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Air India starts additional flights between India & Australia under bubble flight agreement

National carrier Air India has announced that it will begin direct flights between India and two cities of Australia – Melbourne, and Sydney after both the nations signed the air bubble travel agreement last month. As per the information shared by the airline, it has started flight services from Delhi to Melbourne and Sydney effective January 2, which will run till the end of March 2022. Sharing the information on Twitter, the soon-to-be disinvested airline said that bookings are open through its website, booking offices, call center, and authorised travel agents. The Delhi-Melbourne-Delhi flight will run on Sundays until March 27, 2022, while the Delhi-Sydney-Delhi flight will operate every Monday and Tuesday till March 22, 2022. The airline has also asked travellers to refer to the latest travel rules and regulations before booking the tickets. As per the air bubble agreement signed between India and Australia, airlines of both countries may carry certain categories of passengers on their flights being operated under the arrangement. It would be for the airlines concerned to ensure that there is no travel restriction for Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese nationals to enter Australia before the issue of ticket or boarding pass to the Indian/Nepalese/Bhutanese passenger. Earlier last week, Air India had also announced an additional flight to Germany from Mumbai and Bengaluru to be run till March 25, 2022. The flight from Mumbai will fly from the Mumbai International Airport on Wednesdays and Fridays, while from Frankfurt, it will depart Wednesdays. Air India is also running additional flights that the flight from Mumbai will fly from the Mumbai International Airport from Wednesdays and Fridays, while from Frankfurt, it will depart Wednesdays.

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Andhra Pradesh: Private travel buses fleece holiday crowds

VISAKHAPATNAM: It may not be easy going home this Sankranti season as reservations in buses and trains are almost full. Taking advantage of the situation, private bus and taxi operators hiked the fares abnormally in the past few days. Each person has to spend an extra 1,000 to 1,500 towards fares in buses from Hyderabad to Vizag and other destinations. According to an estimation, around one lakh people would come to various destinations in AP from Telangana, especially from Hyderabad, during the Sankranti festival days. Though the railways has extended festival special trains, there is a waiting list in almost all the trains from January 7 to January 16, with chances of seat confirmation being very low. South central railways used to run almost 400 special trains during Christmas to Sankranthi on normal days, but the pandemic conditions restricted its services and now it is running only 200 trains. East coast railways is also running 100 to 120 trains. Both zones are adding one or two services every day, but the demand is more. Even APSRTC and Telangana RTC are running more than 200 services a day. “Though there are seats and sleeper tickets available with private buses, many operators are creating artificial crisis and looting the public, a retired employee, G Srinivas, alleged. “With no other option, my daughter and son-in-law bought tickets each costing 2,900,” he said

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Hernando tourism hits a record in 2021

BROOKSVILLE — It was a banner year for tourism in Hernando County in 2021, Tammy Heon told county commissioners Dec. 14, and new initiatives are planned to make 2022 even better. Some of those initiatives include new mermaid statues and a redesigned website at www.floridasadventurecoast.com. The site features a more streamlined look, easier navigation for local events, and intuitive suggestions for visitors to the area. Each section also includes more video and blog content, so visitors to the site can become more immersed in the destination. Tourism development collections totaled nearly $1.53 million, up 39.7 percent, Heon said. County Commission Chairman Steve Champion said it was easy because the state was more open for business and less restrictive during the pandemic. “It’s easy when you’re open and everyone else is closed,” he said. February 2020 was just before the pandemic arrived, Heon said, and by March occupancy fell from 89% to 57%. By September, hotel occupancy was 49%. A hotel opened, but several closed, Heon said, so inventory hasn’t changed that much. As of October 2021, she said, hotel occupancy was up to 70.5% and the average daily rate was $95.24, up 22.7%. Vacation rental homes continue to thrive, she said, and software is letting them track revenues from vacation rental homes. “Without that revenue, we would not be where we are today,” she said. Their occupancy is back up in October, and the average daily rate is up to $154. There are 612 listings, she said. Higher numbers should lead to more investment, said Commissioner John Allocco. One hotel is renovated and has a new roof, and it looks good for the county. Other hotels have renovated their rooms and inside amenities, Heon said. Hotels have continued to come back, and vacation rental homes are rising and have helped with rental collections. There is a problem with RV park collections, Heon said, because if renters stay longer than six months, the state gives them a break on tourism development taxes. She said she hasn’t figured out how to get around that yet, and Allocco quipped that maybe they can get taxes from their gasoline purchases. Plus, an RV park was rezoned to industrial so spaces were lost. October’s revenue was up, and so was November’s, but she wasn’t sure it could last. Champion said he thought it might continue because the state is doing well. As an outdoor recreation state, Heon said, people find Florida safer to visit but said the situation was still very challenging. “People have to decide where they’re going to vacation,” Champion said, “and they’re not going to go to California or New York. They’ll stay away from those places because they don’t have any freedom, so guess where they’re coming: Florida, Tennessee and Texas. The freest states in the country.” Heon said they’re using more into digital tools using RESTORE Act money and launched an online visitors center, as well as 58 new videos highlighting the area’s vacation amenities. Plans for 2022 include a new strategic plan and Part 2 of the Florida Mermaid Trail with 6-foot-tall mermaid statues to encourage people to move throughout the county. Allocco asked about maintenance and Heon said they would be washed and waxed, and get a clear coat every few years. She said she’s building a couple of hundred dollars into the price of each statue for maintenance. Heon also made recommendations for $17,500 in marketing grants for several organizations, including: Lead Foot City: $2,500 Tampa Bay History Center: $1,000 Hernando County Fine Arts Council: $2,500 The Arc Nature Coast: $1,000 The Hernando County Bike Fest: $2,500 Evans Media: $2,500 Dave Humbles: $2,500 Brooksville Main Street: $3,000

