News

Vistara airlines issues inflight modifications to tackle Coronavirus infection

Vistara Airlines has taken stern measures to tackle Coronavirus COVID-19 spread! Vistara has announced temporary modifications to in-flight services for health and safety reasons. These are applied to both domestic and international flights in order to ensure the health and safety of passengers and its staff after the resumption of flight services, Vistara said in a statement. In line with social distancing norms, the airline aims to introduce new operating procedures to minimize the touchpoints of human contact on board by up to 80%. The airline may make further changes in compliance with regulatory guidelines once they are finalized and notified, Vistara said in a statement. 1. Vistara has stated that it intends to continue serving food and beverages in all cabins. 2. The airline wants to reduce the cabin crew’s time spent on aisle and interaction with customers. 3. On Vistara’s domestic flights, the service alterations include a reduction in meal choices and withdrawal of services such as onboard sales, welcome drink, hot meals and beverages in Premium Economy and Economy cabins, Starbucks coffee, and Turkish towels. 4. Water-pouring will be replaced with the distribution of 200ml sealed water bottles on all flights, and cold refreshments will be served to customers in Premium Economy and Economy cabins, including to customers opting for Economy Lite fares, Vistara said. 5. With an aim to further reduce the risk of spreading the virus by touch, the airline has implemented a temporary fleetwide removal of its inflight magazine and other reading material. 6. Services on international flights will also be reviewed accordingly to curtail contact with customers. 7. Vistara’s cabin crew are receiving appropriate training on minimizing their chances of contracting or spreading the coronavirus. They will undergo thermal screenings before the departure and arrival of flights and will be quarantined/tested if any colleagues or passengers show symptoms of infection or test positive for COVID-19. The cabin crew will wear protective equipment such as face masks and disposable gloves at all times. 8. Vistara will implement social distancing across all possible passenger touchpoints and encourage the usage of self-service facilities such as web check-in and airport check-in kiosks.

Read more

Summer Comeback? Greece Wants Tourists Back From July

Greece, one of the world’s most-loved travel destinations, is looking to reopen to tourists from July as it hopes to restart a pillar of its economy that has been battered by coronavirus restrictions. KEY FACTS 1. Tourism accounts for up to 12% of Greece’s GDP, raking in $20 billion (18 billion euros) in 2019. 2. Greece went under lockdown on March 23 and is looking to lift restrictions from Monday, while hotels will be allowed to reopen on June 1, Reuters reports. 3. But the southeast European nation is unlikely to witness a busy summer season, as restrictions around movement due to coronavirus keep people away. 4. Greek tourism minister, Harry Theocharis, told Reuters: “This season is not going to be a season like the other years, I would be a fool to believe that this could ever be the case, however there is a lot that we can do in order to re-open the touristic economy, the touristic flows, and that way we will able to support a lot of those enterprises — the hotels, the travel agents.” 5. Greece has reported around 2,500 coronavirus cases and 139 deaths. BIG NUMBER Greece drew in 33 million tourists in 2018, with two-thirds of visitors coming from other EU countries, according to OECD data. KEY BACKGROUND Countries across Europe are starting to reveal their phased plans to ease lockdown, after weeks of businesses being shut, travel being restricted and people told to stay at home. As summer holiday season approaches, this includes plans to slowly reopen the bloc’s tourism sector, which accounts for one tenth of its economic output. But EU member states are understandably cautious about a return to travel, as Europe has seen the largest cluster of countries worst-hit by coronavirus.

Read more

No bookings for May: Etihad only selling tickets for passenger flights from June 16

Etihad is suspending all online sales for flights before June 16. The Abu Dhabi airline has closed bookings on flights departing in May and the first two weeks of June. It is now only accepting new bookings for flights scheduled to fly from June 16. This, however, remains subject to change, should current flight suspensions be extended. The national airline of the UAE recently announced that it was planning to resume flights from May 16. But again, this was reliant on flight suspensions being lifted by UAE authorities. Until today, travellers could book flights on Etihad’s website for travel in the last two weeks of May to several destinations. These included India, the UK, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the US. No official updates have come from the UAE government regarding the easing of travel restrictions, and Etihad has now taken the decision to suspend flight sales for travel before June 16. “To minimise any potential disruption or discomfort to customers, only flexible and refundable fares will be offered after April 29, 2020, for travel ‪between June 16 and August 31, 2020,” an Etihad spokesperson told The National. “The network is under continuous review, and Etihad is monitoring the situation and following UAE and international government and regulatory authority directives.” Travellers who had booked flights with Etihad for travel in May can rebook flights for another date or request Etihad credit or a refund. Etihad continues to operate special repatriation flights from Abu Dhabi to several destinations. Several of these flights are now scheduled to run until the end of May. Dublin and New York are the latest places to be added to the repatriation flight schedule. A flight will take Irish nationals in the country to Dublin on Friday, May 1. For US citizens hoping to return to New York, Eithad will operate a flight on Monday, May 4. Etihad is also operating cargo flights and repatriating Emirati citizens from overseas. UAE nationals wishing to return home should contact their local embassy or consulate.

