Singapore Airlines adds more Mumbai flights

Singapore Airlines has announced the addition of four weekly on Boing 777 and Airbus 380 between Mumbai and Singapore, taking its total frequency on the route to 18 flights per week.

From 21 April to 22 May 2016, the extra services will operate every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Flights will depart Singapore at 0235 and arrive in Mumbai at 0525. The return flights will the leave Mumbai at 0835 and arrive back in Singapore at 1640. Then from 23 May to 12 June 2016, the additional flights will operate every Monday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, running at the same times.

The airline currently offers twice daily flights on the Singapore-Mumbai route, so the new services will mean SIA offers three flights a day on four days of the week and twice daily flights on the remaining three days.

Holiday Inn Express New Delhi is positioned at Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport and has 93 rooms. Holiday Inn Express Chennai is located on Old Mahabalipuram Road and offers 136 rooms, while

Both properties will feature Holiday Inn Express’ standard services, such as free Wi-Fi and breakfast, a choice of pillows, a self-service business centre and laundry room, and a 24-hour fitness centre.

IHG now operates its Holiday Inn Express brand in four Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad.

Indian Railways has launched its first semi-high speed train, the Gatimaan Express, which has a maximum speed of 160kph.

The train, which runs between Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin Station and Agra, was flagged off on 5 April 2016.

The Gatimaan Express will run six days a week (every day except Friday), departing Delhi at 0810 and arriving in Agra at 0950. The return journey will leave Agra at 1750 and arrive back in Delhi at 1930.

The train comprises two executive air-conditioned chair cars and eight air-conditioned coach cars. Tickets are priced at INR750 (approx. US$11.30) for the coach class and INR1,500 for executive class.

The onboard catering is organised by Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which has deployed hostesses on the train. IRCTC has also arranged two different Agra guided tour packages to coincide with the train’s timetable.

The Gatimaan Express also has complimentary onboard entertainment provided by MyFreeTv.in.

Jet Airways launches new flights to Amsterdam

Jet Airways has commenced daily direct flight services from Delhi, Mumbai and Toronto to Amsterdam.

The first flight landed at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol on 27 March, and the new services will now operate daily from Mumbai (flight number 9W232), Delhi (9W234) and Toronto (9W233) using Jet’s Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

The departure time from Mumbai is 0225 and the Delhi flight will take off at 0235, with both services arriving in Amsterdam later that morning.

Together with its codeshare partners, Jet will now offer one-stop connections between India and 30 destinations across Europe and 11 destinations in the US and Canada. And passengers flying from Amsterdam will be able to access 48 destinations within India via Delhi and Mumbai.

India hikes entry fees to national monuments

India’s Ministry of Culture has increased the entry fee at 116 protected national monuments.

Effective 1 April 2016, the sites managed by the Archaeological Survey of India will be accessible on a multi-tiered entry fee system.

Indian citizens and visitors from other South Asian countries will be charged a fee of INR30 (approx. 45 US cents) for entry to UNESCO World Heritage-listed monuments and INR15 for other monuments. Other international travellers will be charged INR 500 and INR 200 respectively.

And a higher level of ticket, charged at INR750 for World Heritage sites and INR300 for other monuments, will provide visitors with free bottled water, Wi-Fi connectivity, souvenirs and CDs with pictures and films of monuments. Separate queues will also be available for visitors paying the higher charges.

The new fees were implemented following consultations with India’s Ministry of Tourism, tour operators and travel associations.

Indian air passengers will now be able to get higher compensation in the case delays, injury or loss of baggage.

An amendment in the Carriage by Air Act, which was first proposed last year, has now been cleared by parliament and approved by the president.  The changes empower the central government to revise the limits of liability for airlines and compensation as per the Montreal Convention.

Indian airlines will have to pay compensation that is on a par with global standards. The amounts will be calculated on the basis of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), with one SDR equivalent to INR93.27 (approx. US$1.40).

The compensation due in the case of death or bodily injury could be worth 113,100 SDR, while for damage flight delays would incur damages of 4,694 SDR. Lost, damaged or delayed baggage would be worth 1,131 SDR.

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