Last week, Hong Kong-based provider Cathay Pacific introduced the resumption of three continuous weekly flights from Chennai.

Skift caught up with Anand Yedery, regional head of buyer journey and way of life for South Asia, Middle East and Africa at Cathay Pacific, to speak in regards to the provider’s plans for India.

Here’s what we discovered…

India is a excessive precedence marketplace for the provider. As Yedery stated, “Airline operational levels in India have been soaring and this upward trend signifies a strong recovery. We are rebuilding our capacity as quickly as is feasible with more flights and destinations.”

Current Operations: Cathay operates out of Delhi with a double each day, a each day from Mumbai, and 4 occasions every week from Bengaluru. The thrice weekly from Chennai will begin from February 2. 

Compared to Pre-Pandemic: However, based on Yedery, the provider’s present 25 flights out of India is nearly 50% of the 49 flights that it used to function pre-pandemic as an airline group between Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon from six ports.

Outbound Destinations: Besides, Hong Kong, among the locations driving demand for Cathay Pacific from India embody Japan, Korea, and Australia.

Emerging journey developments:

• Travel to off-the-beaten-path locations
• Focus on wellness and sustainability
• Exploring native delicacies.
• ‘Set-jetting,’ or visiting places the place TV exhibits and films are filmed, can also be gaining momentum.

Performance: With sturdy demand throughout segments like enterprise, visiting mates and kin, leisure and pupil journey, Cathay Pacific’s demand from India has been witnessing an upward trajectory.

“Our load factors have been in a healthy range from all three markets that we currently operate from,” stated Yedery.

Air India Launches Self-Baggage Drop and Check-In Facility at Delhi Airport

Tata Group-owned Air India has launched a self-baggage drop and self-kiosk check-in service at Terminal 3 of Delhi airport for its home flights and flights to Australia.

With this Air India turns into the primary Indian provider to supply self-baggage drop facility for worldwide flights.

Delhi Airport had launched the ability at Terminal-3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport in June to streamline the bags drop-off course of. The airport had claimed it could scale back wait time for passengers by 15-20 minutes.

IndiGo was the primary airline to make use of it for home flights.

Air India’s Project Abhinandan: Last week, Air India rolled out ‘Project Abhinandan’ beneath which the provider deployed specifically educated Service Assurance Officers at 16 main Indian airports to proactively sense passenger considerations and provide on-ground help throughout airport touchpoints. 

Indonesia Welcomed 325,000 Indians Between January and July

Indonesia tourism has skilled an general improve of 12-15% surge in vacationers from India in comparison with the earlier 12 months because it welcomed practically 325,000 Indians between January and July this 12 months, Sanjay Sondhi, nation supervisor of Visit Indonesia Tourism Office in India advised Skift. 

Pre-pandemic, Indonesia welcomed 673,000 Indian arrivals.

The tourism board just lately concluded a multi-city roadshow throughout three Indian cities — Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad.

“Indonesia wants to attract Indian travelers with new destinations beyond the holiday island of Bali. We’re trying to showcase Lombok, Labuan Bajo, and some sites in central Java,” stated Sondhi.

Flight Connectivity: Last month, Indigo launched its maiden direct flight from Mumbai to Jakarta. 

“We’re also expecting Vistara to start operations soon into Denpasar,” Sondhi added.

Air India Express, AirAsia India Launch Interline Booking Services for Flyers

Air India Express and AirAsia India have commenced interline bookings to offer clients with a seamless expertise amid the continued merger course of.

AirAsia India acquired approval from the Indian civil aviation regulator in July to function its flights beneath the Air India Express model.

What the Arrangement Entails: Through this characteristic, passengers will be capable to e-book a single itinerary for each airways, together with a single Passenger Name Record (PNR) on the frequent web site and different on-line journey brokers, based on a joint assertion by the 2 airways. 

Along with a single PNR facility, the passenger will even obtain a single boarding go on the departing airport when endeavor a home journey on AirAsia India flight and a connecting worldwide flight with Air India Express, as per the assertion.

