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Finnair to resume Mumbai-Helsinki direct flight in March 2024

Finnair, Finland's flagship carrier, is set to restart its direct flights between Mumbai and Helsinki in March 2024, after suspending operations due to the Russia-Ukraine war and Russian airspace restrictions. The airline plans to operate wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft for these flights and hire around 50 additional flying crew members, including Indian pilots and cabin crew, for its Mumbai operations. Finnair's rich history and Indian connections. Founded in 1923, Finnair is one of the world's oldest airlines. It currently operates a daily flight to Delhi, connecting customers to nearly 70 European destinations and five cities in the United States. Sakari Romu, Finnair's Indian operations head, revealed that the airline generates higher revenue per flight from its Mumbai operations compared to its direct flight to Delhi. Exploring expansion and partnerships in India Finnair is actively considering expanding its market offerings in India, with Bengaluru and Chennai as potential markets. The airline is also exploring partnerships with Indian airlines on both an individual airline-to-airline basis and a more holistic alliance level. While discussions are ongoing, no agreements have been finalized yet. Business travel recovery and visa challenges. According to Romu, business travel from India is still around 60% of the level seen in 2019, and it may take at least another six months for corporate travel to return to pre-COVID-19 levels. Romu also mentioned that limitations in visa processing by European countries have affected travel demand between India and Europe, but he expects it to reach its peak after six months once these limitations are addressed.

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Your Air India Ticket Will Let You To Fly On These Bangkok Airways Routes Now

The agreement will improve the Indian airline’s connectivity to regions such as Chiang Mai, Lampang, Sukhothai, Trat, Koh Samui, Phuket, and Krabi in Thailand. Additionally, travellers can board connecting flights to Luang Prabang in Laos and to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Cambodia. Air India customers will also have the option to fly to Koh Samui via Singapore and Hong Kong. Under the Inter Airline Through Check-In (IATCI) implementation, the partnership will let travellers receive their boarding passes (for connecting flights too) at the first point of departure for all travel sectors on a single ticket. Additionally, passengers’ luggage will be checked-in till the final arrival destination. An added perk is that Air India passengers will get access to Bangkok Airways’ Boutique Lounges and Courtesy Corners — regardless of the cabin class they are flying. The two airlines have also entered into a Special Prorate Agreement, which lets them file ‘through fares’ on routes covering each other’s networks, states a press release. This means a traveller will have to pay a single fare for a single ticket that covers all the places in an itinerary. Talking about the development, Nipun Aggarwal, Chief Commercial and Transformation Officer, Air India, said in a statement, “One of our strategic priorities at Air India is to offer our guests the choice of flying to more places through our own as well as an augmented global network. We are happy to join hands with Bangkok Airways as part of that effort to provide our guests greater connectivity within Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia.” Chulin Kocharoen, Vice President – Network and Product Development of Bangkok Airways PLC, added, “We are pleased to enter an interline partnership with Air India to strengthen our respective route networks and offer business and leisure travellers with unprecedented and convenient access to new gateways.” Currently, Air India flies daily to Bangkok from Delhi and Mumbai, twice a day to Singapore from Delhi, and once a day from Mumbai and Chennai, as well as thrice a week to Hong Kong from Delhi.

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G20 Summit: A one-stop guide for those travelling in and around Delhi from September 8-10

India is hosting the G20 Summit this weekend, with world leaders and foreign delegates set to converge in New Delhi. With the top leaders landing in the city, authorities have chalked out elaborate travel restrictions and arrangements to ensure high security and hassle-free traffic movement. A slew of traffic restrictions have been put in place in the New Delhi area, which houses the G20 Summit venue and hotels, from Friday morning. The area will be considered a “Controlled Zone” from 5 am on Friday till 11.59 pm on Sunday due to the G20 summit, PTI reported. If you stay in New Delhi or are visiting the area over the next three days, here’s all you need to know about which routes will be shut, which transport services will be operational, and more. What modes of transport to use? From September 8 to September 10, some types of public transport might not run as usual and certain routes might be shut or diverted for security reasons. Traffic movement will be regulated on the roads in and around New Delhi district. Commuters might experience longer travel times due to the traffic restrictions. Entry of private as well as commercial vehicles into the New Delhi area will be restricted.

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G20 Summit: Traffic curbs come into force from today in Delhi, commuters advised to use Metro

