Category: Top Three Stories

At the recently held Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) Rajesh Mudgill, Managing Director of Planet India Travels made a come back as Hon Secretary of IATO after an interval, whereas EM Najeeb, Managing Director of ATE Group who had lost for a small margin in the previous election, gave a sweet revenge winning the Senior Vice President title this time. Pronab Sarkar (President), Rajiv Mehra (Vice President), Rajesh Kayasth (Joint Secretary) and Ravi Gosain (Treasurer) were elected unopposed. The new active EC members are Raj Bajaj, Tony Marwah, PS Duggal, Deepak Bhushan, and Vinay Tyagi. Sunil Gupta, Zia Siddique, and Vijay Sarthi ... Read more

Etihad Airways teams up with Emirati brand, A Friend of Mine by Xpoze to launch an exclusive luxury loungewear line to be offered to the airline’s First Class guests. The airlines is also planning to launch a new clothline for the guests who are staying in The Residence on board the Airbus A380 fleet. Inspired by the simplicity and elegance of traditional Emirati dress, the new clothline features earthy colours and is made of anti-bacterial and hypoallergenic Modal. The colours of the dresses have been selected to ensure that it complements all skin tones and can easily be matched with other items ... Read more

If you are looking for a hatchback that offers the same feel and comfort as that of an SUV, the new Ford Freestyle is the answer. The new model has resemblance with its ancestor Figo, but made completely different out of the box in terms of designing and performance. The new model has a decent ground clearance with over 190mm, more than that of Figo. The interior is also refined with new dashboard much similar from a mid-variant Eco spot. A 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system, that offers seamless connectivity is the main attraction of the segment. Ford also has introduced ... Read more

Airport Authority of India (AAI) to invest over Rs 400 crores, as part of boosting tourism and enabling new infrastructure facility at Goa’s major airport Dabolim. The major facelift programs include the expansion of the current passenger terminal, creating new parking space. Additionally, the AAI is also planning to build new Rs 3,000 crore worth airport at Mopa in North Goa. Dabolim airport has a huge potential in catering tourism to the state, as it handles over 7.5 million commuters annually. Also, it is the 12th airport to have an airport operations control centre (AOCC), that provides real-time flight operations. ... Read more

flydubai announced that flights to Sulaimaniyah will resume from 10 May 2018. The carrier now operates to five points in Iraq including Baghdad, Basra, Erbil and Najaf. The decision to relaunch the flights was taken following the Iraqi authorities’ announcement that that the airport reopened in March 2018. flydubai is the first carrier from the UAE to operate direct flights to the Kurdish city with a twice a week service from its Dubai hub to Sulaimaniyah International Airport. The frequency is set to increase to three times a week from June this summer. Flights FZ205/206 will operate between Dubai International ... Read more

Facebook-owned photo-sharing platform Instagram has rolled out the new ‘Download Data’ tool. The new feature allows users to download a copy of their own data. Currently, the new feature is active in the Instagram desktop version and would be made available to ios and Android versions subsequently. Contents in the form of profile information, photos, videos, archived stories, post/story captions, uploaded contacts, usernames of followers/people you follow, direct messages, comments, likes, and settings can be downloaded under the tool. On 25th May Global Data Protection Regulation would come into effect, that compliance Instagram with Europe’s data privacy law. Instagram, is now ... Read more

According to the new fare structure, all trips will now be subjected to a fluctuation in base fares at all times, depending on the time of day or if it is a public holiday. “These changes will result in higher fares on some trips, while fares will be lower on other trips. The fare breakdown can be seen in the upfront pricing displayed prior to booking a ride,” said Uber. Currently, the static base fare is Dh8, but with the new system, users will be subject to a new dynamic static base fare of Dh5.4, Dh6.7 or Dh10.6 (varying on the ... Read more

How big can be a mosquito? The answer would be somewhat like as big as a fly, right? But, here in China, an insect expert has caught a mosquito, that has a wingspan of over 11.15 cm at the Qingcheng Mountain in South-West China. The mosquito is 10 times larger than that of a conventional mosquito, as per Zhao Li, who is a Chinese entomologist. The insect belongs to a species called the Holorusia Mikado, largest mosquito species in the entire world, commonly found in Japan. According to Zhao, mosquitoes belong to the insect group called Nematocera, which includes crane ... Read more