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Covid-19: UAE will not go back to full lockdown, says minister

The UAE will not go back to complete lockdown due to the Omicron or any other variant of the coronavirus, a minister said on Thursday. "Omicron is way less impactful than Delta. Even during Delta, we hadn't locked down the country (because) balance has been there (between economy and health sectors). Even with futurist variants when it comes to coronavirus, we will not go back to a full lockdown of the country," said Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade. The UAE had announced lockdowns and travel restrictions after the pandemic broke out in early 2020. But it was also the first country to reopen by applying strict safety and precautionary measures throughout the country. The minister said 2021 was critical, encouraging, and positive for the economy, and 2022 has also started with a robust forecast. "We celebrated our Golden Jubilee in 2021 and welcomed the world to Expo 2020. We showed the world that it can't continue with the lockdowns. We have to come back to norms ASAP, and balance between health and economy has to be ensured," Al Zeyoudi told Bloomberg in an interview on Thursday. He said the communities could come back to norms quickly and cope with global challenges such as the pandemic. "Thus, we made significant changes in our regulatory system and the way we are running the businesses. During the last few months, we announced 100 per cent foreign ownership, changed the workweek to match with the rest of the world, upgraded the employment laws to create more flexibility and showed our commitments that we are welcoming the world to the UAE," he said. The minister said that in 2022, the UAE is standing on a solid foundation, and it will maintain a balance between economic and health aspects. "We are continuing Covid-19 testing on a daily basis and encourage people to take the vaccine booster." The benefit of new workweek Replying to a query about the new workweek introduced by the UAE this year, Al Zeyoudi assured that this would benefit the economy and give communities more time, which means more consumption over the long weekends. Starting January 1, 2022, the UAE changed its working week from Sunday-Thursday to Monday to mid-Friday in line with the other markets around the world. "We've started seeing positive feedback from the businesses because consumption has been picking up throughout the end of the week. We started opening up and relaxing things based on the best global practices, and the changing weekend is no different. It ensures that our system is linked to the global system." Deals with India, Israel soon The minister stated that e-commerce and real estate are among the top sectors attracting huge foreign direct investment from Europe, Australia and other countries. Al Zeyoudi revealed that the government is also working on comprehensive partnership agreements with some countries. "India deal is almost done and we are going to announce it soon. It is going to have a huge impact – more than 1.7per cent on the GDP over the coming 10 years, boosting trade and creating more jobs. Israel deal is going to be finalised in two months," he said, adding that since the signing of the Abraham Accord, trade has reached more than $1 billion and it's going to exceed $5 billion in three years. The minister expects trade with Turkey will also triple as the two countries' economic committees met recently to chart out closer cooperation.

