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Time for us to encash the lost opportunity to make India the largest aviation hub: TAAI

Covid-19 has had a terrible impact on the aviation industry and significant reductions in passengers’ numbers have resulted in flights being cancelled or planes flying empty between airports, which in turn massively reduced revenues for airlines and forced many airlines to lay off employees or declare bankruptcy. Some even attempted to avoid refunding cancelled trips to diminish losses. But with two years into the crisis, we now have better knowledge, handful of experiences and better implication ideas with all the necessary precautions. Business is gearing up and we have seen a lot of action in the aviation industry in the last quarter of 2021. Commenting on which, Jyoti Mayal, President, TAAI, said, “As the pandemic progressed, we saw a drastic decline in the movement of flights. By April 2020, over 80 per cent flight movements were restricted across all regions. But nevertheless, bad times are always followed by good times, so is the world recovery of passenger demand which is expected to pre Covid levels in last quarter of 2022. Although nothing could be taken as the gospel’s truth with such uncertainties around, we can still have hope, faith and decisiveness to take things forward. She further spoke about the new airline ‘Akasa’ and said that it’s a welcoming move and will certainly open a plethora of opportunities. “Indian aviation industry, going by the spending power and population of the country, has a huge scope of growth and with the Government of India developing new airports and parking space increasing in the country, aviation is coming back on track. Competition is always healthy & not only will the consumer benefit from this but so will the Tier-II & Tier-III cities by giving more opportunities for employment, infrastructure & economic development. “News of airlines launching in the coming time is doing the rounds and there are speculations whether Covid is a good time for this step or not. But as an industry veteran, I think that launching these will give these airlines more opportunities to cater not only to the domestic market but also to international. Any new entrant will help expand the market and encourage customers to take airlines as the most preferred mode of transportation amid this pandemic. I strongly believe it is time for us to encash the lost opportunity to make India the largest hub between the east & west,” Mayal further mentioned.

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Travel camping startup Moonstone Hammock to expand beyond Maharashtra

Moonstone Hammock is a bespoke travel camping startup started by five college friends in 2016 at an investment of INR 1 lakh. The company today has three locations in Maharashtra with the latest one in the most sought-after beach destination of the State, Alibaug. The Alibaug one is a more premium glamping site with individual washrooms and other facilities among the three. The other two sites are Karjat and Pawna. “Alibaug was always on our radar and we have been waiting for the right opportunity,” said Choudhary. It has a wonderful site 200 m from the beach which is well connected and accessible, says Chaudhary. When Chaudhary and his friends ventured into travel camping in 2017, there were hardly any camping site operators in Maharashtra. Today there are over 100 operators in Maharashtra alone, which Chaudhary believes is the evolution and acceptance of the concept by all types of travellers. They used to get young adventure seekers in the age group of 20 to 35 initially. However, the scenario has changed over the last couple of years. “We now receive at least eight to nine families with kids in our camps every week,” he says. The number of guests they hosted in their camps started rising over the years. From 700 guests in 2018, the number went on increasing to 900 in 2019, and around 1,200 so far this year. Chaudhary also expects a promising spike in the turnover of the start-up which started at a meagre investment of 1 lakh Rupees. “Last financial year, we closed at INR 1 crore. With the Alibaug camp, we expect the business to touch INR 5 crore this year,” he says. With Alibaug, the company was also able to complete their product range from standard ground tents to forest cabins to now luxury glamping accommodation. “We also introduced a cafe in Alibaug.” Chaudhary and his partners have already toured the length and breadth of Himachal Pradesh and identified four or five locations for expansion. “The plan is to expand to other places. Himachal is an interesting place because camping started from there in India,” he says. Choudhary is hopeful of opening at least two new locations in 2022. While camping as a concept is finding traction from travellers, Choudhary is concerned about the growth that is happening without proper regulations in place. “There is no clarity about anything,” he laments. He hopes that a young Tourism Minister like Aaditya Thackeray will take the lead to engage the stakeholders and frame policies and guidelines for the segment in place. Now, camping sites fall under the Agri Tourism policies in many states including Maharashtra.

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After IndiGo, Air India offers ‘one free change’ of date, flight for travellers

Air India today announced 'one free change' of date or flight number or sector for all domestic flights in view of “uncertainties" due to the rising Covid-19 cases in India. In a tweet, Air India said domestic travellers can change date or flight number of sector with confirmed travel on or before March 31, 2022. With a massive rise in Covid cases, the airline industry seems to have come under immense stress. India's largest airline in terms of market share, IndiGo today said it will reduce its capacity by 20 per cent due to the ongoing wave of the covid-19 pandemic. The airline also said it is waiving off change fees for all new and existing bookings made for flights up to 31 March 2022, as a large number of passengers are changing their travel plans due to rising number of infections. IndiGo, which has a fleet of over 275 aircraft, operated about 1,500 daily flights in December. The airline had 54.3% domestic market share in November. The Centre on Friday had also announced a seven-day mandatory home quarantine for all international arrivals in the country from January 11 till further orders. India reported a single-day rise of 159,632 new coronavirus cases on 9 January, raising the total tally to 35,368,372, which includes 3,071 cases of Omicron variant reported across 27 states and union territories so far, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.

