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Virgin Atlantic cancelled its Delhi-London flight on Thursday and other airlines might follow suit with Heathrow airport’s decision this week to limit the number of passengers to one lakh a day to cope with a staff crunch. There are 102 direct flights a week between India and Heathrow airport — British Airways (41), Virgin Atlantic (21), Air India (33) and Vistara (seven). “Due to mandatory flight capacity restrictions being implemented by Heathrow Airport on all airlines on Thursday 14 July, we’ve regrettably had to cancel one of our London Heathrow – New York (JFK) return services, operating as flight numbers VS45 and VS4 and our morning departure to Delhi, flight VS302,” Virgin Atlantic said in a statement. It added that it is contacting affected customers and will rebook them on an alternative flight on the same day wherever possible with the option to rebook on a later date or request a refund. The limits on passenger numbers imposed by Heathrow airport will remain from July 1...

TIME has listed Ahmedabad, India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City, among 50 extraordinary destinations to explore in 2022. Introducing the World’s Greatest Places of 2022, TIME, among the most circulated magazines in the world, said: “As persistent as the challenges of life in 2022 is the hope that understanding and human connection can be found through travel.” “So, with much of the global population now vaccinated against COVID-19, world travellers are again hitting the road—and the skies. The hospitality industry is reopening and excited to safely welcome them and revitalise local communities.” Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted about Ahmedabad finding pride of place in TIME and said: “Matter of immense pride for every Indian, especially the people of Gujarat that India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City, Ahmedabad has now been included in the list of ‘World’s 50 Greatest Places of 2022’ by Time Magazine. Congratulations to everyone!” View this post on...

Elaborate arrangements have been made at Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath Dham for the month of Sawan beginning today. Hence, if you are planning to visit the holy shrine this month, then here is the new rate chart for worship and other rituals at the temple. Devotees have to pay extra for worship, puja and ‘abhishek’ in the month of Sawan in Kashi Vishwanath temple. The ticket for Sugam Darshan on Monday of Sawan will be Rs 750 per person, while on other days except for Monday, the price of this ticket has been kept at Rs 500. For Mangla Aarti, ticket prices have been fixed to Rs 1000 on normal days, while the ticket price of this will be Rs 2000 on Monday of Sawan. The ticket for Mid-day Bhog Aarti, Sapt Rishi Aarti, and Shringar Bhog Aarti will be Rs 500 for the whole month. On the other hand, devotees need to spend Rs 700 on getting Rudrabhishek from one shastri in the entire month of Sawan, whereas for getting Rudrabhishek from five Shastri, on Monday of Sawan, the fixed rate is ...

Heathrow Airport has told airlines to stop selling summer tickets as it limits the number of passengers and the chance of flight cancellations increases. According to the airport, the new limit of daily passengers is 100, 000 which will be implemented from Tuesday until 11 September. Heathrow chief executive John Holland-Kaye said, the number of passengers has regularly exceeded 100,000 in the last few weeks, which created a lot of problems at the administration level that is not acceptable. He further added that airlines and ground staff at the airport were unable to handle such high volumes.  Passengers have also faced a lot of problems including long lines, delays, last-minute scratch-offs, late baggage and baggage not making it onto flights. Without limiting the number of passengers, Heathrow predicted that daily departing seats over the summer would average 104,000 – giving a daily excess of 4,000. According to the officials, our purpose is to protect flights for the vast ...

London’s Heathrow said it would cap departing passengers at 100,000 a day this summer to limit queues, baggage delays and cancellations, and it was asking airlines to stop selling tickets for flights that could be curtailed. Britain’s busiest airport, like others across Europe, is struggling to cope as demand rebounds after the pandemic. Heathrow had between 110,000 and 125,000 daily passengers departures in July and August 2019. Airlines at Heathrow had already responded to a government appeal to cut capacity, but the airport said it needed them to go further. “Some airlines have taken significant action, but others have not, and we believe that further action is needed now to ensure passengers have a safe and reliable journey,” CEO John Holland-Kaye said in a open letter on Tuesday. “We have therefore made the difficult decision to introduce a capacity cap with effect from 12 July to 11 September.” “We recognise that this will mean some summer journeys will either be moved to an...