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World War II-era Agartala airport to be third international airport in Northeast

Agartala: The Agartala airport, which was first built in 1942 after the land was donated by the then Tripura king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur and was used as a technical base for the Royal Air Force during World War II, would likely be declared an international airport soon to boost air connectivity with the neighbouring countries. According to the Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials, Agartala airport, located 20 km north of the Tripura capital city, in terms of handling of aircraft and passengers is the second busiest airport in northeastern India after Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport in Guwahati. The LGBI and Bir Tikendrajit International Airport in Imphal (Manipur) were earlier declared international airports. The Civil Aviation Ministry would soon declare Agartala airport as an international airport, officials of AAI and the Tripura Transport Department said. Agartala airport, earlier known as Singerbill Airport, was renamed after Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur in July 2018. It is being used in a big way by Bangladesh nationals, for whom Agartala sometimes is the first stop to a destination in India or overseas as the airport is much closer to their areas than their own country's airports. Tripura Transport and Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said that as the MBB airport was already developed with all international facilities and standards, the state government has been urging the central government to initiate operation of flights from this airport to the neighbouring countries. "When Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia visited Agartala along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 4, he (Scindia) responding to our request said that the government is trying to operate flights from Agartala to Bangkok via Guwahati airport," Roy said. He said that the Tripura government had on a number of occasions proposed to the Central government to operate flights from Agartala to Dhaka, Chittagong and other cities of Bangladesh as it would be a very economically viable route. Roy, who also holds the Agriculture portfolio, said Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has already discussed with the Prime Minister and Civil Aviation Minister and Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to operate flights between Agartala and cities in Bangladesh. "Scindia also informed us that Kailashahar airport (in northern Tripura) would be functional as soon as possible. If flights are operated from Kailashahar airport, people of Bangladesh, southern Assam and Mizoram would also be benefited to travel to various Indian states and abroad," the Minister said. Kailashahar airport, also along the international border and near to resource rich Sylhet district of Bangladesh, has remained closed since June 1992. According to historian and writer Pannalal Roy, the land for the Agartala, Kailashahar and various other (now abandoned) airports in Tripura had been donated by the then Tripura kings. "During the Second World War, King Bir Bikram supported and helped the Allied powers, especially Great Britain. He deployed a contingent of the Tripura Army to assist Great Britain. During that time Agartala, Kailashahar and other airports were built to facilitate the Allied powers," Roy, who authored many books on Tripura's royal history, said. He said that in 1943 Japanese fighter planes twice bombarded Agartala airport. Historian Salil Debbarma said that at the end of the 1355-year rule by 184 kings, on October 15, 1949, the erstwhile princely state of Tripura came under the control of the Indian government after a merger agreement was signed between regent Maharani Kanchan Prabha Devi and the Indian Governor General. According to AAI official S. Haokip Jempu, the Agartala airport was used as a technical base for the Royal Air Force during World War-II when the Allied Forces took on the Japanese soldiers in Arakan Ranges, in Burma, now Myanmar. "The first known flight which took off from this Airport was Curtiss C-46 Commando transport aircraft of 4th Combat Cargo Group (4th CCG) of the United States which flew to Burma (Myanmar) during World war II in December 1944 and January 1945," he said. Jempu said that the new integrated terminal building with state of the art infrastructure will have a handling capacity of three million passengers per year. "With a built-up area of 30,000 sq. metres, the new terminal building has been designed to handle 1,000 domestic and 200 international passengers during peak hours and it is equipped with all modern amenities," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new integrated terminal building of MBB Airport, built at a cost of Rs 500 crore, on January 4. According to AAI officials, international flights were operated from Guwahati's LGBI airport to Bangkok, Singapore, Paro (Bhutan) and Dhaka (Bangladesh). In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, all the international flights were suspended.

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Bahrain travel guide: everything you need to know as the kingdom updates entry rules

