News

You can now travel across Europe with one Air India ticket!

Attention, Air India passengers will soon be able to embark on a seamless journey to over 100 European cities and towns, including those without airports. This will become possible as Air India and AccesRail, an International Air Transport Association travel partner, have recently forged an intermodal agreement. With this development, Air India travelers will be able to explore numerous countries and over 100 European destinations with a single ticket. As per the reports, this partnership will allow Air India passengers to utilise bus and rail services while maintaining the same baggage allowance they enjoy during their flight. Your European adventure doesn't have to stop when you disembark; in short, it can commence as you step into the gateways of Europe. Read more: G20 Summit: What’s open and closed in Delhi; and routes to avoid between Sept 7-10 Which European countries will you be able to visit with this ticket? With this exciting development, passengers can travel through Austria, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, and the United Kingdom, using gateways like Amsterdam, Birmingham, London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Milan, and Vienna. Your intermodal ticket purchase grants you access to a range of bus and rail services, including Avanti West Coast (U.K.), National Express (U.K.), Trenitalia (Italy), ÖBB Austrian Railways (Austria), SNCB Belgian Railways, and Thalys (Netherlands/Belgium). Taking a cue from Vistara, which joined forces with WorldTicket earlier this year to offer connections via Deutsche Bahn rail services from Frankfurt to Germany on a single ticket, Air India is now further enhancing connectivity between Europe and India. Referring to this development, Nipun Aggarwal, Air India's Chief Commercial & Transformation Officer, stated, "The expansion of our global network is one of our key priorities in the ongoing, comprehensive transformation of Air India. This partnership with AccesRail not only helps us provide our guests easy access to an extended network of destinations across Europe but also bridges the gaps in connectivity between India and Europe." Initially, these intermodal tickets can only be booked through global travel agents. However, Air India has plans to extend the booking facility to its own sales channels in the near future.

Read more

How Vistara will live on in Air India after merger approval

There is an unwritten rule that has been floating around Air Vistara’s glitzy head office in Gurgaon for the last several months — thou shalt not speak about the impending merger with Air India, when Vistara will cease to exist as a brand. So much so that Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan told THE WEEK, mighty seriously if I may add, that “we remain committed to redefining air travel (and) setting new standards.” Even by that strictly enforced non-rule order, there couldn’t but be Chinese whispers this weekend, as news came trickling in that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had approved Vistara’s merger with Air India. There was a sense of finality, putting to rest all ‘hope-against-hope’ scenarios that there could perhaps be an additional lease of life to an airline that in just eight years or so had proved itself as perhaps the finest India has seen. While a full absorption of the Vistara team into Air India is the likely scenario, the logistics and nitty-gritty remains to be seen. Of course, Air India will have a lot to learn in operational efficiency and service quality from Vistara — the very fact that its new livery is inspired at least in part by Vistara’s aubergine and gold colour code. The fact that the airline’s operations will shift from central Delhi’s Airlines House to Gurgaon, promises that the legacy of Vistara may still have a role to play in the coming years of transformation of the once-state-run carrier. “All our efforts since inception have been directed towards (making) Vistara the finest and truly world-class airline from India,” Kannan told THE WEEK. It does have the laurels to prove it, including a plethora of awards, becoming the only Indian airline to enter the list of the world’s top twenty best airlines. Surely, there are lots of leaves ‘sarkari-jaded’ Air India could take out of Vistara’s books if it wants to. But what is clear is this: come April, there will be no more UK coded flights, with flight rationalisation, merging and optimisation of routes to be worked out by the operations team at Air India. The CCI, India’s anti-trust body, had looked into the Vistara merger after a series of events led to the govt-run Air India finally being privatised and being returned to its original owners, the Tata’s. The Tatas had wanted to get back into aviation for decades since they were ejected out of Air India, and had formed a partnership with Singapore Airlines (SIA) in the early 2000s hoping that Air India would be divested and they could take it over soon. However, as politics kept delaying it, the Tatas in frustration decided to venture forth with a Greenfield venture of their own, launching Vistara in partnership with SIA in 2014 (service started in 2015). While Vistara instantly became popular with travellers wanting a full-fledged travel experience (lounges, business class, full meal service, freshly brewed Starbucks coffee etc), it ran into a conundrum once Air India was finally sold off to the Tatas in 2022. Tatas soon decided in optimising the four airlines they suddenly had in their portfolio — low-cost operators Air India Express (the low-cost wing of Air India which operated flights to the Gulf region) will be merged with AirAsia India (which the Tatas had originally partnered with Malaysia’s AirAsia before buying them out) into one low-cost carrier--Air India Express; while full-fledged service operators Air India and Vistara will be merged into one, the flagship Air India. CCIs investigation had focused on primarily two matters. One, on the fact that the merger of Air India and Vistara will lead to the monopoly of Air India in the full-fledged carrier space. The other pertained to the acquisition of shares of SIA, a foreign entity. While SIA held 49% in Vistara, they will now hold 25.1% in the merged final entity, Air India Limited. The Vistara merger is expected to be completed by the end of this financial year, in March 2024.

