Vistara, SpiceJet and Jazeera to fly to Kathmandu

As the Visit Nepal Year 2020 is going to start soon, more international airliners are flying to Kathmandu to boost the tourist arrivals.
The Tourism Ministry has granted operating authorisation to three international airlines – including two from India – to operate flights to Kathmandu.
According to Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN), India’s full-service airline Vistara and budget carrier SpiceJet applied for slots at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) after receiving the operating authorisation.
Likewise, Kuwaiti carrier Jazeera Airways has also applied for a slot at TIA. “All the three airlines will begin service from the third week of November,” the CAAN said, adding that Vistara has applied to operate daily flights on the Delhi-Kathmandu route while SpiceJet has applied for daily flights on the Delhi-Kathmandu and Mumbai-Kathmandu routes. “The Kathmandu-New Delhi route will see at least 10 flights per day from November.”
The additional flights on Kathmandu-New Delhi route may ignite fierce competition and benefit consumers. The route is also considered a lucrative sector as flight occupancy reaches more than 95 per cent during the peak season.
After India's Jet Airways suspended its Nepal flights in April, many carriers have been showing interest in the route. The suspension of services by Jet Airways resulted in a 40 per cent reduction in weekly flight capacity. Jet Airways used to fly thrice daily on the Delhi-Kathmandu sector, and twice daily on the Mumbai-Kathmandu sector.

International airlines felicitate NAC for better ground handling

International airlines felicitated Nepal Airlines for its efficient ground handling at the Tribhuwan International Airport (TIA).

Some 10 international airlines today awarded the ailing national flag carrier for its better ground handling at the only international airport.

The second annual general meeting of the Airlines Operators' Committee, Nepal, has facilitated the Nepal Airlines that has been remaining afloat only due to ground handling as it has no aircraft to expand its routes and increase flight frequency.

Qatar Air, China Southers, Etihad, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Oman Air, Air Arabia, Dragon Air, Thai Airways and Korean Air have recognised the NAC for its service.

Airport closes again, fourth time in a month, second time in a week

The only international airport in the country has closed its services temporarily today afternoon, again, after a pothole was detected – for the fourth time within a month – on a section of its runway.

The Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) – the gateway for the land locked Nepal to the outer world – was closed for half an hour from 2 pm. The airport closure for the patch up work of the pothole in the intersection C and D of the runway has forced Royal Bhutan flight to divert back to Paro, whereas China Eastern Airlines, Jet Airways and Air India were held in the sky and the scheduled Thai Airways flight from Kathmandu – along with around half dozen domestic flights – was delayed.
It is the second time this week the TIA saw damages on the runway. On Sunday also it had to stop flights operation for about 45 minutes after cracks were reported on the runway.
The repeated problem of crack at the runaway – which smells of a huge corruption – has not only tarnished the image of Nepal but also is going to hit the visitor arrivals during the nearing tourist season, and airlock the country closing it to the outer world.

The TIA maintenance is a temporary solution as the tarmac needs a full-fledged renovation as the more than four-decade long runaway needs a complete renovation as the number of aircraft landing at the airport has tripled –  with some aircraft weighing more than 300 tonnes including  passenger, cargo and fuel – and changing weather patters in the last five years. “The problem will reappear anytime as the current maintenance is the temporary solution only,” according to the TIA officials.

Though, the TIA has deployed a rapid action team to maintain immediately as and when the potholes reappear, the repeated disturbance of scheduled flights is not only going to hit the tourism sector but also economy hard.

IndiGo starts Kathmandu flight from today

The healthy growth of Indian tourists to Nepal has attracted more Indian airlines to Nepal.
With seven flights daily, IndiGo Airlines has started New-Delhi-Kathmandu flight from Friday making it the sixth Indian private airliner to fly to Kathmandu.Speaking on the inaugural flight, Aditya Ghosh, president IndiGo said that Kathmandu is a key market and holds a lot of promise. “IndiGo will continue to keep its promise of providing low fares on the New Delhi-Kathmandu-New Delhi routes as well," he said, adding that the airlines hopes to provide the much needed avenue for countless Indians to explore wider horizons and at the same time open up the doors to more and more overseas travellers to experience India.
Currently, Air India, Jet Airlines, Jet lite, Spice Jet, Kingfisher and Indigo fly on New-Delhi-Kathmandu route with a total of 78 flights a week.
"Private Indian airlines have explored Nepal as new destination,” said director general of Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal Ram Prasad Neupane.
"The increase in the number of Indian airlines flying to Kathmandu has also encouraged the sector," he added.
According to him, India and China has large market access and they have strong economy. "Increase in the number of airlines from these countries can bring a large number of quality tourist to Nepal," he said, adding that the movement of Indian tourist has always been in an increasing trend.
"In an average, Indian tourists contribute to 30 per cent of the total international tourist arrival through airways,” said Neupane.
"According to Air Service Agreement (ASA) between Nepal and India, different Indian airlines can have 30,000 flights a week,” according to joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation Ranjan Krishna Aryal.
Therefore, more private Indian airlines can start their flights to Kathmandu with the recommendation of Indian government and technical specifications to Nepal, he added.
Including six Indian airlines and two Nepali airlines — Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) and Buddha Air — some 28 different international airlines fly to Nepal like Air Arabia, Arke Fly, Baharain, Biman Bangladesh, China Eastern, China Southern, Dragon Air, Fly Dubai, Etihad Airways, Gulf Air, Korean Air, Oman Air, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Qatar Airways, Druk Air, Silk Air, Thai International Airways, United Airways and GMG Airlines.