Bahrain is welcoming vaccinated travellers from several destinations with no quarantine, and fewer PCR testing requirements once in the kingdom. Only an hour's flight from the UAE, the country may be a nice choice for anyone wanting a change of scenery without having to travel too far from home. Open to citizens and residents as well as travellers from the GCC and those who are eligible for a visa on arrival, the kingdom is also part of a vaccine travel corridor with the UAE. This allows vaccinated passengers to travel between the two countries without the need for quarantine in either destination. If you're considering taking a trip to the tiny Gulf island in the near future, this guide answers any questions you may have, from the precautionary measures that need to be followed, to the restrictions in place once you arrive. Who can fly to Bahrain? Entry to Bahrain is currently open to Bahraini citizens and residents, GCC citizens and passengers eligible to obtain a visa-on-arrival or an eVisa. Entry is suspended for travellers from red list countries, which includes South Africa, Namibia and Nigeria. Only Bahraini citizens and residents can return from these destinations. Diplomats, military personnel, airline crew and holders of official, service or UN passports can also fly to Bahrain. All arriving passengers must hold a return ticket and sufficient funds to cover their stay in Bahrain. Do I need to quarantine in Bahrain? Travellers who have not been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will need to quarantine in Bahrain for seven days. This applies to anyone aged 12 years and over and isolation can take place at a private residence, hotel or other places of stay that has been leased or owned by the traveller or a family member. This also applies to vaccinated travellers who do not have green shield in the BeAware App. Citizens and residents of the UAE and other GCC countries who can provide proof that they have received the full course of a Covid-19 vaccine through approved applications do not need to quarantine, but must undergo on-arrival Covid-19 testing procedures in Bahrain. Passengers travelling from other destinations that have recognised vaccine certificates and who are fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19 do not need to self-isolate, but must also take a PCR test on arrival. Currently, certificates issued by GCC countries, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Jordan, Seychelles and any country from where travellers are eligible for a visa-on-arrival are recognised, provided that the last dose was administered at least 14 days before departure. Travellers from destinations with vaccine certificates not recognised by the Bahrain government must follow the rules for non-vaccinated travellers, including quarantining for seven days. Exempted travellers flying to the kingdom from destinations on Bahrain's red list must quarantine for a period of 10 days in an approved hotel or at home, regardless of vaccination status. What do I need to do before I fly to Bahrain? All travellers flying to Bahrain must complete a health declaration form before flying. It can also be filled in via the BeAware Bahrain app before arrival. Tourists who need an online visa must apply and have their application approved before they can fly to the island. Negative PCR test results are required for anyone flying to Bahrain, regardless of vaccination status. Tests must be taken a maximum of 72 hours before flight departure times. Children under the age of 6 are exempt from testing requirements. Travellers from specific countries may need to take the test 48 before departure, so check the latest requirements with your airline before you fly. What rules are in place at the airport? Covid-19 testing is in place at Bahrain airport for all travellers. The fee for this is 12 Bahraini dinars ($31). Travellers should self-isolate until they receive the results of their on-arrival test. Previously, vaccinated arrivals were required to take PCR tests on arrival, followed by more tests on the fifth and 10th days of their stay. This requirement has been dropped. Arriving passengers who do not have exemption from quarantine rules must remain at home or in government-appointed hotel accommodation for seven days. Another PCR test will be taken on day seven and a negative result will end this quarantine period. Travellers can pay for the tests before arriving via the BeAware Bahrain app. Cash is also accepted, but this may cause delays. Which airlines are flying to Bahrain? Several airlines are operating between the UAE and Bahrain. Emirates flies daily from Dubai to Bahrain and flydubai is also operating flights between the two countries. From Abu Dhabi, Etihad Airways has resumed daily flights to Bahrain and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi operates three times per week from the UAE capital to the kingdom. Air Arabia operates to the country from Sharjah and Gulf Air, the national airline of Bahrain, flies regularly to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. What restrictions are in place in Bahrain? Bahrain has been on yellow alert status since December. This means that vaccinated and non-vaccinated people can access shops, swimming pools, malls, gyms and restaurants by showing their green shield. Children under 12 are exempt from these rules. Hotels are open with social-distancing rules and safety measures in place. In accordance with local health authorities, some restaurant and facility services and hours may also be modified. Face masks are mandatory in all public places. What do I need to do when flying to the UAE from Bahrain? Departing travellers need to be at Bahrain International Airport at least three hours before their flight to allow for additional screenings. Access to the terminal is limited to passengers and staff only, and temperature screening is mandatory at entry points and before boarding flights. Bahrain is on Abu Dhabi's green list of destinations from where travellers can fly without the need for quarantine, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated. Travellers will need to complete ICA approval online to return to Abu Dhabi and all passengers need a negative PCR test to fly back to the UAE. Those staying in Abu Dhabi must follow the most up-to-date PCR testing requirements for the emirate.

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