News

India allows airlines to operate 80% of pre-Covid capacity

The Indian government on Thursday announced that domestic airlines can now operate from at 80% of their pre-Covid approved capacity with immediate effect. The operations were last capped at 70% of the levels. "Domestic operations recommenced with 30,000 passengers on 25 May & have now touched a high of 2.52 lakhs on 30 Nov 2020," said Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Moreover, on 1 December the number of daily domestic passengers on flights has touched 252,374, which is a new high since operations resumed on May 25 this year. Indian airlines resumed domestic operations on 25 May, after being grounded for two months during a government-backed lockdown to contain the covid-19 pandemic. Since then, the air passenger traffic has gradually picked up over the months, after the collapse of business and leisure travel due to the pandemic.

Read more

MP gets set to welcome film shoots

The Madhya Pradesh government has released a set of Standard Operating Guiding Principles to restart shooting of films in the state. The state with its predominantly Hindi-speaking population and the ready availability of production facilities, line producers, artists and local crew, make it ideal for the shooting of films. Till now more than 200 projects including feature films, TV serial/series, TVCs and reality shows have been shot in the state. Actor Anupam Kher had also tweeted, thanking the state government for their co-operation during the shooting of his film - The Last Show. In his tweet, he also mentioned a special thank you to the MP tourism department for helping them complete the shooting. To further simplify the shoot permission and to help make Madhya Pradesh a shooting-friendly state, a Film Tourism Policy is also being developed. The policy aims to make Madhya Pradesh a major hub for film shooting while generating employment opportunities for the locals. The state tourism boards lists out the facilities that they would be providing to ease the shooting of films, including: - Authentic shooting locations - Film friendly authorities and strong govt. support - Easy permissions - Modern infrastructure and hotels - Favorable law and order condition - Cost effective infrastructure, crew, local talent and other skillful workforce - Hindi speaking people, food/cuisine flexibility and ideal climate To facilitate the shooting of films, TV serials and web series, the Madhya Pradesh tourism board has also set up a dedicated Film Facilitation Cell that shall work as a nodal agency to ease out the shooting permissions through single window clearance system. A dedicated online portal shall also be created to provide a single -point interface and time bound clearance mechanism for filmmakers intending to shoot in Madhya Pradesh. All the applications shall be received through online mode by the Film Facilitation Cell and action shall be taken in coordination with the concerned department for permission. The portal shall also act as a platform for information dissemination related to film tourism policy and as a forum for the dissemination of rules, regulations, while also providing information on grants and other utility services.

Read more

Shipping Ministry to start luxury ‘Ramayan Cruise Service’ on Saryu River in Uttar Pradesh

‘Ramayan Cruise Tour’ on the Saryu River in Ayodhya will be launched soon. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways today chaired a review meeting for the implementation of cruise service. It will be the first-ever luxury cruise service on the Saryu River (Ghagra/National Waterways-40) in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. It aims to give mesmerising experience to devotees with one-of-its-kind spiritual journeys while cruising through the famous ghats of the holy river Saryu. The cruise will be equipped with all luxury comfort and facilities along with all essential safety and security features at par with the global standard. The interiors of the cruise and the boarding point will be based on the theme of Ramcharitmanas. The fully air-conditioned 80-seater cruise will have large glass windows for experiencing the scenic beauty of Ghats. The cruise will be equipped with kitchen and pantry facilities for the comfort of the tourists. The cruise contains bio toilets and hybrid engines system for the ‘zero effect’ on environment. Tourists will be taken on the ‘Ramcharitmanas Tour’, of 1-1.5 hour duration, featuring an exclusively made video film of 45-60 minutes duration, based on Ramcharitmanas by Goswami Tulsidas, covering the period from the birth of Lord Ram to his Rajyabhishek. The entire tour will cover the approximately 15-16 Km distance.There will be several activities and selfie points inspired by different episodes of Ramayan. The tour will be followed by Saryu Aarti, in which every member will be able to actively participate. The ‘Ramayan Cruise Tour’ will not only attract a large number of tourists but it will also generate direct and indirect employment opportunities in the region. Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways will provide all necessary infrastructural support for the smooth operation of the cruise service.

Read more

Maldives permits 84% of resorts to reopen

MALE, Dec. 2 -- Some 84 percent of resorts in the Maldives have been granted permission to reopen by the Ministry of Tourism since July, local media reported here Wednesday. Tourism Ministry statistics showed that 133 out of 159 resorts have been permitted to reopen since the country resumed tourist arrivals on July 15. Accordingly, Maldives now has a bed capacity of 30,878. Over 70,000 tourists arrivals have been recorded since July 15. Maldives closed its borders to tourists in March amid a COVID-19 outbreak.