Read more

Vietnam flings open the doors, Thailand and Malaysia peek through the curtains

Peeking through the curtains and testing the water, or flinging wide the door and going for it. Or somewhere in between. Some South east Asian countries are starting to make cautious preparations to lift lockdown and travel restrictions. But this isn’t a competition – each country is having to look at the myriad of local issues as they factor in steps to re-open their economies. And every South east Asian country has different priorities. Vietnam has already ended the government’s “social distancing measures” this week, except in some districts of the northern capital Hanoi. The Vietnamese health authorities reported no new cases for seven days in a row, giving them the confidence of being the first of the ten nations to reboot their economy. But compared to the rest of the world the numbers in South east Asia have been tiny. In fact, all added up, South east Asia’s reported cases make up a minuscule 1.3% of the world’s cases (despite widespread belief that the numbers in Indonesia are actually a lot higher than reported). In comparison, the case numbers in the US have burst through the 1 million mark in the past 24 hours, with more than 56,000 deaths. Spain, Italy, France and the UK are also still struggling to contain the coronavirus, all with more than 20,000 deaths. Singapore, an island state of only 5.6 million people, leads the way in the region with nearly *15,000 cases (mostly migrant workers). Meanwhile the most populous of the South east Asian nations, Indonesia, with a population of 264 million, is in second place with *9,511 reported cases. But Reuters today published a report that there have already been 2,200 deaths in the archipelago, three times the officially of *773 deaths. The stark difference in the tallies, relative to their populations, has been put down to the quality of the testing regimes in the two countries – none of the region’s epidemiologists believe Indonesia is correctly reporting case numbers. The city-state has struggled to control the epidemic, mainly among migrant workers. Singapore has discovered over 7,000 new cases in the past seven days alone. * Figures as of 1930 Tuesday, Thai time Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines imposed levels of restrictions after infections started to climb. In Thailand there was a national nighty curfew, closure of all non-essential shops, rules about the wearing of masks and travel restrictions, keeping Thai’s within the borders of their provinces (and some cases within the boundaries of their suburbs). Today Thailand has extended it emergency decree, a state of emergency giving their prime minister sweeping powers to make instant decisions. The state of emergency now runs to the end of May despite the number of ne cases slowing to a trickle over the past week. But preparations for easing restrictions around Thailand are now apparent. The cabinet is considering decreasing the level of intensity and scope of restrictions that affect the normal operation of Thai businesses. Thais look forward to a gradual easing of the draconian restrictions in coming weeks. But the nation’s most pressing problem will be to figure out how to salvage it’s valuable tourism industry, said to contribute from 15-18% of the country’s total GDP. The tourist magnets, like Phuket and Pattaya, have been devoid of tourists for nearly two months and the shops and bars remain shuttered. Although restrictions may soon be lifted, allowing some semblance of trade, there is unlikely to be any resurgence in Thai tourism until sometime in 2021. A lot will depend on other countries re-opening their borders, the aviation industry finding a way to sustain scheduled flights and a willingness of international travellers to get back on planes. And will they have the money anyway? And will insurance companies provide insurance for travellers until a viable vaccine is on the market? Bangkok and Phuket remain the areas in Thailand with the most infections and they will be among the last to have restrictions lifted. Malaysia and the Philippines have both report fewer cases over the past seven days than in the previous seven days. But Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin has now extended the government’s restrictions on internal travel until at least May 12, the third such extension. Like its northern neighbour, Malaysia is, too, being cautious about opening back up too quickly and risking a second wave of infections. Last week the Philippines’ President Duterte extended the lockdown in Manila, and other high-risk areas until the middle of May 15. But as South east Asia’s economies peak through the curtains, glimpsing at creating a new-normal, the world’s fastest growing economies now face their biggest test yet – have they opened up again too early?

