India’s Chandigarh Airport to Soon Go International

Now, India bound travellers will have another international gateway. India has at least a dozen of fully functional international airports and adding to the list is the Chandigarh Airport. As per news reports, India’s Union Civil Aviation Ministry has finally approved international flights from Chandigarh Airport. It is a matter of time before people will be able to book tickets on direct flights to and from the North Indian city that is also a union territory of India. 

India’s two carriers, Indigo and SpiceJet have been given green signal for flights. The third carrier, Jet Airways, is still awaiting the nod from the authorities for the same.

If Indian news reports are to be believed then these airlines are likely to start running flights between Chandigarh and Dubai and other Gulf cities. Operations can start as soon as December. There has been no decision yet on cost of air tickets, timings and flights schedule. 

Once operational, the global services are sure to bring smiles on the faces of people in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in India. They will now be able to book tickets on direct flights out the country from Chandigarh. It works even for foreign tourists as they would be able to net tickets on direct flights to and from Chandigarh and will not be required to book tickets on flights first to Delhi or Amritsar.

After Amritsar’s Raja Sansi International Airport, Chandigarh Airport will be second inter-national gateway in the region.

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Number of Foreign Visitors on Indian Holidays Mount in 2012

The efforts and initiatives of Indian authorities to woo foreign travellers paid off relatively well in 2012. The number of international visitors booking tickets on flights arriving in India has mounted up by about six percent in 2012 till November as compared to the same period of 2011.

Figures rolled out by the India’s tourism ministry state that a total of 5.899 million foreign tourists booked tickets deals on India flights against 5.572 million visitors during the same period in the previous year.

India’s foreign exchange earning from tourism till November 2012 was Rs 839.380 millions, which registered a growth of 22.1% over the same period last year. Total foreign exchange earning from tourists spending on tickets deals for flights to visit the nation in the year 2011 was reported to be Rs 687.21 millions.

Indian authorities launched the "Clean India" campaign in 2012 to enhance the image of the country amongst international visitors who are often to be seen in a lookout for cheap deals for tickets on flights to the nation.

Besides, authorities also signed the MoU with ASEAN in January 2012 to facilitate tourism from partner countries, strengthen tourism partnerships and enhance mutual travel assistance.

Also at the recently concluded World Travel Market (WTM) 2012 in London, Indian authorities revealed the nation’s newest campaigns, 'Find What You Seek' and 'Go Beyond'. These campaigns were launched in an endeavour to lure holidaymakers from across the globe to seek cheap deals on flights tickets to the country.

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Rise in Number of Foreigners Taking India Flights in September

Figures released by Government of India indicate that there has been a rise in the number of foreign tourists grabbing tickets on flights to different parts of India. In September 2012, approximately 0.42 million foreign tourists made bookings for air tickets on flights bound to India. In the same period in 2011, approximately 0.40 million foreigners had booked flights tickets to the country. This has resulted in a growth of 3.2 per cent for Sep 2012 over Sep 2011.

If one talks about the year so far, as many as 4.63 mn foreign vacationers took India bound flights tickets during January-September as compared to 4.37 mn who bought air tickets on flights in the year 2011 in the same period, resulting in a growth of 5.9 per cent.

Tourism Ministry of the country seems buoyed with the news and hopes to push foreign tourist arrivals in India to 12 million by 2016-17.

Rise in tourist inflow from different countries of the world has directly impacted the country’s foreign exchange. In September, forex were INR 6,652 crore (USD 1265.50 mn approx) as against to INR 5,748 crore (USD 1093 mn approx) in 2011, which is a rise of 15.7 per cent, as revealed by ministry data.

India remains a highly popular holiday destination with heaps of foreigners vying to get their hands around cheap tickets on flights to the nation. September is the start of peak tourist season in the country when summer heat and wet rainy season makes way for pleasant autumn weather.

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