Category: Top Three Stories

India’s global tourist destination Taj Mahal, which witnessed a daily footfall of thousands of people, now stands secluded after it was shut to the public exactly three months ago due to the COVID-19-induced lockdown, an IANS report has said. Taj Mahal is Uttar Pradesh’s main attraction and a major source of revenue for the state’s tourism industry. According to the Archaeological Survey of India, as many as 15,000 to 20,000 foreigners and Indians used to visit the historical site daily. Superintendent Archaeologist, Vasant Kumar Swarnkar, told IANS that foreign tourists were charged Rs 1,300 each while domestic tourists paid Rs ... Read more

The Bombay High Court has allowed domestic and international airlines to fill up middle seats, providing some relief to the carriers. The high court, however, sought strict compliance with the May 31 circular of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) requiring passengers to wear wrap-around gowns in addition to a face shield and a mask. A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade on Monday passed the judgment through video-conference on a plea filed by Air India pilot Deven Kanani, who alleged that national carrier Air India had violated social distancing norms while evacuating Indians ... Read more

Next time you travel to Tamil Nadu, names of many places in the state may look a bit different.  The state government has issued a notification as per the recommendation of an expert committee for changing the names of 1,018 places, in accordance with how they are exactly pronounced in Tamil. The district collectors will now take steps for changing the names of these places through the local bodies concerned. The announcement in this regard was made way back in December 2018. But the official release, came only on Wednesday evening. So, Coimbatore is now Koyampuththoor, Vellore is Veeloor and ... Read more

Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express have so far ferried 66,831 Indians from overseas on 365 flights, as part of its repatriation drive. Another 17,180 passengers have travelled on 369 outbound flights by the national carrier to various foreign countries, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Monday. Air India opened bookings on Friday, for around 300 flights to various countries like the USA and the UK, under the third phase of its Vande Bharat Mission. The airline faced an overwhelming demand for tickets, which were sold out in no time, forcing it to increase the number ... Read more

The Central government has dropped two tourism projects worth Rs 154 crore, proposed by Kerala, under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme. The proposed projects included the Sivagiri pilgrimage circuit and a spiritual circuit linking 133 places of worship right across Kerala. The Union Ministry of Tourism has not cited any reason for dropping the ₹69.47-crore Sree Narayana Guru spiritual circuit and the ₹85.23-crore spiritual circuit, in its letter to the Kerala Tourism secretary. The two projects were initially approved under Swadesh Darshan — as part of integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits — in 2014-15. State Minister for Tourism Kadakampally Surendran ... Read more

The Ministry of Home Affairs on Saturday announced phase-wise resumption of economic activities in areas outside Covid-19 containment zones. The guidelines will come into play from June 1 and would be effective till June 30. Hotels, malls and restaurants to open Activities to be allowed from June 8 as part of Phase 1 plan: Religious places of worship for public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services. Shopping malls to be allowed to open from June 8. Health Ministry would issue SOPs for the above activities, in consultation with the Central Ministries/ Departments concerned and other stakeholders, for ensuring social distancing and to ... Read more

A joint forum of Air India employees and staff unions has sought from the Central government a Rs 50,000 crore financial package for the national carrier, stating that the airline is a necessity for the country. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Joint Forum said that Air India is a “necessity” for the country, especially in times of crises, and a financial package will not only help the flag carrier but also the entire aviation sector and the economy. “We thank you for the financial package of Rs 20 lakh crores to boost industry and the economy. ... Read more

From today, flights will resume from Kolkata. Due to cyclone ‘Amphan’ that killed more than 80 people in the state, leaving thousands homeless last week, West Bengal government had decided not to restart domestic flight services from Monday. Almost all the other prominent cities in India have restarted airline operations. Passengers who are flying to Kolkata need to follow a host of guidelines issued by Mamata Banerjee-led government. From self-declaration to 14-day mandatory quarantine, here are the new rules for air travellers in West Bengal. Passengers must wear face covers or mask at the airport. Social distancing norms should be ... Read more

Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) has announced that it will operate more than 100 flights in a week. During the first phase of operations from May 25 to June 30, there will be flight services to and from Kochi, Lakshadweep, Bengaluru, Kozhikode, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kannur, Mumbai, Mysore and Pune. Air India, Air Asia, Alliance Air, Indigo, SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express will be operating from Kochi. CIAL has automated systems for check in procedure, safety checks and identification procedure, as part of the Covid-19 safety protocol. There will be two rounds of thermal screening – one near the ... Read more

Indian domestic air travel may have resumed on Monday after being grounded for two months, but with many states remaining skeptical about opening airports, over 600 flights were cancelled in just one day alone. Flights are yet to resume in large states like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and operations in airports including Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad are not in full swing yet. Many passengers reached the airports on Monday only to be told by the airline staff that their flights have been cancelled. West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh governments did not relent to the requests by the Civil Aviation ... Read more

Iconic car rental company Hertz has filed for bankruptcy protection, devastated by the fall in business due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 100-year-old company which started its business with a dozen Ford models, went on to become one of the largest car rental companies in the world, before running up a pile of substantial debt. Hertz said late on Friday that it would use more than $1 billion in cash on hand to keep its business running while it proceeds with the bankruptcy process. “Today’s action will protect the value of our business, allow us to continue our operations and ... Read more

Eurobank will make available a fund of $821 million (750 million Euros) to help Greek hotels and support tourism, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. The revival of the tourism sector, which employs about one in five Greeks, is viewed as central to lessening the impact of an expected deep recession, with the European Commission estimating Greece’s economy may contract by 9.7% this year. “Eurobank is the bank of Greek tourism, we are there not only for the sunny days,” Eurobank’s CEO Fokion Karavias said. “Supporting the hotels sector, the heart of the tourism industry, is important ... Read more

No meals, no eatables, no magazines, no on-board sales, Aarogya Setu not required for kids below 14, limited baggage, minimal use of lavatory, less contact by security staff and using masks throughout the journey. That’s new age flying for you. India has issued detailed guidelines for airlines, airport, passengers and other stakeholders, for resumption of domestic flights after a gap of two months. The domestic flights will operate again from May 25, as lockdown restrictions continue to get eased. Here are the new norms: Before arriving at airport Familiarise yourself with the new procedures, especially about norms of social distancing, minimum ... Read more

The domestic flight operations in India will resume once the state governments are ready to open airports, civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday. The Centre alone cannot make a decision in this regard, Puri added. “It is not up to Centre alone to decide on resuming domestic flights. In the spirit of cooperative federalism, the state governments where these flights will take off and land should be ready to allow civil aviation operations,” said Puri on social-networking platform Twitter. Commercial flight operations in the country have been suspended since March 25 when the government first imposed a ... Read more

The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) has criticised the stimulus package announced by the government, completing ignoring the concerns of the hospitality sector. “I am really shocked that tourism and hospitality was completely ignored despite PM Modi mentioning hospitality as one of the five pillars in his speech. We don’t know what was the criteria of importance. Is space programme more important than tourism? We had made 20 representations to the Department of Tourism and Ministry of tourism but not even one has been considered,” said Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, Vice-President, FHRAI (Federation of Hotel & Restaurant ... Read more