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International and domestic flights: Four major relaxations provided to airlines

From a complete shutdown of international and domestic flights in March and April, India has come a long way achieving the one crore passenger mark in the domestic sector. Vande Bharat Mission (VBM), which started in May, facilitated repatriation and outbound travel of nearly 18 lakh citizens, according to aviation ministry data. “Moving towards Pre-COVID figures. Congratulations to all stakeholders on achieving this milestone! We continue our journey towards creating an #AatmaNirbharBharat,” civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri has tweeted. In this period of time, several major relaxations have been provided to the airlines to boost domestic and international traffic. In this period of time, several major relaxations have been provided to the airlines to boost domestic and international traffic. Internation air traffic got a leg-up after India started signing air bubbles with specific countries allowing both-way traffic. At present, India has air bubbles with 14 countries. Baggage rules Airlines are now allowed to implement their own check-in baggage policies instead of one check-in bag of up to 20 kg per passenger — a rule that was put in place when domestic flights commenced on May 25. On-board meal services In August, the government allowed airlines to serve pre-packed meals, snacks, beverages on domestic flights and hot meals on international flights. No meals were allowed on domestic flights in the initial months. International flights were allowed to serve snacks, pre-packed cold meals.

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Indian Railways likely to run more special trains ahead of festive season in October

New Delhi: Expecting a surge in travel demand during the upcoming festive season in October, Indian Railways is likely to announce around 80 more special trains. The Indian Railways like every year is expecting an increase in the number of travellers as the festive season ahead has festivals like Dussehara, Navratri, Diwali and Bhai Duj. The Railways had earlier announced to run 80 special and 40 clone trains in September. The clone trains started running from September 21 for which the reservations started on September 10. This was the first time that the Indian Railways ran 40 clone or duplicate trains on high-demand routes and the advance reservation period for these trains is 10 days. These trains were in addition to the 310 special trains which are already in operation. These trains will be run one or two hours ahead of the departure of special trains. Accroding to the Indian Railways, the travel time and the stoppages will be limited to operational halts.

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Saudi Arabia partially relaxes ban by allowing outbound flights to India

Saudi Arabia has partially relaxed its suspension on international flights from India. The country has now decided to allow scheduled flights to fly from India while retaining the suspension on passengers flying from India to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia banned flights to and from India on Tuesday amid a surge in coronavirus cases. In a circular issued on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said it was "suspending travel to and from the following countries: (India, Brazil and Argentina) including any person who has been in any of the mentioned countries above in the last 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom”. However, it excluded "passengers who have official government invitations. The GACA circular — titled: Suspension of travel to countries where the COVID-19 virus has outbreak’ — was marked to all the airlines and chartered flight companies operating at the Saudi Arabia’s airports. Saudi Arabia and the UAE host a significant Indian migrant population. Five days back, Air India Express had said the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (DCAA) suspended its flights for 24 hours for bringing two passengers with COVID-positive certificates on August 28 and September 4. Dubai is the most populous city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Scheduled international passenger flights have been suspended in India since March 23 due to the outbreak. However, special international flights have been operating between India and Saudi Arabia since May 6 under the Vande Bharat mission. India’s COVID-19 caseload has reached 56,46,010, and the death toll has climbed to 90,020 with 1,085 people succumbing to the disease in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry’s data updated at 8 am Wednesday showed.

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Cruise to be a major contributor in reviving Domestic Tourism: Vijay Kesavan, Jalesh Cruises

The travel and tourism industry witnessed a sharp decline owing to the global crisis that is the spread of the pandemic. With travel coming to a near standstill due to coronavirus restrictions, domestic/local travel and tourism will substitute the foreign tourism demand at the moment. For the Indian Travel Industry, the next big opportunity is right here at home. Our country is a treasure trove of unexplored gems that are sure to excite every kind of traveller, making domestic tourism a gold mine of possibilities. Domestic Cruise Tourism offers the biggest scope for the Indian travel industry. In lieu of the pandemic, we are witnessing global travel restrictions and with it, changing consumer preferences, which means now is the perfect time to tap into domestic tourism. Owing to the problems caused due to the pandemic, the tourism ministry assured that they would help speed up tourism activities and make India a popular destination post-COVID- 19 era. The tourism ministry has already started involving stakeholders such as travel influencers and travel media to understand how they can promote ‘Incredible India’ as well as cater and keep the travelling audience safe. With limitations for international travel, one will have to largely depend on domestic tourism, which is likely to catalyse recovery of the country’s economy. Domestic tourism is on the rise as people are looking at exploring new destinations, closer to home. Being geographically blessed the Indian coastlines are nothing short of a tropical paradise, and our nation boasts some of the most beautiful islands of the world and this is paving way for a rise in demand for cruise travel within the country. Despite a global pandemic, there has never been a better time for Domestic Cruise Tourism. Our culture of Atithi Devo Bhava will encourage countrymen to explore their country in a post COVID era. We know that sailing on a cruise ship has been on your bucket list for a while, and now, it’s time to turn that dream into reality.

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UAE reopens all seven regions to foreign visitors

The United Arab Emirates will resume issuing visas to foreign visitors to all seven of its regions as of Thursday after a six-month suspension imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic, state media reported. Dubai, the region's tourism and business hub and one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE, had already lifted its own visa ban in July. The Federal Authority for Identity and Citizenship said in a statement carried in state media that the decision was taken as part of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in the Gulf state as well as efforts to support economic recovery plans. All six Gulf Arab countries have lifted internal curfews and lockdowns, but restrictions on gatherings and foreign travel remain in the oil-producing region, where the total number of COVID cases stands at over 800,000, with more than 6,800 deaths. Neighbouring Oman said on Thursday it would resume scheduled international flights on Oct. 1 with strict measures to protect the country and aviation staff from the virus.

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Goa’s Dudhsagar waterfalls opens to trekkers

Goa is not confined to just beaches and spice plantations, for it is also home to the gorgeous Dudhsagar Waterfalls. Now that the travel restrictions in Goa have been largely removed, tourists plan to throng the site very soon. According to the reports, adventure organizations from Karnataka and other locations have booked trekking to the waterfalls this weekend. In addition, jeep safaris to the waterfalls would also open soon. Dudhsagar Waterfalls in Goa is accessible through a trek via the railway tracks. It is a beautiful journey that takes one through fresh water streams in the forest and so much natural beauty. Reportedly, trekking groups and hotels in Collem have also started offering special trekking packages to the Dudhsagar falls as well as jungle treks to Tamdi Surla waterfalls till the first week of October. According to the government rules, once jeep safari begins from October 2, trekking packages would be put on hold. As per the statistics, about 10000 tourists visited the Dudhsagar Waterfalls in 2019 within a few weeks. A large part of the crowd came from Bengaluru and Mumbai. Reportedly, some of the tour operators from Goa also offer pick up and drop to tourists if they can reach Goa state borders in a bid to save taxes and travel hassles for tourists coming from Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

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