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India: Ban on scheduled international flights extended till February 28

India's Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has just announced that the current ban on international scheduled flights will extend till 2359 hrs IST, February 28, 2022. The civil aviation body has also clarified that current flights under travel air bubble arrangements and Vande Bharat flights would remain unaffected from the ban. All such flights would continue to operate as per the ongoing arrangements. Cargo flights would also be exempt from the extended ban. An official statement by DGCA states that, "The authority has decided to extend the suspension of Scheduled International commercial passenger services to/from India till 2359 hrs IST of 28th February 2022." It has to be noted that scheduled international passenger services have stayed barred in the country from March 23, 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic first spread across the world. Subsequently, a number of repatriation flights were launched under the Vande Bharat mission in May. India also entered into air travel bubble arrangements with a number of countries to ease essential travelling in the time of the pandemic. India, currently, has travel bubble arrangements with around 32 countries. Earlier, in December 2021, when the COVID-19 number were low in the country, India was gearing up to restart scheduled passenger flights from December 15. The date was subsequently moved to January and has now been extended again to February, 2022, as Omicron infection numbers surge in the country.

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Installing body scanners at airports would bring uniformity, smoothen the travel process: TAAI

The Centre-run Airports Authority of India AAI is yet to procure and install a single body scanner for its 200 plus airports across the country. Aviation security regulator BCAS had in April 2019, directed 84 hypersensitive and sensitive airports across the country to install body scanners by March 2020, replacing existing door frame metal detectors, hand—held scanners and patdown searches of passengers to detect metallic objects at the airport during security checks. Commenting on which Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI said that this might prove to be a great move as several checking and scanning methods create a sense of restlessness among the travellers, which somewhere down the line discourages them to take flights and take up other modes as and when possible. “The government should ponder upon it and make through it as soon as possible, as it will provide a smooth checking and travelling passage to the passengers which somehow shall definitely work as a tourism booster. When it comes to travelling we should not ignore the fact that majority of the people pay attention to such small details while choosing destination and mode of transportation, so the government needs to make sure that no stone is left unturned, when it comes to traveller’s satisfaction,” Mayal added. “Walk through metal detectors and hand held metal detectors cannot detect non- metallic weapons and explosives. Body scanners detect both metallic and non-metallic items concealed on the body, thus making the safety of passengers a priority which would further boost footfall, as safety is on everybody’s mind these days,” Jay Bhatia, VP, TAAI mentioned. He further added that AAI in 2020 issued tender to procure 198 body scanners for 63 airports, but later it was cancelled due to some reasons. "This time we hope things get better post pandemic and we start a fresh with new facilities on board." Speaking on which, Bettaiah Lokesh, HSG, TAAI quoted, "We always welcome such steps which reflects good technology and sense of responsibility. We as an association urge to the government, to bring such ideas to concrete so that passengers could bask in the easiness and smoothness of security checks minus the havoc." Whereas, Shreeram Patel, Treasurer, TAAI further added that passengers have to remove their jackets, thick clothing, shoes, belts as well as all metallic items before entering into the body scanner of an airport. "A mannequin like image is generated by the machine, and if there is a yellow spot on the screen, it means that area on the body may need further screening. Once the body scanners are installed at an airport, pat down searches will not be required for all passengers, easing the security check process," he said.

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Flying to Middle East gets convenient as carriers allow COVID positive patients to reschedule flights

Flying to the Middle East during the current times of COVID has just turned easier, as passengers will now be permitted a one-time free date-change option. This is applied to those who test positive in an RT-PCR test before flying. Until now, passengers who would test positive for COVID-19 before flying would have to bear monetary loss of a wasted air ticket, but the same is about to change with this new rule. The new rule for Middle East carriers is, however, only for rescheduling and not cancellations. According to the reports, the offer also applies to those who test positive for the virus at the airport. So, they too can change their date of flying. A source said that earlier there were not too many cases, but with the Omicron variant that has changed. Hence, passengers are testing positive in the 48 hour window after getting a negative RT-PCR report. It should be noted here that passengers going to the Middle East countries are required to get two tests done. One should be 48 hours before the flight, and the other must be 6 hours before departure at the airport. So this new rule will allow passengers to reschedule their flights even just hours before departure.A convenient, and passenger-friendly rule by carriers going to the middle east. The positive thing about this new rule is that passengers rescheduling their flights will not have to pay any extra charges for the same booking class that is available. This will be true even if the fare is higher at the time of booking. Refunds, on the other hand, will result in a cancellation fee.