SpiceJet’s occupancy rate has remained high in July despite multiple technical malfunction incidents reported in its aircraft during the last 24 days. The airline’s occupancy rate, also called passenger load factor (PLF), was above 80 per cent between July 1 and July 11, SpiceJet said in statement. “I am grateful for the faith and trust that our passengers have shown,” Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, said. The numbers speak for themselves and are a testimony to the fact that SpiceJet is and has been the most loved airline in India, he added. The PLFs of other airlines have been around 70-80 per cent between July 1 and July 11, aviation industry sources said. SpiceJet’s statement said: “The airline’s load factor for the last eleven days continues to be extremely impressive with a PLF of 83.1 per cent on July 1, 88.2 per cent on July 2, 90.1 per cent on July 3, 86.5 per cent on July 4, 86.2 per cent on July 5, 85.8 per cent on July 6, 84.1 per cent on July 7, 84.2 per ce...

Amarnath pilgrimage resumed on Monday after remaining suspended for three days following flash floods that claimed 15 lives, while the Jammu and Kashmir administration said it would get a clear picture by Tuesday about the damage. In the wake of allegations that the pilgrim camp was set up at a “risky” site, a spokesperson for Raj Bhavan told PTI that flash floods that occurred in the past were taken into account during the planning and Friday’s gush of water “was beyond calculations and never witnessed before”. The cave shrine is located at an altitude of 3,880 metre in south Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha is the chairman of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) which manages the annual yatra. The spokesperson clarified that the tents were never placed at the river bed and were, in fact, moved far beyond an embankment created this year for the safety of people. “While planning for the tent this year, SASB had taken into consideration the flash flood occur...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting the Devbhoomi-Deoghar in Jharkhand on July 12 and lay the foundation stone for various projects worth more than Rs 16,000 crores. He will perform Darshan and Pooja at Baba Baidyanath temple, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas and visit Santal Parganas and give gifts to the local residents. The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the construction of an airport in the region, which will help provide direct connectivity to the famous Baidyanath Dham. The Deoghr airport, which is estimated to cost around Rs. 400 crores, has been equipped with a terminal building that can handle over five lakh passengers annually. In addition, Modi will inaugurate various road and railway projects worth over Rs. 10,000 cr. Some of the projects include the construction of a six-lane road between Gorhar and Barwada section of NH-2, the widening of the Rajganj-Chas section of NH-32, and the construction of a bridge over the West Bengal border. ...

Indonesia has announced “Digital Nomad Visas” for travellers to attract foreign tourists as their earnings come from outside the country. The impact of Covid-19 can be seen in Indonesia’s economic condition.  While Bali is one of the most renowned areas in the country for beaches and bars. Indonesia is hoping to advance for another element through these visas – The spiritual element. Those who are looking for detailed information on “Digital Nomad Visas” can go through this article to know who are digital nomads? What is the use of Digital Nomad Visas? Which are the other countries offering such visas? Digital Nomads – How is this word originated? Digital Nomads are those who choose to work remotely and independently. Besides working in one place, they chose to spend their earned income in the country they are travelling to. According to the 2020 State of Independence in America Report by MBO Partners, Digital Nomads are those who work independently and remotely with the enabl...

The Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from Jammu due to inclement weather conditions and no fresh batch was allowed to proceed from here to the base camps of the 3,880-metre-high cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said. A flash flood triggered by a cloudburst near the cave shrine on Friday afternoon has led to the death of least 16 people. Around 40 people are still missing. “Amarnath Yatra has been suspended from Jammu to twin base camps in Kashmir due to inclement weather. No fresh batch was allowed to move towards Amarnath” an official told PTI. The annual 43-day pilgrimage commenced from the twin base camps — Nunwan-Pahalgam in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Baltal in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal — on June 30. Over one lakh pilgrims have offered prayers at the cave shrine, housing the naturally formed ice ‘shivling’, the officials said. A total of 69,535 pilgrims have left in 10 batches from the Bhagwati Nagar base camp in Jammu for the Valley since June 29, the da...

