Jyotiraditya Scindia travel tips

Investment banker JP Morgan has extended a credit facility of INR 2 billion ($24 million) to hospitality chain Oyo, the Economic Times has reported. The funding aims to fuel Oyo’s accelerator program. 

The domestic air passenger traffic in India during the 2023-24 financial year is estimated to stand at 154 million, according to credit rating agency ICRA. This figure surpasses the pre-Covid figure of 142 million domestic air passengers recorded in the 2019-20 financial year. The agency further stated that domestic air passenger traffic witnessed a 13% increase from last year. 

Virgin Atlantic is best known for linking Britain with the United States, but there’s another market that is increasingly important for the carrier. 

The Adani Group is set to invest INR 600 billion in its airport business over the next five to 10 years. This investment will be used to expand seven of the existing airports in its portfolio and will be split evenly between ‘airside’ expansion and ‘cityside’ development, the conglomerate said. 

The civil aviation ministry is looking to integrate DigiYatra, the digital initiative for airport check-ins, for international travel. Jyotiraditya Scindia, the civil aviation minister, recently met airport operators to discuss it.

Despite India’s tremendous growth in aviation, the country remains a highly under-penetrated market, said Indian aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Event organizers in Abu Dhabi will no longer be required to pay tourism tax. Hosting an event in Abu Dhabi had incurred a 10 percent tax per ticket sold. “For further support to the investment environment in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, it has been decided to exempt event organizers from the tourism fee of 10 percent on tickets sold,” a circular from the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi stated recently. The circular also said it is mandatory for event organizers to obtain event licenses in accordance with the regulations specified for this purpose. Event organizers are also required to declare the revenues generated from these events, submit supporting financial statements, and cooperate with revenue auditors or individuals designated by the department of culture and tourism to validate the accuracy of their declarations.

India will invest around $12 billion over the next two years in airports, aircraft and recruitment to meet the booming demand for air travel. The country aims to increase the number of airports from the present 148 to 220 by 2025, for which private builders will contribute roughly $9 billion, with the balance coming from the government-run Airports Authority of India. It entails new terminal construction, greenfield projects, and refurbishment of existing buildings, including old military airfields from the colonial era, as per a Bloomberg report. “We need to put in place the civil aviation infrastructure and capabilities that by 2047 would be able to support a $20 trillion economy within India,” said the country’s civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia at the ongoing CAPA India Aviation Summit in New Delhi. Scindia said passenger capacity at India’s six major airports is expected to grow to 420 million in four years from 192 million today, and Indian carriers’ fleet will grow to 2,000 aircraft in five years from 700. Additionally, India has eased leasing rules for airlines to lease more aircraft to address aircraft shortages as travel rebounds from the pandemic. He also highlighted how India had tweaked its airplane leasing program to enable airlines to add more aircraft to meet passenger demand, including more “wet leasing,” or renting of planes with crew, for domestic and international routes. Tata Group-owned Air India last month announced a record order for 470 jets and is due to take another 25 leased aircraft.

Indian airlines are expected to record a consolidated loss of $1.6 to 1.8 billion in the financial year 2023-24 ending March 31, 2024, according to aviation consultancy CAPA India. The full-service carriers are predicted to incur a loss of $1.1-$1.2 billion. With a net induction of 132 planes next fiscal, Indian airlines are estimated to take the total fleet of all carriers to around 816 aircraft. However, more than 100 aircraft from different Indian carriers are grounded as a result of supply chain and other issues. Highlighting the potential for growth in aviation, India’s civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that it was time for India to look at manufacturing aerospace products. He added that the aggregate fleet size of domestic carriers is estimated to reach around 2,000 aircraft over the next five to seven years. He claims that by the end of this year, up to 15 Flying Training Organizations (FTOs) could be established, bringing the total number of such organizations to 50 from the current 35. He emphasized the expansion of the drone industry, stating that it is projected to reach a value of approximately $40 billion by 2030 and produce about 250,000 million employees. All industries have an S-shaped evolution curve, and the minister noted that India is currently in the “infancy and growth phase” of its civil aviation industry.

