Indian Government offers citizens of 05 countries visa on arrival

The Government has decided to offer visa-on-arrival facility to citizens of a select group of five countries, something that New Delhi had been extremely hesitant to do so far because of security concerns. The government, it is learnt, has decided to clear the names of Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, Luxembourg and Finland as the countries whose nationals can fly in to India and obtain a visa at the airport. A formal notification in this regard is likely to be made very soon. The decision has ostensibly been taken with the aim of promoting tourism but its significance is much more than that. This is the first time that India is offering visa-on-arrival to any country.

And it is making this offer completely unilaterally, junking a proposal that said New Delhi should offer this facility only to countries that were ready to reciprocate. The decision to offer visa-on-arrival is currently only a pilot project. And the choice of the selected countries has been dictated by the fact that no national of any of these countries has ever been found to be involved in even linked to any terror related incident anywhere in the world. The nod came after detailed consultations with intelligence agencies like Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing.

Spicejet launches cargo operations from Kochi

SpiceJet has now expanded its cargo operations to Kochi. Announcing the launch of cargo operations from Kochi, Chief Commercial Officer Samyukth Sridharan said, "With the addition of Kochi to our existing network of domestic cargo operations, we will now be providing cargo services from 14 cities". He also noted the addition of Kochi would further strengthen the airline's cargo operations. Currently, the airlines carry an average of about 120 tons per day and aims to increase it to 150 tons per day in the near future.

Jet Airways starts new Mumbai-Kathmandu flight

Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, introduced a new service on the Mumbai-Kathmandu-Mumbai sectors, its third service to the Nepalese capital from India, with a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft. The new flight will operate five days a week - on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Jet Airways Boeing 737 – 800 flight 9W 266 will depart Mumbai at 0805 hrs, arrive Kathmandu at 1055 hrs. Flight 9W 265 will then depart Kathmandu at 1155 hrs and arrive Mumbai at 1440 hrs. The new Boeing 737-800 aircraft specially configured for International Operations will offer 24 seats in the Premiere and 120 in the Economy.

The airline will offer attractive special introductory promotional fares for both Premiere and Economy Classes. The special promotional return economy fare is Rs 7500/- excluding taxes which can be purchased till January 15, 2010. The one way special economy fare is Rs 4875/- excluding taxes. Jet Airways currently operates two daily services on the Delhi-Kathmandu-Delhi sectors, while JetLite, Jet Airways' subsidiary all-economy carrier, operates a daily service on the same sectors. With 26 flights per week, the Jet Airways group with JetLite will offer the maximum number of flights between India and Nepal, making it the largest amongst all foreign carriers.

With Jet Airways' unmatched domestic network and growing international network, the new service will offer travellers seamless connectivity between Nepal and several destinations across India, as well as to the Gulf, North America, Europe and ASEAN, over its hub in Mumbai. Mr. Nikos Kardassis, CEO, Jet Airways, says, "The India-Nepal sector is a very busy one, with relatively large volumes of passenger traffic. With the success of our services to Kathmandu, there has been increasing demand for direct air connections between the Indian commercial hub of Mumbai and Kathmandu. Having introduced the same in the festive season, we are confident that our new service on this sector will be much appreciated by both business and leisure travellers alike."