The government should allocate funds for developing ‘high-end’ tourism to bring in wealthier visitors, besides focusing on making India the leading country for hosting business events to revive the tourism sector, a report has said. The ‘Rebuilding Tourism For the Future 2022’ report, prepared by Nangia Andersen LLP in association with Ficci, said post COVID, a new term ‘Bleisure travel’ was coined, which is the rise of professionals who are mixing businesses with leisure activities. The trend has been seen in young professionals who had the option of work from home, and they decided to find a place where they could work as well as enjoy nature. Nangia Andersen LLP’s Head of Government & Public Sector Advisory Suraj Nangia said, “Travellers and local tourists are embracing technology for a better experience, including making reservations and finding out what the best travel options are.” He believes that artificial intelligence (AI) tools and metaverses will be widely used in th...

Everyone working on their fitness levels and healthier lifestyle take up a host of health-centric activities: walk, yoga, gym and spa treatments. But what if all these activities happen while on an idyllic tour on the sea? Some customised cruise vacations offer activities like dance, yoga, hiking or sport-based tours, besides face and body treatments on floating spas tailor-made as per preferences. Such travel packages are quite common now and trending among new-age travellers. This week, French luxury fashion house Christian Dior created an unprecedented wellbeing experience of a floating spa on a cruise that will take visitors on a ride on the river Seine. The spa, Dior Spa Cheval Blanc Paris, a Dior Spa at the Cheval Blanc hotel in Paris, features 48 different treatment options aboard for skin care, beauty and well-being. To make the moment more exclusive and private, the cruise welcomes only five passengers in its four suites in one journey. In a combination of the Dior and Che...

Vistara on Saturday said it will start operating flights on the Mumbai-Bangkok route from August 5. The flights on the Mumbai-Bangkok route will be operated five days a week, using the A320neo aircraft, according to a statement issued by the airline.Vistara currently operates a daily flight on the Delhi-Bangkok route, the statement said. Vistara — a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines — has 53 aircraft in its fleet from Travel News:Travel and Tourism,Latest Travel News,Tourism News Today,Latest Travel News Articles | The Financial Express https://ift.tt/wW4eq1J

IndiGo on Friday said it will start flights between Kolkata and Jharkhand’s Deoghar from July 12. Aviation regulator DGCA had on June 29 granted aerodrome licence to the newly-built airport in Jharkhand, allowing it to handle narrow-body aircraft such as A321 and B737. The Kolkata-Deoghar flights will operate four times each week from July 12, the airline said in a statement. Chief Strategy and Revenue Officer of IndiGo Sanjay Kumar said, “These new flights will enhance connectivity and significantly reduce transit time between Kolkata and Deoghar, from 7.5 hours to less than 1.25 hours.” “The increased access to Deoghar — home to Baba Baidyanath Temple, Trikuta Parvata, Rama Krishna Mission Vidyapith and Naulakha Mandir — will also boost religious tourism in the region,” he added. from Travel News:Travel and Tourism,Latest Travel News,Tourism News Today,Latest Travel News Articles | The Financial Express https://ift.tt/TdZK7FO

With Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-promoted Akasa Air receiving the air operator certificate (AOC) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday, the country will see its eighth domestic airline taking wings by the end of the month. The grant of AOC marks the satisfactory completion of all regulatory compliance requirements for the airline’s operational readiness, Akasa Air said in a statement. The process concluded with the airline having successfully conducted a number of proving flights under the supervision of the DGCA, the company said. “We are extremely thankful to the ministry of civil aviation and the DGCA for their constructive guidance, active support and the highest levels of efficiency throughout the AOC process. We now look forward to opening our flights for sale, leading to the start of commercial operations by late July,” said Vinay Dube, founder and CEO, Akasa Air. “We also want to take this moment to thank and acknowledge the collective contributions of ou...