The frequency
Airlines — Destinations — No of flights in a week
Air India — Delhi — 14
Air India — Kolkata — 4
Air India — Mumbai — 4
Jet Airways — Delhi — 14
Jet Airways — Mumbai — 7
Jet lite — Delhi — 7
Kingfisher — Delhi — 7
Spice Jet — Delhi — 14
Indigo — Delhi — 7
Total flights — 78
(Source: Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal)

Indians more intent on travelling to newer destinations

The Indian leisure traveller is now more open to exploring newer destinations, reveals the latest edition of the Nielsen India Outbound Monitor.
A study done by the Nielsen Company in association with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), shows that destinations such as China, Maldives, Indonesia, the African continent and even neighbouring Bangladesh, have witnessed an increase in interest amongst Indian travellers as destinations they plan to visit in the future.
While on the current list of most visited destinations, Singapore remains the top destination for both, the business and leisure traveller, but its dominance has diminished since 2008.
“The diversification in destinations indicates a greater sense of adventurism and discovery that should be heartening for tourism as a whole, and a clear symptom of a confident Indian consumer mimicking their country’s confidence and prominence," Surekha Poddar, executive director, The Nielsen Company, said, adding that the Indian traveller is set to become a prized possession as potential spending power and disposition to travel to new countries increases.
In terms of trips taken in the last year, Singapore’s share based on travellers indicating their most recent trip taken, has reduced to 24 per cent from 32 per cent in 2008. Similarly, for business travel its share has fallen from 25 per cent in 2008 to 15 per cent in 2010. Malaysia ranks second for leisure travel and Dubai for business travel.
Countries that have shown a rise in business traffic from India include Japan, China, and Sri Lanka. On the whole, Asian countries account for 76 per cent of leisure travel by Indians and 63 per cent for business travel. Regions such as Europe attract a higher percentage of business traffic (14 per cent) rather than leisure (10 per cent).
The top reasons which drive destination choice for leisure travellers are visiting friends/ relatives (26 per cent), range of leisure and entertainment activities (18 per cent), and scenic/natural beauty of the destination (10 per cent).
Visiting friends/ relatives is the most cited reason for older travellers and their destinations largely tend to be USA and the UK. The corporate segment which forms the bulk of business travellers, choose destinations based on perceived business conduciveness for conferences and off-sites.
“Countries competing for Indian globetrotters can take definitive cues from the drivers of destination decision-making. By showcasing their receptivity to visitors and a variety of recreational facilities ‘country’ marketers can hope to become the destination of choice,” said Poddar.
Among places that leisure travellers plan to travel to, there seems to be a significant shift to newer destinations such as China, Indonesia and Africa, amongst others. While most outbound travellers from India belong to the affluent, well educated segment of urban India, there are some differences in the profile of travelers based on the size of the town or city.
With the growth of India as a source market for the travel industry, there is an increasingly greater focus on targeting the Indian traveller. One of the most critical observations is that the Indian traveller is not a homogenous entity. Apart from the natural segments of those travelling for business or leisure, there are key sub-segments across tiers of towns and different life stages and work profile. Travel motivations also differ in each of these sub-segments as do their planning and their choices,” added Poddar.
The Indian traveller remains as value conscious as ever. With growing choices at home, Indians have not really expanded their travel budgets. Overall, travel expenditure has remained the same as 2008 among leisure travelers. Business travellers have however, seen a significant reduction in overall trip expenses.
According to the study, the average trip cost for the entire family is around $3663. As the average group comprises two travellers, it works out to $1645 per traveller. Flight and accommodation account for around 45 per cent of costs and the rest is available for the traveller to apportion across other expenses like shopping, food, recreational/ sightseeing activities and communication. Of the discretionary spend, shopping gets the lion’s share and outbound tourists spend $1,000 on an average on shopping, per family.
Thai Airways emerged as the top airline among leisure travellers in terms of customer satisfaction followed by Jet Airways and Malaysia Airlines. For business travellers, Singapore Airlines tops the list, followed by Emirates and Malaysia Airlines.

The travel agents
KATHMANDU: For travellers booking via travel agents, small local travel agents combined account for a little over a quarter of all bookings. Among the Indian players, the Online Travel Agents (OTAs), Yatra and Make My Trip, and travel agencies SOTC and Thomas Cook together, account for the bulk of bookings. Leisure travellers who booked through SOTC gave it the highest satisfaction ratings while business travelers said they preferred booking through Thomas Cook the most.