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G20 Summit: Schedule of over 1,000 flights may get disrupted at Delhi airport in September

Ahead of G20 Summit in the national capital Delhi, more than thousands of ights may either get cancelled or rescheduled, a report by Economic Times has claimed. The Central government has instructed airlines to curtail frequency by a fourth throughout the G20 Summit scheduled to take place in September in the city. As per the English daily, the order has come due to the parking constraints at the Delhi airport. Additionally, the government has asked the airlines to reposition some of their aircraft to other cities' airports in view of the Summit. The G20 summit will be held in Delhi from 9 September. Meanwhile, the airline executives have warned of countrywide network repercussions, leading to flight cancellations as Delhi is India's primary airport. For the G20 Summit, more than 50 aircraft will y into Delhi for the Summit, carrying the likes of US President Joe Biden, UK PM Rishi Sunak, Chinese President Xi Jinping, etc. Also read: Public holiday in Delhi from September 8-10 in view of G20 Summit: Govt notication G20 Summit: Delhi airport parking India's largest airport has around 220 parking stands and due to a surge in air trafc, all are occupied. The situation has worsened recently due to the issues with engines and the bankruptcy of GoFirst. According to ET's report, ights will have to be reduced at Delhi airport from 12 pm to 12 am on 8 September, and from 6 pm on 10 September until 12 pm the next day (9 Sept.) as most of the G20 delegates will y in and out during these hours. Also read: G20 summit: Trafc restrictions to be imposed in Delhi from 7 September, several roads to remain closed. Details here G20 Summit: Delhi Trafc advisory The Delhi Trafc Police has already issued a travel advisory in view of the G20 Summit rehearsals to be held on August 26 and 27. According to the advisory, the entire area of the New Delhi district will be considered as “Controlled Zone-I"from 5 am on September 8 till 11.59 pm on September 10. The trafc police has designated the entire area inside Ring Road (Mahatma Gandhi Marg) as a “Regulated Zone"from 5 am on September 8 to 11:59 pm on September 10. G20 Summit: Delhi Metro advisory The metro rail services will available for commuters at all stations except Supreme Court Metro Station, where boarding/deboarding will not be permitted from 5 am on September 9 to 11 pm on September 10.

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Govt Asked Airlines To Fly Fewer Flights During G20 Summit

More than a thousand commercial flights could either be rescheduled or cancelled as the government has instructed airlines to curtail frequency by a fourth throughout the G20 summit next month due to parking constraints at Delhi airport. Simultaneously, airlines have also been asked to reposition some of their aircraft, which are parked at Delhi, to other airports. The Summit will be held from September 9. Airline executives have warned of nationwide network repercussions, leading to flight cancellations as Delhi is India’s primary airport. Amid crowded hotels and road closures announced by Delhi police, travel agents have advised travellers to cancel plans for those specific days. Heads of state of nearly 30 countries and top international organisations will participate in the G20 summit being held in Delhi on September 9 & 10. More than 50 special aircraft will fly into Delhi for the summit, carrying the likes of US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. Delhi, which is India’s largest airport, has around 220 parking stands, but all are utilised due to the surge in air traffic. The situation is worsening due to 50 aircraft that are grounded at the airport due to issues with engines and the bankruptcy of Go First. Sources said that the ministry of civil aviation told airline heads that Delhi airport has been unable to create adequate parking positions for the special aircraft, which will carry heads of state and officials of the participating nations. Flights will have to be reduced from 12 pm to 12 am on September 8 and from 6 pm on September 10 until 12 pm the next day, as most of the delegates will fly in and out during these hours. A government official, on condition of anonymity, said that the decision was taken after a series of meetings with airlines and Delhi Airport. While it was proposed that aircraft could drop off the delegates and fly to neighbouring airports like Lucknow and Jaipur, the security teams of participating countries didn’t accept the idea, as leaders may be required to fly back at short notice in case of an emergency.

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Free bus travel for women in 14 U.P. dists on Rakshabandhan

In a special gesture to mark the festive occasion of Rakshabandhan, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced that women will be entitled to complimentary bus travel from midnight on August 30 to midnight on August 31. The directive for this initiative was issued earlier this week. This privilege will be applicable across 14 districts in the state, facilitated through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), as highlighted by the state’s joint secretary, Kalyan Banerjee, in his statement. Women will be able to access free travel services on city buses in various districts -- including Lucknow, Kanpur, Meerut, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Aligarh, Moradabad, Jhansi, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Shahjahanpur, Agra, and Mathura-Vrindavan. Banerjee emphasised in the directive that this isn’t the first instance of the state government organising complimentary bus transportation for women on Rakshabandhan. This tradition was initiated by the administration several years ago and continues to be a thoughtful gesture.