India’s international air passenger volumes are likely to reach 96-97 per cent of the pre-Covid levels at 329-332 million this fiscal with June traffic already at 79 per cent of the levels seen before the outbreak of the pandemic, ratings agency Icra said on Thursday. India’s international air passenger traffic resumed from March 27 this year after a hiatus of two years. Icra said it also expects international passenger volumes will surge ahead of the FY21 levels (pre-pandemic) by the end of March 2024. While the recovery in domestic passenger traffic declined marginally to 91 per cent of pre-Covid levels in June at 21.1 million as compared to 98 per cent in April and May, respectively, the international air passenger traffic has seen a steady improvement in the last three months, reaching 79 per cent of the pre-Covid levels in June, the ratings agency said. Overall, the air passenger traffic stood at 88 per cent of pre-Covid levels in June 2022, as per Icra. “The steep ramp-up in...

It is a scene that stirs hope — and relief — for Muslims around the world. One million pilgrims from across the globe amassed on Thursday in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia to perform the initial rites of the hajj, marking the largest Islamic pilgrimage since the coronavirus pandemic upended the annual event — a key pillar of Islam. The hajj is a once-in-a-lifetime duty for all Muslims physically and financially able to make the journey, which takes the faithful along a path traversed by the Prophet Muhammad some 1,400 years ago. Pilgrims spend five days carrying out a set of rituals intended to bring them closer to God.That includes praying around the cube-shaped Kaaba, the holiest shrine in Islam. At the center of the Grand Mosque’s courtyard on Thursday, thousands of unmasked pilgrims circled the Kaaba. The crowds, visibly thinner than usual, moved counter-clockwise around the granite building in a blur, their hearts tilting toward the structure meant to symbolise the onene...

After a lull of almost two years due to Covid pandemic, business travel in India has picked up momentum, according to a report by travel and hospitality technology platform OYO. As per OYO’s mid-year business travel report, sustained momentum is now visible in business travel with a jump-start in business activities across all industries since January 2022. “Within the business travel category, the three biggest constituents are corporate employees at 29 per cent, small business owners at 17.7 per cent and government employees at 12.3 per cent,” OYO said in a statement. The survey carried out among 1,300 people from June 25-30 this year also found that Delhi was the most preferred destination for business travellers, closely followed by Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. In terms of age profile, OYO said recovery in business travel was led by the younger generation with 43 per cent in the 20-24 years age bracket, followed by 25-30 years (34.5 per cent) and 31-45 years (18.6 per cent). ...

The cabin crew of an IndiGo Raipur-Indore flight observed smoke in the plane after it landed at its destination on Tuesday, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday. All the passengers were able to disembark from the aircraft safely, they said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating the incident, the officials added. IndiGo did not respond to PTI’s request for a statement on this matter. Officials said the cabin crew observed smoke in the cabin after the A320 aircraft landed. Aviation regulator DGCA issued a show-cause notice to SpiceJet on Wednesday following eight technical malfunction incidents involving the airline’s planes in the last 18 days. from Travel News:Travel and Tourism,Latest Travel News,Tourism News Today,Latest Travel News Articles | The Financial Express https://ift.tt/FQfKRod

An engine of a Vistara aircraft on way from Bangkok failed after it landed at the Delhi airport but all passengers disembarked safely, aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday. The airline said one of the engines had developed a “minor” electrical malfunction after the aircraft landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Tuesday. After vacating the runway, the engine number 2 of the aircraft was shut down as pilots wanted to do single-engine taxiing using engine number 1, DGCA officials said. However, as engine number 1 failed at the end of the taxi way, a tow truck was brought to take the aircraft to the parking bay, they said. All passengers safely disembarked from the plane, they said. In a statement, a Vistara spokesperson said: “After landing in Delhi, while taxing to the parking bay, our flight UK122 (BKK-DEL) had a minor electrical malfunction on 05July, 2022. Keeping passenger safety and comfort in mind the crew elected to tow the aircraft to the bay.” from Tr...