As India is set to host the G20 Summit on September 9-10, traffic restrictions have come into force in New Delhi from Friday. According to officials, stringent traffic regulations were put in place in the national capital on Friday morning. The police have also advised people to use the Metro due to regulated traffic movement. Due to the summit, the New Delhi district will be a Controlled Zone-I from Friday 5 am to Sunday 11:59 pm. The police have warned people against picnicking, biking, or walking along Kartavya Path and India Gate. The movement of vehicles is restricted in the New Delhi district, but police said ambulances, locals, and visitors staying there will be allowed to travel with proper identification documents. Roads designated as 'Controlled Zone II' Nearly 16 roads and junctions will be treated as "Controlled Zone II" till 2 pm on Sunday. These include W-Point, A-Point, DDU Marg, Vikas Marg (till Noida Link Road-Pusta Road), Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Delhi Gate, among others. This means that only bonafide residents, authorised vehicles, emergency vehicles, and those travelling to the airport, Old Delhi and New Delhi Railway Stations will be allowed to ply on the road network beyond Ring Road towards New Delhi district. Vehicles dealing with housekeeping, catering and waste management for hotels, hospitals and other important installations in the New Delhi district will also be allowed after verification. Officials said over 50,000 personnel along with dog squads and mounted police have been deployed to keep a hawk-eye vigil during the summit. Police have advised people to use the navigation app 'Mapmyindia' to get around the city till the restrictions are in place. Traffic will be affected for the following locations on September 10 in Controlled Zone-II New Delhi Railway Station from Ajmeri Gate side Old Delhi Railway Station from Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (SPM) Road side Shanti Van Chowk from Geeta Colony side ITO from Vikas Marg side Rajghat Chowk from Jawahar Lal Nehru (JLN) Marg side Guru Nanak Chowk from Minto Road side Regulated metro services The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said parking facilities at Supreme Court, Patel Chowk and RK Ashram Marg metro stations will be blocked from 4 am on September 8 till September 11 noon. Except for Supreme Court station, where boarding and deboarding will not be permitted from 5 am on September 9 to 11 pm on September 10, all stations will continue to offer metro service, according to the police. All types of goods vehicles, commercial vehicles, interstate buses and buses of the Delhi Transport Corporation and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System will not be permitted to operate on the Mathura Road (beyond Ashram Chowk), Bhairon Road, Purana Quila Road and inside Pragati Maidan Tunnel from September 8 midnight till to 11.59 pm on September 10. Real-time traffic updates on 'G-20 Virtual Help Desk' Meanwhile, interstate buses coming through the Ghazipur Border will terminate at ISBT Sarai Kale Khan, while those from the Apsara Border, Chilla Border, Badarpur Border, Tikei Border and Singhu border will terminate at ISBT Kashmere Gate, ISBT Sarai Kale Khan, Ashram Chowk, Peeragarhi Chowk and Mukarba Chowk respectively. The Delhi Police have advised people to follow real-time traffic updates on the 'G-20 Virtual Help Desk' for route suggestions for commuting to and from the airport, railway stations or bus terminals. Two-day G20 Summit The two-day G20 Summit will be held on September 9-10. However, related events, including sherpa meetings, and meetings of finance, energy and central bank deputies will begin from September 23. It should be mentioned here that the summit will take place at the newly developed convention centre at Pragati Maidan. According to the information received, at least 23 hotels across the city have been designated for the stay of delegates of the event.

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IndiGo Plans To Lease 10 A320s

IndiGo plans to wet lease 10 Airbus A320 aircraft from an European carrier to tide over its engine woes. Necessary approvals from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are being obtained and the planes would be inducted from the next month onwards, said a person in the know. “With the continuous rise in travel demand, we keep evaluating all possible measures to cater to our customers’ needs,“ IndiGo said in a statement, reports Aneesh Phadnis for The Hindu Business Line. Under a wet lease arrangement, a lessor provides pilots, crew and engineering support to a lessee. The DGCA norms dictate conditions under which airlines can wet lease planes. Wet leases are permitted in emergency situations to fill passenger capacity shortage caused by aircraft grounding.

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Airlines, travel company fined for failing to refund Chandigarh resident’s flight ticket

The district consumer disputes redressal commission has directed Air India and a travel agency to refund the air ticket amount of around ₹40,000 to a city resident and pay ₹20,000 as compensation for her flight was cancelled during the Covid-19 pandemic. The complainant, Narinder Kaur of Sector 44 had filed a complaint against Air India through and Yatra.com through their directors, both of whom have branch offices in Chandigarh. Kaur, in her complaint, revealed that she planned to visit Melbourne in February 2020 and had booked a return air ticket from New Delhi. The flight, however, was cancelled amid the pandemic-induced lockdown and she tried to get a seat through Vande Bharat Mission from Australia. She was then compelled to purchase a fresh ticket for her return journey in April since the opposing parties did not adjust/accommodate her on the old ticket. She returned to Delhi on July 19, 2020. Kaur contended that the Union ministry of civil aviation had already announced that there will be a full refund for booking and travel during the lockdown period without cancellation, but the opposition parties had still not refunded the amount on her return ticket. Air India resisted the consumer complaint and stated that there is no deficiency in service on their part as the woman had bought the ticket from Yatra.com, which is a third party platform. It added that Air India does not track status of the ticket once it has been sold to a third party. Whereas, Yatra.com alleged that users of the answering opposing party are bound by the terms and conditions of master user agreement and as per the said agreement any dispute arising between the user and the answering opposing party shall be subject to exclusive jurisdiction of court of Gurgaon, Haryana and the commission has no jurisdiction. It added that they are an intermediary and therefore, do not incur any liability on the travel ticket booked by the complainant from an independent airline.

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