government level to assess current customer experience performance and set suitable targets for the future. The Abu Dhabi model uses a holistic and collaborative approach to address the entire customer experience holistically across four dimensions: direction, design, development and delivery. The programme also includes five strategic thrusts: Customer Experience Policy and Guidebook - outlining roles and setting service delivery standards; Priority setting - prioritising services for improvement to concentrate efforts and resources; Design lab - establishing a bespoke design lab in collaboration with best-in-class partners; Capability building - developing customer experience agents’ capabilities to enable them to provide world-class customer experiences; and Measurement - establishing a pioneering measurement model with a focus on the customer effort index.

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Ladakh to host Apricot Blossom Festival in April

Spring is a wonderful time full of beauty and divinity, and what better place than the ever-surreal Ladakh to experience this season. According to a recent social media post by the Department of Tourism, Ladakh, you can soon visit the Apricot Blossom Festival in the Union Territory of Ladakh. The festival is all set to be a visual treat for travellers, as beautiful Apricot flower blossoms are going to mesmerise you during this time. The festival is being held from April 13 to April 22, 2022. As per the Department of Tourism, Ladakh, the theme for this year’s Apricot Blossom Festival is Chuli Mentok 2022. Apricot is popularly known as Chuli in Ladakh. While we are all very well aware of the beautiful Cherry Blossom Festival of Japan, little did we know that Ladakh can offer a similar experience. Apricot was introduced way back in the old days when Ladakh was a popular Silk Route destination. The festival is being held in Leh and Kargil. In Leh, you can visit the festival in Domkhar Dho, Achinathang, Skuru, and Tertsey. In Kargil, the festival is being held in Garkhone, Sanjak, and Karkichu. The festival will be a great introduction for visitors to understand nature’s blessings in Ladakh. Apricot Blossom Festival is certainly going to light up your Ladakh tour.ti

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