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Indian tourists to Australia past pre-covid level

Within a year of Australia fully reopening its borders, India is the first country to breach the pre-covid tourist arrival numbers. Between July 2022 and June 2023, 383,000 tourists from India visited Australia, up 3% from the 2018-19 figures, a senior Tourism Australia official said. Furthermore, India secured the fourth position among leading markets for incoming travellers compared to its pre-covid seventh position, Nishant Kashikar, country manager for India and the Gulf countries, Tourism Australia, said in an interview. Incidentally, Indians spent A$2 billion, or around Rs11,000 crore during the year, up 16% over pre-covid levels. “In 2019, India was the seventh-largest market for Australia in terms of inbound tourism. In the last year, it became the fourth-largest after New Zealand, the US and the UK. China has just opened, so it may increase next year, but we have seen a lot of interest from India. Especially in MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), there are a lot of queries as the country is emerging as a preferred destination," he added. Other factors aiding tourism growth from India include the growth of the Indian economy, a 3x rise in weekly direct flights and easing of visa norms. Australia has started giving three-year multiple-entry visas to tourists in India without any need for physical submission of documents and the duration of business visas has been increased by up to five years. Air India has raised the number of flights from seven a week to 14 compared to pre-covid, while Qantas is flying eight weekly direct flights to Australia from Delhi and Bengaluru, and might add more flights from 1 October. In terms of visitors’ profiles, 62% were visits by friends and family, 15% were on holiday, 8% on business, and the remaining 15% included people who went to Australia for employment or studies. Kashikar said around 100,000 Indian students are now studying in Australia.

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G20 Summit in Delhi: Traffic curbs, alternative routes in commute plan

Travel and access to the national capital during the G20 Summit days will be severely restricted, particularly in the New Delhi district — also known as the Lutyens’ Zone — where only residents and those in essential services jobs will be allowed to enter after proving their identity, according to a traffic plan shared by the Delhi Police on Friday. The restrictions will apply for the period between September 8 and 10, with the strictest ones in force on the final two days when heads of states and ministers of the Group of 20 (G20) nations are scheduled to arrive in Delhi for the Summit that marks the biggest multilateral event to be held in the city since the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Among the expected and confirmed attendees are US President Joe Biden, Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and thousands of people invited as delegates, government representatives and as other dignitaries. The restrictions have been divided into controlled and regulated zones. The New Delhi district has been classified as Controlled Zone 1, and certain other stretches — such as the Vikas Marg leading to ITO, roads near the Red Fort, and the vicinity of the city’s two main train stations — close to the venue have been clubbed into Controlled Zone 2.

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Focussing on India, Malaysia targets 16 million tourists this year

Malaysia is currently targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM49.3 billion in tourism receipts this year. India remains to be among the top countries to contribute tourist arrivals to Malaysia, according to YB Tuan Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan, Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture. In 2022, Malaysia welcomed a total of 3,24,548 Indian tourists while in the first quarter of 2023, it received as many as 164,566 Indian tourists compared to 13,370 in the same period last year, he said at a press meet here. Currently, there are 158 flights with 30,032 seats offered weekly between India and Malaysia through Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia, and IndiGo. Indian tourists can now apply for Malaysia’s eVISA Multiple Entry Visa (MEV) through https://malaysiavisa.imi.gov.my/evisa/evisa.jsp. He was in Kochi for the second road show across tier two cities from August 14 to 25. The road show kicks off in the city of Amritsar followed by Lucknow, Nagpur, Pune, Goa, and Kochi. It is participated by 45 local organisations comprising hotels and resorts, travel agents, tourism product owners, visa consultants, Malaysia-based airlines, and representatives from state tourism boards. Following its first successful road show to five major cities in India that took place from 30th January to February 7, as well as its participation in the recent South Asia Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE) 2023 and Travel Wedding Show in Udaipur, Tourism Malaysia aims to further expand its promotional efforts to the country through this second series.

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