Read more

SpiceJet to launch 20 domestic flights from Dec 5; to bring Shirdi & Ranchi on its route map

The airline has announced the addition of Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, as its latest domestic destination. It has introduced non-stop flights connecting the city with the key metros of Delhi and Mumbai. The airline will operate daily flights on Delhi-Ranchi-Delhi sector and Mumbai-Ranchi-Mumbai sector. SpiceJet will also connect Shirdi, a major pilgrimage centre in Maharashtra with Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad with new daily non-stop flights. Shilpa Bhatia, Chief Commercial Officer, SpiceJet said, “We are delighted to add Ranchi, one of the prime industrial centres of eastern India, to our domestic network. Our new flights connecting Ranchi with key metros of Mumbai and Delhi will boost trade and we see a strong demand from both business and leisure travellers. Our new flight services from Shirdi to Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad will prove to be beneficial to thousands of devotees who intend to visit the temple town after it was re-opened to pilgrims recently.” The airline has also introduced a host of new flights connecting Ahmedabad. These flights will operate on Ahmedabad-Jammu-Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad-Guwahati-Ahmedabad and Ahmedabad-Kochi-Ahmedabad sectors. While the flights between Ahmedabad and Kochi will operate daily, flights on Ahmedabad-Jammu-Ahmedabad sector will operate on all days except Sundays whereas flights on Ahmedabad-Guwahati-Ahmedabad will operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. SpiceJet will also enhance its operations with additional frequencies on the Delhi-Goa-Delhi (2nd frequency) and Delhi-Kolkata-Delhi (3rd frequency) sectors. The airline will deploy a mix of its Boeing 737 and Bombardier Q400 aircraft on the newly introduced routes. SpiceJet is celebrating the launch of its new flights by announcing introductory all-inclusive starting fares of INR 3,430 on Delhi-Ranchi, INR 3,980 on Ranchi-Delhi, INR 4,005 on Mumbai-Ranchi, INR 4,167 on Ranchi-Mumbai, INR 3,956 on Delhi-Shirdi, INR 3,981 on Shirdi-Delhi, INR 3,556 on Bengaluru-Shirdi, INR 3,457 on Shirdi- Bengaluru, INR 3,147 on Hyderabad -Shirdi, INR 2,931 on Shirdi-Hyderabad, INR 5,015 on Ahmedabad-Jammu, INR 5,030 on Jammu-Ahmedabad, INR 5,789 on Ahmedabad-Guwahati, INR 6,192 on Guwahati-Ahmedabad, INR 3,439 on Ahmedabad-Kochi and INR 4,980 on Kochi-Ahmedabad route. With the new flights, passengers from Ranchi, Shirdi and Guwahati will now be able to easily travel to a host of cities on SpiceJet’s domestic as well as international network.

Read more

UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, rollout due next week

LONDON — The U.K. on Wednesday authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use, marking another step in the global battle against the pandemic. The vaccine will now be rolled out in the country next week, with elderly people in care homes and medical workers first in line. The U.K. government is reportedly the first in the world to formally approve the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for widespread use, and it means Britain will be one of the first countries to begin vaccinating its population. “The government has today accepted the recommendation from the independent Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to approve Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine for use,” the government said Wednesday. “The vaccine will be made available across the U.K. from next week.” Pfizer’s Chairman and CEO, Albert Bourla, said the authorization was a “historic moment.” “This authorization is a goal we have been working toward since we first declared that science will win, and we applaud the MHRA for their ability to conduct a careful assessment and take timely action to help protect the people of the U.K.,” he said. “With thousands of people becoming infected, every day matters in the collective race to end this devastating pandemic.” Pfizer and BioNTech announced in July an agreement with the U.K. to supply 30 million doses of its mRNA-based vaccine, formally known as “BNT162b2,” once authorized for emergency use. That agreement was increased to 40 million doses in early October. As a two-dose vaccine, the U.K. will have enough doses to vaccinate around a third of its 66 million population. BioNTech said Wednesday that the delivery of the 40 million doses will occur throughout 2020 and 2021, with complete delivery fulfilment expected next year. A spokesman for the U.K.’s Department of Health and Social Care said it would soon be known which parts of the population would be the first to receive the vaccine. “The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) will shortly publish its final advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable,” he said. The U.K.’s approval of the Pfizer vaccine, which was seen to be 95% effective at preventing Covid-19 in late-stage clinical trials, has prompted questions over when we could see regulators in the rest of Europe, and the U.S., make their respective decisions on whether to authorize the vaccine. On Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech said they had applied to the European Medicines Agency for the conditional marketing authorization of the vaccine. If the authorization is granted, it could enable use of the vaccine in Europe this month, BioNTech said, although the EMA later said on Tuesday that it would complete its review of the vaccine by December 29. Meanwhile, the FDA has reportedly asked a group of advisors to set aside three days in early December (slated to be around Dec 8-10) for potential meetings to discuss potential authorization of Covid-19 vaccines, so a decision could be made soon after. Time is of the essence when it comes to rolling out a vaccination, particularly for the U.K. It has the third highest number of confirmed cases in Europe, after France and Spain, with over 1.6 million infections, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It has seen the highest number of deaths due to the coronavirus in Europe, however, with almost 60,000 fatalities. The number of daily infections has been steadily falling due to a second lockdown, that was lifted on Wednesday and replaced with a tiered system of restrictions, with the severity of the rules dictated by regional infection rates.

Read more