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Honorary Consulate of Sri Lanka to reopen in Thiruvananthapuram

Keralite businessman Biju Karnan has been appointed Honorary Consul of Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram. The Honorary Consulate is reopening here after a gap of three years. Mr. Karnan is the second Honorary Consul of the island nation to be posted here. Joemon Joseph, who first held the post after the office opened in February 2014, passed away on October 12, 2018, after which the post had remained vacant. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will inaugurate the reopening event at the Hilton Garden Inn at 3.30 p.m. on Friday. Minister for Revenue K. Rajan will preside. Shashi Tharoor, MP, will deliver the keynote address. Leader of the Opposition V. D. Satheesan, senior officials of the Sri Lankan High Commission and other dignitaries will be present. The Honorary Consulate will strive to strengthen the bilateral relationship between India and Sri Lanka and boost ties in tourism, trade, and socio-cultural sectors, a statement said.

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Covid-19 travel update: Indonesia lifts ban on foreign arrival for tourism boost

Indonesia lifted a ban on all foreign arrivals and kept the required isolation period at 7 days in a bid to keep the economy going, even as local Covid-19 infections continued to climb. Authorities last week removed all 14 heavily-infected nations from its travel ban list, allowing travellers from countries including South Africa and the U.K. to enter its borders starting from Jan. 12, according to a statement by the Covid-19 Task Force. With restrictions in place, “it will be difficult for cross border movements that are still needed to maintain stability including the national economic recovery,” Spokesman Wiku Adisasmito said in the statement. The ban removal came as Southeast Asia’s biggest economy geared up for a number of international events this year, such as the MotoGP championship in March and the G-20 Summit in November that would generate more international arrivals. Indonesia’s daily Covid case rose to 1,362 on Tuesday, the highest since Oct. 8, as the omicron strain spread across the country and the number of local transmissions exceeded its imported cases. About half of the new cases were recorded in Jakarta. Still, hospitalization rate and fatalities have remained low as vaccination coverage improved. Health Protocols at Sports Events Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno said that the government will still impose strict health protocols at sports events. He responded to a statement by Dorna Sports, the organizer of the MotoGP motorbike championship, that it would not follow Indonesia’s quarantine protocols during the race. Separately, President Joko Widodo reiterated a call for Indonesians to reduce going to public places, work from home, and avoid overseas travel over the next few weeks to avoid a spike in omicron cases that could overwhelm its health system. The government has said that cases are likely to peak in February or mid March, before they began to subside.

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UK’s newest airline Hans Airways to launch scheduled flights to India this year

Hans Airways, UK’s newest hybrid, long-haul airline venture, is preparing to launch scheduled international flights to India later this year after it secured its first aircraft after signing a Letter of Intent (LoI) for an Airbus A330-200 (MSN 950) in the first week of January 2022. The aircraft has been operating with a leading European airline since 2008, configured in a two-cabin layout, which Hans Airways will operate with 275 economy and 24 premium economy seats. Hans Airways’ senior management has identified a high demand for regular secondary city air links between the UK and India, drawing on its CEO’s considerable experience instigating a series of charter flights for Monarch Airlines and FlyJet. UK base in Birmingham Hans Airways has applied to the UK Civil Aviation Authority for its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) in March 2020 and is hopeful of obtaining the status in time to start revenue service this summer. The airline will operate in secondary cities in India from Birmingham Airport. Its application for an Operating Licence and Route Licence has already been published by the UK CAA. Financial support for the airline has come, inter alia, from the Indian community in the UK. Commenting on the development, Satnam Saini, CEO, Hans Airways, said, “We are delighted to have achieved this very important milestone in our twoyear journey. Our scheduled operations centre on the Airbus A330, a popular and spacious long-haul widebody, excellent for cargo too, and we are grateful to everyone who has helped us to ratify this agreement at the start of the new year.” Pilot and cabin crew training commences The first set of flight crew (four pilots and cabin crew) commenced their first day of training from January 3 in Crawley, UK with Hans Airways’ flight training partner IAGO Flight Training and L3 Harris Commercial Aviation for the simulator. The recruits were welcomed by Saini, investor Kirpal Singh Jass, and Nathan Burkitt, the airline’s Director of Flight Operations and Crew Training. The A330 will be re-registered as G-KJAS, adopting the surname of one of Hans Airways’ principal early investors, who have believed in its community airline model since the project was conceived in 2019. Loyalty programme The airline said it is also working on a loyalty programme which will be known as HAPEEI (Hans Airways Passengers Environment Education Initiative) and it will reward passengers with all the regular benefits of a frequent flyer programme and with a strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility, create opportunities to donate to children’s educational charities in India or conservation and water preservation projects. The airline also intends to have a close working relationship with travel agencies and travel management companies.

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