MGallery has signed two agreements with Khamas Group of Investments to open MGallery Dubai Business Bay and  MGallery Bur Dubai in Dubai. The 144-room MGallery Dubai Business Bay is scheduled to open in 2021. The hotel will be situated adjacent to the upcoming Marasi Business Bay development. The hotel will feature four F&B options including a rooftop bar and restaurant, rooftop pool bar, all-day dining restaurant and executive lounge. “We are delighted and proud with this partnership for two hotels with MGallery, a brand within the luxury and upper upscale portfolio of AccorHotels,” said Bader Mohamed Yousuf Bukhamas, chairman of Khamas ... Read more

Macao Government Tourism Office has started its yearly tourism campaign, ‘Macao Street’, in South Korea. The tourism promotion project to a large extent focuses on exhibiting Macao’s heritage, local cuisine and cultural events, that magnets Korean tourists. The programme is co-ordinated by Chairman of the Korea Association of Travel Agents (KATA)- Yang Moo Seung. MGTO representative in Korea- Lew Chi Young, General Manager of Air Macau Seoul Office – Kim Hee Cheol. “This year, our efforts to display the very best and the newest highlights of our city in a promotion tailor-made to the Korean audience has brought us to ... Read more

American flag carrier Southwest Airlines is facing flight cancellation, as well as delays, due to an emergency engine inspection throughout the fleet running with the CFM56-7B engine. Last week, a faulty CFM56-7B engine explosion from a Southwest Boeing aircraft which was on its way from Newyork to Dallas, killed one of the passenger, through a fan blade hit from the side window. Southwest on a statement said that 40 of its 4000 flight schedules were cancelled, due to an emergency fan blade inspection. A thorough checking has been initiated by the National Transportation Safety Board Investigators. Meanwhile, in India Jet Airways has ... Read more

Delhi based private aviation company JetSetGo, has acquired Indo Pacific Aviation Company. Established in 2014 JetSetGo owned by Kanika Tekriwal and co-founder Sudheer Perla has grown swiftly within and outside India. JetSetGo offers seamless airline connectivity connectively through a fleet of services that includes private jets, helicopters, and Airliners. During the last financial year, the company has commuted over 2,800 flight movements. “As the oldest NSOP (India’s oldest non-scheduled aircraft operator) and having truly created the aircraft management market in the country, Indo Pacific has been instrumental in many ways in the growth of the private jet and helicopter market ... Read more

Bahrain, the island nation in the Persian Gulf, is expecting a double-digit growth in the tourism and hospitality industry, that can further uplift the nation’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “Tourism has bestowed over 6.3 per cent to Bahrain’s GDP back in 2017. Hence the figures could rise up with respect to the completion of the ongoing tourism projects,” said Ali Ghunam Murtaza, the director of real estate, tourism and leisure business development at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB). “We foresee the contribution to go up for many reasons. Part of that is that we are actively working towards ... Read more

Rajasthan Department of Tourism has bagged two Times Travel Awards 2018 for ‘Best Marketing Initiative – Domestic Tourism’ and Brand Equity Marketing Magazine Award for ‘Best Print Media Creatives’. State’s tourism department’s additional director Gunjeet Kaur received the award at an event in Delhi. The award from Best Print Media Creatives was given to Rajasthan tourism by Brand Equity, the marketing and advertising magazine of Economic Times, at a ceremony in Mumbai. The award was received by additional director of state’s tourism department, Sanjay Pandey. The tourist arrivals to the state was increased by 10.50 per cent to 45.91 million visits ... Read more

Etihad Airways has announced its extensive Year of Zyed initiatives which are scheduled to be launched throughout 2018. Etihad’s initiatives are based on the four Year of Zayed themes, which are wisdom, respect, sustainability, and human development. The company’s initiatives are: 1) Humanitarian freighter 2) Zayed A380 & Abu Dhabi Experience 3) Abu Dhabi Birdathon 4) Zayed Campus & Young Aviators “The late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Founding Father of the UAE, was a visionary leader whose determination, wisdom and guidance enabled the UAE to become the prosperous, modern and harmonious nation it is today. His vision and ... Read more