Merger Process: AirAsia India which has been renamed as AIX Connect operates on home routes and is within the means of integrating and merging with Air India Express, which flies on worldwide routes.

With a mixed fleet of 54 plane, each airways collectively join 44 locations, working over 250 routes throughout India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, based on the assertion. The airways have already built-in ancillary add-on providers and sub-brands.

Thailand Plans Incentives to Woo Indian Tourists

After saying visa waivers for vacationers from China and Kazakhstan, newly-elected Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is now trying in direction of India, considered one of its most dependable tourism supply markets, to spice up tourism, based on a Bloomberg report.

Tourists from China and Kazakhstan can enter Thailand with out a visa between September 25 and February 29, and might keep for a most of 30 days at a time.

The waiver is available in time earlier than two main lengthy holidays in China — the weeklong National Day vacation in early October, and the Spring Festival vacation in late January.

Flights: The Bloomberg report cited that Srettha plans to satisfy Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this 12 months and talk about rising flight frequency between the 2 international locations, together with extra providers by flag provider Thai Airways.

Boosting Indian Arrivals: Thailand might also mull different measures, akin to providing tax exemptions on jewellery imported for Indian weddings held in Thailand, a preferred vacation spot for such ceremonies, he stated.  

However, Srettha stated a visa waiver will not be vital, as Indian vacationers already can simply get hold of Thai visas.

In 2022, India was the second largest supply marketplace for Thailand after Malaysia. Almost 1,000,000 Indians visited Thailand final 12 months out of a complete of over 11 million international guests. This 12 months, Thailand targets to welcome its pre-pandemic variety of 2 million Indian vacationers.

Domestic Air Passenger Traffic Surges 22% in August

Indian airways carried 12.4 million passengers in August, a soar of twenty-two.8% in comparison with the earlier month, based on latest data from aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Further, air site visitors elevated 30.55% to 100.6 million passengers within the January-August interval as in comparison with final 12 months’s information.

Market Share of Airlines: 

• IndiGo‘s market share for August stood at 63.3% when in comparison with 63.4% in July. The airline carried 7.8 million passengers through the month.
• Tata Group-owned Air India retained its place because the second-largest home provider in August and garnered a market share of 9.8%, flying 1.2 million passengers through the interval.
• Vistara‘s market share rose to 9.8%, flying 1.2 million passengers final month.
• Air India’s subsidiary AirAsia India maintained its fourth spot, serving 878,000 passengers and accounting for 7.2% of the overall site visitors through the month.
• New entrant Akasa Air carried 527,000 passengers in August, garnering a market share of 4.2%.

Fortune Hotels Signs a Property in Kevadia, Gujarat

Indian hospitality firm ITC Hotel Group’s Fortune Hotels has signed a administration settlement with Arete Services for an upscale 144-room lodge in Kevadia within the western state of Gujarat. 

Opening: The resort is estimated to open by the tip of this 12 months.

New Signings: The firm just lately signed Fortune Jungle Resort & Spa in Jim Corbett within the north Indian state of Uttarakhand. 

Expansion Plans: The firm plans so as to add 15 new properties with 1,500 rooms within the subsequent two-and-a-half years to its portfolio.

“Kevadia is our sixth signing of the year and our second alliance with the owning company in Gujarat. We hope to continue our efforts towards expanding our business and leisure portfolio,” stated Samir MC, managing director of Fortune Hotels.

IndiGo introduced that it’s the international companion and official airline for the Indian soccer workforce. 

The airline’s partnership with the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) will probably be for a 12 months. 

“This marks our inaugural foray into the world of sports,” stated Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo.

Other Highlights: In one other growth, IndiGo acquired aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation‘s nod to wet lease 11 Airbus A320 planes, CNBC-TV18 reported. 

This comes amid IndiGo grounding practically 40 planes as a consequence of a Pratt & Whitney engine concern, the report stated. Indigo switched suppliers from Pratt & Whitney to GE-Safran enterprise CFM International about 4 years in the past following points with engines’ sturdiness.