Read more

US President Biden to travel to India on Sept 7 to attend G20 summit; to have bilateral meeting with PM Modi

US President Joe Biden will travel to India on Thursday to attend the G20 summit on the sidelines of which he will also have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the White House has announced. India, President of the G20, will host global leaders for the Summit scheduled to take place on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi. On Thursday, the President will travel to New Delhi, India to attend the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the White House said in a statement on Friday. On September 8, the President will participate in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi. On Saturday and Sunday, the President will participate in the G20 summit, where the President and G20 partners will discuss a range of joint efforts to tackle global issues, including the clean energy transition and combating climate change. They will also mitigate the economic and social impacts of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, and increase the capacity of multilateral development banks, including the World Bank, to better fight poverty, including by addressing global challenges. While in New Delhi, the President will also commend Prime Minister Modi’s leadership of the G20 and reaffirm the US commitment to the G20 as the premier forum of economic cooperation, including by hosting it in 2026.

Read more

Malaysia Airlines expands connectivity in India with three new routes

Malaysia Airlines sets forward a new Commercial Elevation journey to expand its footprint to India with the commencement of three new services between Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Amritsar (ATQ), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) and Ahmedabad (AMD) effective November 8, November 9 and December 1, 2023, respectively. The expansion will bring Malaysia Airlines’ point-to-point connectivity from Kuala Lumpur to India to nine (9) key hubs, thereby providing passengers with enhanced options and flexibility for travel between the two countries. The airline currently operates direct flights to New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi. The new routes will be operated by the Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, equipped with 160 seats, comprising 16 seats in Business Class and 144 seats in Economy Class. As part of this endeavour, Malaysia Airlines is pleased to offer introductory fares with all-in return tickets starting from INR 16,899 for Economy Class and from INR 59,099 for Business Class, available for purchase from today until 15 September 2023, for travel beginning November 8, 2023, to March 31, 2024. Additionally, customers who book during this period will enjoy up to 50 per cent Bonus Enrich Points. Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, Group Managing Director of Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) said, “India remains a key market for Malaysia Airlines, hence we are delighted to introduce three new routes into our Indian network, which will provide added convenience for travellers, strengthen our presence in this core market and extend our Malaysian Hospitality service even further. Currently, our average load factor on this route is at 81 per cent YTD July 2023 signifying the growth and confidence for travel between the two markets. We are looking at restoring our pre-COVID-19 capacity back in the Indian market by the end of this year and will also look to increase flight frequencies to other destinations as we support seamless travels in Malaysia and beyond.” With increasing demands for travel, the airline will also enhance its frequencies to build dominance in other key markets including Australia, China and ASEAN. Beginning December 2023, the airline will boost its weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Melbourne (MEL) and Sydney (SYD) from 14 flights a week to 15 and 16 flights a week respectively. Additionally, flights from KUL to Guangzhou (CAN) will be increased from five to seven flights weekly; Beijing (PKX) from three to seven flights weekly; Shanghai (PVG) from nine to 10 flights weekly; Hong Kong (HKG) from 11 to 14 flights weekly; Jakarta (CGK) from 28 to 35 flights weekly; Bangkok (BKK) from 34 to 42 flights weekly and Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) from 15 to 19 flights weekly, providing travellers with more travel flexibility and choices. In addition to the new routes and increased frequencies, the airline has also launched its new product offerings MHsports and MHcruise to further enhance the overall traveller experience while further enhancing a suit of their existing commercial products. MHsports provides groups of five (5) or more people travelling for sporting purposes to enjoy unbeatable perks including special fares, extra 10 kg baggage allowance, flexible date and time changes, and the convenience of extending your journey with a flexible return date. Customers can also enjoy the flexibility of changing their travellers up to 24 hours before departure, complimentary pre-selected seating, and advance check-in. Meanwhile, MHcruise features special discounted fares tailor-made for selected travel trades to seamlessly integrate with their cruise packages. Designed to cater to a wide spectrum of travellers, from solo adventurers to families and large groups embarking on their dream cruise vacations, MHcruise ensures convenience for all with discounted fares, including special fares for kids under 12, extra 10kg baggage allowance, preferential fares on both Business and Economy Class seats, and the freedom to choose one-way or return trips to various destinations within the Malaysia Airlines network. With flexible date changes and refunds (subject to base fare rules), MHcruise is set to provide fuss-free travel experiences. In addition to these exciting updates, customers can also anticipate enhanced offerings from AMAL by Malaysia Airlines, the dedicated Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage arm of Malaysia Airlines, ensuring a seamless end-to-end travel journey. This includes Umrah Plus which will be launched in a few months, providing free return tickets to selected domestic destinations to international customers during their pilgrimage journey.