Read more

Rediscovering TN mantra could revive tourism business

CHENNAI: After this long summer of being confined indoors, vacations too are not going to be the same, at least for the next few months. Social distancing restrictions and increased costs are going to change the way people plan and travel for leisure. With exotic locations out of the picture, tour operators are trying to get people to explore their own backyard. And with five Unesco world heritage sites dotting Tamil Nadu, the state tourism industry is trying to ensure that travel is not off the cards after restrictions on movement are relaxed. The impact on tourism in Tamil Nadu, which attracts the most number of international and domestic tourists in the country is undeniable high, tuning into the domestic market is the way forward, say experts. Tamil Nadu Tour Travel and Hospitality Association president V K T Balan feels coronavirus is not a destroyer, but an opportunity for Tamil Nadu tourism to rebound. "For the next one year, tour agents would be promoting domestic destinations and Tamil Nadu would be the biggest beneficiary as we have the country’s longest coastline, multiple hill stations, besides temple and heritage destinations," he said. Post-Covid, the travel sector will shift from being about security to safety, wherein tourists will look for hygiene while visiting tourist attractions. This would make tourism an expensive affair, higher by 20% from the existing costs, estimate experts. Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) Tamil Nadu chapter chairman Pandian K said tourists will demand health checks of drivers and crew members. "Vehicles will undergo frequent checks and would have to be sanitised every day. Sports utility vehicles with a seating capacity of six could be accommodating less than four members due to social distancing norms and any group above this number (four) will switch to larger vehicles," he said. "The fallout would be that fly-by-night agents, offering travel at a cheaper price, would vanish. The reliability on ethical operators will increase as people will not think twice to pay more to ensure health and hygiene during travel," he said. Apart from leisure travel, MICE (meetings incentives, conferences and exhibitions) is going to be the focus for the sector as it may take longer for foreign tourists to start travelling because of job losses and economic crisis in their countries. MICE is an opportunity, says M K Ajit Kumar of Asia Pacific Tours. "The need of the hour is to have a focussed initiative to revive the sector. Work-from-home may seem to be the new normal for many companies with fewer business travel. But still there may be a need to bring together employees once in a while. So MICE has a better scope as a sector that can be promoted. A few of us are working now over video conferencing to create an action plan under the banner of South India MICE Association (SIMA). This will not only take care of the occupancy of rooms, but this segment will also ensure revenue flow for hotels and resorts from bookings of banquets." While some travel and tour operators are coming together to find their own ways to ensure people feel safe to visit Tamil Nadu, most feel the government, which is yet to formulate a strategy to revive tourism, can play a big role. "Only the government can give confidence to the people and that will bring back tourists. The state and Centre should work on this," said J Sethuraman of Travel XS, who has been handling incoming arrivals for a long time. Many in the industry are also looking at the government to offer loans, and not doles. "As a long-term measure, money in the form of loans and confidence building measures are the two things that will help the industry survive," he said. While the industry would have to adapt, but it might be difficult for budget hotels to stick to new standards. "It costs money and needs quality manpower. We may have to find out how budget hotels can do it," he said. The hospitality sector is pressing for a moratorium on long-term loan repayment and working capital for new hotels as dining out will not be an option for many months. South India Hotels and Restaurants Association (SIHRA) honorary secretary T Nataraajan said 18% GST for accommodations must be reduced for the next year because largely domestic tourists will be occupying hotel rooms. "On the conference and convention front, a hall could accommodate only one-fourth of its total capacity as social distancing must be maintained between every individual in the coming months," he said. Tamil Nadu has been attracting the highest number of domestic and foreign tourists in the country since 2014. As per estimates, business activities associated with Indian hospitality and tourism sector including hotels, transport, guides and shopping stands at `5 lakh crore and provides employment to 3.8 crore people. Of this, Tamil Nadu accounts for `1 lakh crore, providing job opportunities for more than 35 lakh people in the state, said Pandian. "Post lockdown, Tamil Nadu government must brand the state aggressively, both nationally and internationally to woo tourists," said Pandian, who believes the new journey of rediscovering the state would hold many surprises for the curious traveller.

Read more

Turkey considering restarting flights by mid-May – but only domestic trips at first

TURKEY is considering starting flights as soon as next month, with domestic flights resuming from mid-May. Coronavirus cases in the country are beginning to fall as recoveries overtake infections. The resuming of flights is to be discussed by officials, with trail transport and the reopening of schools also to be discussed. Coronavirus cases have hit 112,000, with nearly 3,000 deaths across Turkey, although the country was one of the last to be hit by the deadly virus.The suggestion of May flights is great news for flag carrier Turkish Airlines, although will need to be approved by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before they resume. Flights could start from May 24, which coincides with Eid al-Fitr, a three day holiday following Ramadan. Pegasus Airlines CEO Mehmet Nane, who’s also the head of Turkey’s Private Aviation Operators Association told Bloomberg: "We are already ready to resume flights as long as it is approved." However, social distancing rules and regulations are also being discussed to prevent the spread of the virus within the cabin. He added: "Social-distancing rules inside the plane are just the tip of the iceberg, there is a need for a comprehensive arrangement for rules about ticketing desks, security and access to the planes." Tickets could go on sale two weeks before the first flight to see the demand, and so measures can be taken to allow space within the flight for passengers. Holidays for Brits are unlikely to be the same if heading to Turkey post-lockdown. Tourists visiting Turkey will need to have a certificate proving they don't have coronavirus to be allowed to visit, according to the government.The new regulations were announced by Turkey’s Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy to be introduced following the pandemic.

Read more