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Lufthansa to offer free messaging on European flights

According to the airline, the air passengers on board the European flights would be able send and receive any number of messages, including photos, free of charge. Additionally streaming and surfing will become significantly cheaper, it said. The prerequisite for usin the new free service is logging into FlyNet with a Miles & More service card number or wi an e-mail address registered with the Lufthansa Group Travel ID. From mid-January 2024, German airline Lufthansa will offer unlimited free messaging on its short- and medium-haul flights. Making the announcement Lufthansa shared that the travellers will then be able to send and receive messages, including photos, on their own smartphone or tablet during the flight on aircraft of the A320 family that have WLAN. The service is free of charge. For all other Internet packages on board, such as streaming, the tariff will also be reduced by almost 50 per cent from mid-January, it said.“One great example is Free Messaging. I am pleased that our guests will in future be able to stay in touch with their relatives or business partners above the clouds - free of charge,” added Reitz. The prerequisite for using the new free service is logging into FlyNet with a Miles & More service card number or with an e-mail address registered with the Lufthansa Group Travel ID. A new login or registration is also possible during the flight, the airline announced.

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Fresh snowfall in Kashmir; Gulmarg turns heavenly

Kashmir is currently seeing season's first snowfall and has turned into a winter wonderland. It was one of the most visited places in the country during the last year, and seems that it will be topping the chart again this year. Gulmarg, one of its most loved getaways and a winter lovers' haven, looks like a different beautiful realm altogether, covered in layers of fresh snow. It is also the skiing capital of India, wooing sports lovers from all over the world. Travellers from all over the country and the world visit Kashmir, especially during the winter season, when the valley sees heavy snowfall. It has been reported that upper reaches of the Kashmir Valley are also seeing snowfall. This fresh spate of snow has also led to a sharp dip in temperature in the region. With Diwali vacations on right now, and more festivals coming, it is expected that snowfall lovers will now make a beeline for Kashmir.Other than Gulmarg, Gurez Valley, Sadhna Pass, Phirkiyan Gali, and Machil Kupwara are also covered under layers of snow. It is reported that most places have seen at least 6 inches of fresh snow till now. There are reports of snowfall from the very famous Doodhpathri in Budgam, and areas of Kulgam, Peer Ki Gali as well as Sinthan Top.There are reports of snowfall from Kashmir's Baramulla as well. The famous Mughal Road and Anantnag-Kishtwar road have also seen restriction in vehicular movement due to slippery roads. While there in interruption in daily life in the valley, snowfall also brings in more tourists to the city, eagerly awaited by the locals.

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Air India to introduce more AI features to address customer queries via virtual agent 'Maharaja'

Tata Group-owned Air India's generative artificial intelligence (AI)virtual assistant 'Maharaja' using Microsoft's Azure OpenAI service, which responds to over 6,000 consumer inquiries every day, is set to get more advanced functionality.The airline is using ChatGPT to assess questions, even some complex ones that it might not be able to respond to right away, in order to enhance customer experience in subsequent contacts and help it become more natural language sensitive, the company said in a press release on Friday. Air India said it has successfully implemented 'Maharaja', making it the first airline in the world to do so. Since its experimental introduction in March 2023, the agent has satisfactorily addressed over half a million client queries, Air India said. According to the statement, it currently handles over 6,000 queries daily in four languages: Hindi, English, French, and German. "Of the 6,000-plus questions received each day, over 80 per cent are successfully answered in seconds. About 15 per cent of customer queries today require additional assistance, and Maharaja recognises this automatically and orchestrates a seamless handoff to Air India's contact centre agents," the release said. Air India is now looking to launch a host of sophisticated features, driven by patent-pending technologies. "This includes a novel user experience that changes the way customers interact with AI agents with a combination of textual and graphical interactions that can potentially further speed up customer interactions... Air India also plans to enhance the current AI agent with data-driven deeppersonalisation capabilities," the release said. Satya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Air India, said that after the emergence of Large Language Model-driven generative AI capabilities, it is increasingly seeing a definitive shift in guest preferences to use chat interactions to get the information and support they need quickly.