Read more

G20 Summit: Weekend getaways from Delhi see a surge in bookings

In the wake of the G20 Summit, weekend getaways from Delhi are witnessing a huge surge in travel. Places close to Delhi like Agra, Amritsar, Udaipur, Jaipur and Varanasi are seeing an increase in search on travel websites. For the first time in history, New Delhi is hosting the G20 Summit. The place will see all the heads of states from different nations during this time. For this, all the schools, colleges, offices and banks will remain shut from 8 to 10 September. This has given all travellers a perfect opportunity to explore the nearby destinations. The 3-day G20 summit weekend is going to prove fruitful for popular places such as Varanasi, Amritsar, Udaipur and Jaipur, among others. These places are seeing a high demand for travel. Also queries for flight tickets, accommodation facilities, and bookings are witnessing a boost. However, the demand has not only increased for domestic places but for short-haul overseas nations close to India as well. Places like Maldives, Singapore, Dubai, Indonesia and Mauritius are also in demand. As per a popular travel website, searches for hotel accommodation in Agra, Amritsar, Jaipur, Udaipur, and Varanasi has increased. It is expected that the demand will see a spike in the next few days. More and more people are searching for Amritsar, Jaipur, Agra, Manesar, Sawai Madhopur, Udaipur, and Vrindavan. While it is expected that other famous weekend destinations from Delhi such as Corbett National Park, Port Blair, Chandigarh, Goa, Rishikesh, and Kochi, will also remain full with tourists during this period.

Read more

Kashmir's post-pandemic popularity as travel destination on surge: HAI

Unveiling a "Vision 2047" document, the Hotel Association of India (HAI) presented a 25-year roadmap of the future of the hospitality and tourism industry in Kashmir and said its post-pandemic popularity as a travel destination has increased. "The report highlights the rising appeal of Kashmir as a travel destination, especially for adventure tourism, in the aftermath of the pandemic," HAI said in a statement here. This recognition of Kashmir's allure coincides with an increase in tourist numbers, which is bolstered by an increased support from the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration, it said. Last year, approximately 18 million tourists visited J&K and G20 related events and this year's Miss World programme have positioned the UT as a prominent contender in event tourism, it said. "The recent G20 meeting hosted in the Union territory not only gave a boost to regional tourism but also showcased the area's potential as a destination for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) and wedding tourism," the HAI added. KB Kachru, Vice President of HAI, highlighted Kashmir's rich history, culture, and natural beauty as the reason for the recent improvement in tourism. The HAI report also addresses challenges in sustainable tourism growth and suggests policy interventions to meet tourism targets, he said. The Union government has allocated a record budget of Rs 786 crores for the Jammu and Kashmir tourism sector, a substantial increase from previous allocations, to harness tourism's potential for job creation and inclusive economic growth, the statement said. Planned allocations for all 20 districts of the Union territory have more than doubled from Rs 5,136 crores in 2020-2021 to Rs 12,600 crores in 2021-2022, it added. The report explores various potential scenarios for the future and what the industry can achieve by the time India celebrates its 100th year of Independence, it said. The document envisions a dynamic, vibrant hospitality industry that contributes to the nation's development goals, said MP Bezbaruah, secretary general of the Hotel Association of India. HAI released the report following a meeting with Union Secretary (Tourism) V Vidyavathi, during which the association presented her with a copy of the report.

Read more