A debate over market access was rekindled at an aviation event in India as foreign carriers seeking additional capacity to serve more routes in India feared the Tata Group-owned Air India’s rebirth and record order of 470 jets might capture most of the market. Dubai’s Emirates, Turkish Airlines and Kuwaiti carrier Jazeera Airways have all called for sharp increases in air traffic rights to and from India to meet demand. Vietnam and Indonesia also want more flights, an Indian official said. However, speaking to Reuters India’s civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the country has no plans to increase air traffic rights for the United Arab Emirates. He instead urged domestic carriers to fly long haul and help establish new hubs. “We are going to see an explosion of air traffic in India in the years to come,” he said, adding he wanted domestic carriers to focus on international expansion. “We are not getting enough share from this market,” Turkish Airlines Chief Executive Bilal Eksi said. Dubai has requested an extra 50,000 seats a week on India routes while Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways said the current weekly allowance of 12,000 was inadequate and asked for the cap to be raised to 28,000 seats.  

India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman invited U.S. aircraft maker Boeing to ramp up investmentin the country, given India’s flourishing aerospace and civil aviation market. The planemaker had earlier announced that it will invest about $24 million on setting up a logistics center in the country to stock spares for commercial airlines. During an interaction with a delegation from Boeing’s global senior leadership team, the minister underlined India’s focus on repositioning itself as a maintenance, repair and operations hub that can potentially cater to a wide region spanning Europe, Africa and the Far East. Earlier in March, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also highlighted it was time for India to look at manufacturing aerospace products, adding that the aggregate fleet size of domestic carriers is estimated to reach around 2,000 aircraft over the next five to seven years. Sitharaman further emphasized the opportunities available for companies to relocate to India to be a hub for the region. In reference to Indian airlines’ record aircraft order, she informed the delegation about Gujarat International Finance Tech-city banks’ aircraft leasing operations.

Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook of Oravel Stays’ – the parent company of India-based Oyo Hotels and Homes – to “positive” from “stable.” Fitch estimates that Oyo is on track to generate positive (EBITDA) — a measure of profit — and cash flow from operations. “The rating reflects its asset-light business model that benefits from minimal capex needs, largely exclusive distribution rights, pricing control over storefront inventory, fixed revenue share and strong long-term growth potential,” a statement from Fitch said. The ongoing demand recovery in the industry is expected to drive revenue growth of over 20 percent. Fitch expects the cost-reduction measures Oyo undertook in recent years to support its improving profitability. Meanwhile, Chinese hospitality company H World Grouphas sold 10 million equity shares, which translates to one-fifth of its holding of Oyo to United Arab Emirates-based family offices and institutional investors for around $9 million, a source told Skift. Earlier this month, rating agency Moody’s Investors Servicealso said it expected Oyo to generate between about $50 million and $55 millionin EBITDA this fiscal year.

India is a big potential market for aviation, but not a cheap one due to the high taxes, said International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Director General Willie Walsh.

Amid the surge in domestic airfares, India’s Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia asked airlines to “self-monitor” the prices on certain routes, particularly the ones that have been most affected by suspension of cash-strapped airline Go Firstfrom May 3.In a meeting with airline executives, Scindia shared concerns over recent reports of “abnormal surge pricing on certain routes,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement. “Airlines must self-monitor air fares on certain select routes that have seen considerable surge pricing of late, particularly those that were earlier being serviced by Go First…a mechanism for ensuring reasonable pricing within the high reservation booking designators may be devised by airlines. This shall be monitored by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation,” the ministry informed. 

India’s Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has inaugurated UDAN 5.2, a new phase of the regional connectivity scheme “Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik” to improve last-mile connectivity in remote and underserved regions with small aircraft, specifically those with 1A (less than nine seats) and Category 1 (less than 20 seats).