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Bhutan winter travel: Jigmechhu campsite in Chhukha is an emerging eco-tourism hotspot

The Jigmechhu campsite in Bhutan's Chhukha is an emerging eco-tourism hotspot that has established itself as a nice winter destination. It is located at an elevation of about 180 meters above sea level, The Bhutan Live reported.Jigmechhu, a picturesque riverside settlement on the banks of Wangchhu, is also known as "Majathang" (the Flat Land of Peacocks). It is bordered by West Bengal plains and the Buxa Tiger Reserve to the south, according to The Bhutan Live report.Jigmechhu offers a number of attractions, including hiking and sport fishing, for visitors seeking a wholesome and memorable getaway. In addition, the place has three campsites with well-pitched tents, while the pleasant home stays offer an alternative mode of accommodation. This place with lush sub-tropical forests along with various wildlife and avifauna species is an ideal destination for bird watching. Visitors in this vicinity will also be able to see endangered birds like greater hornbill and the regal peacock. Furthermore, Wangchhu, which provides habitat for the golden and chocolate mahseer, is an ideal site for sport fishing.People can also visit numerous pilgrimage sites (Nyes) in the locality. Locals and Hindus from India have been visiting these pilgrimage sites. These can serve as a perfect getaway for day excursions. People can also enjoy local delicacies and home-brewed drinks, The Bhutan Live reported. Since Jigmechhu is located in the southern foothills of Bhutan, which experience a hot and humid climate, the ideal time to visit the place is from November to March, when the skies are clear and the weather is pleasant.

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InterGlobe Enterprises plans to launch electric air taxi service in India in 2026

InterGlobe Enterprises on Thursday said it along with Archer Aviation plans to launch an all-electric air taxi service across India in 2026. Once launched, the InterGlobe-Archer flight will aim to take passengers from Connaught Place in the national capital to Gurugram in Haryana in approximately 7 minutes whereas by road, the 27-kilometre-long trip will take 60-90 minutes, according to a release. Both companies have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)with the goal of partnering to launch and operate an all-electric air taxi service in India, subject to appropriate regulatory approvals and clearances. InterGlobe Enterprises is an Indian travel conglomerate and the country's largest airline IndiGo is part of it. Archer Aviation is a leading player in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.The two companies plan to launch an all-electric air taxi service across the country in 2026. "In addition to urban air taxi services, the parties plan to pursue a variety of other use cases for the electric aircraft in India, including cargo, logistics, medical and emergency services, as well as private company and charter services," the release said. They intend to work with select in-country business partners to operate Archer's aircraft, finance and build vertiport infrastructure, and train pilots and other personnel needed for these operations. As per the release, the partnership also plans to finance the purchase of up to 200 of Archer's Midnight aircraft for the India operations. The Midnight aircraft is a piloted four-passenger eVTOL designed to perform rapid back-to-back flights with minimal charge time between flights. "The goal is for a passenger on an InterGlobe-Archer flight to be able to fly the 27-km Delhi trip from Connaught Place to Gurugram, typically taking 60 to 90 minutes by car, in approximately 7 minutes," the release said. InterGlobe's Group Managing Director Rahul Bhatia and Archer's ChiefCommercial Officer Nikhil Goel signed the MoU. "Over the last two decades, InterGlobe has been involved in providing safe, efficient, and affordable transportation to hundreds of millions of Indians across the country. We are excited at this new opportunity of bringing an effective, futuristic and sustainable transport solution by introducing Archer's electric aircraft to India," Bhatia said. Goel said India is one of, if not the largest opportunity for eVTOL aircraft utilisation in the world as the country is home to the world's largest population of over 1.4 billion people and its largest cities face some of the greatest congestion challenges in the world. Apart from aviation, InterGlobe Enterprises is also into hospitality, logistics, airline management, travel commerce, advanced pilot training, and aircraft maintenance engineering.

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Go First lenders to challenge move that could let lessors reclaim planes

Lenders of grounded Indian airline Go First plan to legally challenge the aviation watchdog's interpretation to retrospectively apply changes to bankruptcy law that could allow lessors to reclaim planes, according to four people with direct knowledge. India last month tweaked its laws to exclude leased aircraft from assets that are frozen during bankruptcy proceedings.With lessors of Go First up in arms about not managing to get their planes back, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, in a court filing, said the law changes will apply retrospectively, indicating relief for the lessors.But lenders of Go, to whom the airline owes $783 million, fear the value of the grounded airline will deteriorate further if planes are released, diminishing interest from potential bidders and putting recovery of their funds at risk, the sources said. They plan to tell a Delhi High Court judge the bankruptcy law changes should apply prospectively, not retrospectively, since Go was already under bankruptcy protection when the law was amended, the sources said. "Without the planes, the value of the airline will deteriorate. The amended law seems to have deterred bidders already," said one banker at a state-run bank with exposure to the airline. The Delhi court is set to hear the ongoing dispute between lessors and Go First next on Friday. The lenders' plea, if allowed by court, would be a setback for lessors and mean more than 50 Airbus planes of Go First would continue to be grounded in India. Dubai Aerospace Enterprise Capital and ACG Aircraft Leasing told the court previously that some of their plane parts had allegedly gone missing and that some jets were corroding. The Go First bankruptcy filing lists Central Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank and Deutsche Bank among its lenders Last month, Reuters reported that Go First received an expression of interest from Jindal Power. The last day to submit bids for the airline is Nov. 21, the four sources said.

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