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Sri Lanka launches luxury train service with India's assistance

Sri Lanka has launched a luxury train service connecting the country's Tamildominated Jaffna district to the capital city Colombo with the help of a Line of Credit offered by India, in another significant landmark in bilateral ties. The intercity rail service with all facilities was launched on Sunday for passengers travelling from Colombo's Mount Lavinia suburb to Jaffna's Kankesanthurai port suburb in the north, covering a distance of approximately 386 kms. India's High Commission here termed it "another significant landmark in India-Sri Lanka ties". "Powering the railway infrastructure forward!! The train service launched today to the Northern Province highlights 2 key pillars of India's development partnership with Sri Lanka - infrastructure development and country-wide focus," it said on Twitter. India had provided AC Diesel Multiple Units (AC DMUs) under the loan facility. Sri Lanka's Minister of Transport Pavithra Wanniarachchi, who undertook the inaugural ride, was welcomed by India's Deputy High Commissioner Vinod K Jacob at the Colombo Fort Station during the inaugural ceremony. "Hon'ble Minister @pavithrawannia1 inaugurated the AC Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) supplied by @RITESLimited under an Indian credit line & launched the train service from Mt.Lavinia to KKS. She undertook the inaugural ride & was welcomed at the #Colombo #Fort Station by Deputy High Commissioner," the Indian mission said in a tweet. "This train service will facilitate people-to-people exchange and will lay emphasis on mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries," Jacob said. The train service will criss-cross the island nation, connecting Colombo with Kankesanthurai on the northern tip of the Jaffna Peninsula, which has a Tamil-majority population. Wanniarachchi thanked the Indian government for its continued support to Sri Lanka in tackling the ongoing pandemic. The supply of air-conditioned diesel multiple units is just one of the many railway projects being undertaken by India in Sri Lanka, the Indian High Commission said, adding that there are also other ongoing projects, which include supply of passenger coaches under an Indian Line of Credit. India's total development portfolio in Sri Lanka is over USD 3.5 billion, of which around USD 570 million are purely grant projects, the Indian mission said in a statement. Modernisation of railways and creation of new railway infrastructure have been important sectors of focus under the Indian Government's development portfolio in Sri Lanka, in line with the priority of the government and people of Sri Lanka, it added.

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India adds 8 new countries to ‘at risk’ list

The Indian government has updated its list of ‘at risk’ nations for international arrivals, and added eight new countries to the list. These eight nations are Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Ghana, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Zambia. With these new additions, there are now 20 countries, travellers fr which will have to follow new COVID-19 measures to enter India. India's ‘at risk’ nation list includes South Africa, Brazil, China, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Hong Kong, Israel, Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, and Zambia. All international travellers visiting India from the above-mentioned 20 nations will have to follow additional measures. It includes on arrival PCR test (self-paid), seven days home quarantine, getting tested on eighth day post quarantine and submitting a negative report on the Air Sewa portal. Passengers will have to show a negative COVID-19 report not older than 72 hours on arrival at any Indian airport. They’ll also have to prebook a PCR test, if arriving at one of the six major airports of India. These are Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata. If a passenger does not pre-books his/her tests before boarding the flight, they’ll be allowed to board the flight. However, the concerned airlines will take the responsibility for booking tests for such passengers. Those who test positive will have to follow “stringent isolation” on arrival.

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NE has the potential to lead the development journey of New India: G Kishan Reddy

Union Minister for Tourism, Culture & DoNER has said that the Northeast region has the opportunity to lead the development journey of New India tapping the huge potential that the region has in tourism, agriculture, horticulture, handicrafts, IT, etc. Reddy was speaking virtually at the inaugural of the Northeast Festival happening at the aegis of the DoNER Dialogues in Guwahati, Assam. Quoting the Prime Minister, Reddy said that the Northeast is fast becoming the ‘gateway of national growth’, and the Look East Policy of the government places the spotlight on the region. Because of this, the region has made consistent progress in connectivity of roads, railways, airways, internet, and logistics, he said. The Minister observed that the region is a rich reservoir of natural resources, minerals and forest wealth, flora and fauna, fertile land, exotic fruits and vegetables, and unparalleled scenic beauty. Along with this, the geographical proximity to Southeast Asia, the region has immense trade potential as well. With the required infrastructure and market linkages, the Northeast can become a trade hub to Southeast Asia. For this, large-scale efforts are being undertaken to improve connectivity both within the nation and with other states. The Minister stated that the capital connectivity project is set to open a new chapter in the growth story of the region. He felt that the pace of development is visible and that road and highway projects worth over INR 85,000 crore are in progress across the region. Even in the case of air connectivity, the scenario has improved by leaps and bounds as 4G mobile connectivity and Wi-Fi connectivity for village panchayats is being enhanced. This growth in connectivity should soon turn into economic prosperity for the eight states and the people, Reddy said. With the visible and rapid development in the last 7 years, the Minister has urged the business community to confidently carry the message of ‘investment ready Northeast’ across the country and beyond.

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