The new winter schedule has brought cheer for Pune travellers with Indigo announcing the launch of direct flights to Dubai and Bangkok from Nov 22 and Air India Express announcing a 1 stop connection to Sharjah and Singapore. In other updates, Virgin Atlantic introduces a double daily flight service between London Heathrow and Mumbai and Nok Air announces new flights between Bangkok and Mumbai. Thailand extends visa-free entry for Indian travellers indefinitely and Indians are expected to get visa-free entry to Russia in 2025. These and more updates in our November edition.

Air India announced that following its merger with Vistara, the unique Vistara travel experience will continue, with Vistara’s aircraft operating under a new Air India code. Starting November 12, Vistara flights will be identified by a four-digit Air India flight number beginning with "2." For instance, Vistara flight UK 955 will now be listed as AI 2955 on the Air India website.

Despite the merger, Vistara’s in-flight services, including the same crew, menu, and overall passenger experience, will remain unchanged on these routes. This integration allows customers to enjoy seamless connectivity across Air India’s network of over 90 domestic and international destinations, along with an additional 800 destinations through Air India’s codeshare and interline partners.

The Tata Group is set to expand the fleet of its budget airline, Air India Express, by transferring all-economy configuration planes from its full service carriers, Air India and Vistara. This move is part of the group's strategy to better compete with Indigo, the current market leader in the Indian aviation industry. The first phase of the plan will involve the transfer of 17 Airbus A320 Neo aircraft from Air India to Air India Express. Additionally, 10 of Vistara's all-economy A320 Neo aircrafts will join Air India Express once the merger between Vistara and Air India is completed. The entire transfer process is expected to be completed by mid-2025.

Malaysia Airlines and IndiGo have officially solidified their strategic codeshare partnership, marking a significant milestone in enhancing connectivity between India and Malaysia. Following the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in April 2024, this collaboration is set to elevate the travel experience for passengers, offering wider access to key destinations across both countries.

Through this partnership, Malaysia Airlines will extend its reach within India by adding its flight code “MH” to seven additional domestic destinations, including Kolkata, Varanasi, Patna, Tiruchirappalli, Goa, Bhubaneswar, and Visakhapatnam. This complements the airline’s existing direct services to major hubs such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad. Meanwhile, IndiGo will add its flight code “6E” to Malaysia Airlines’ domestic flights from Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 1, giving its customers access to popular Malaysian destinations such as Penang, Langkawi, Johor Bahru, Kota Kinabalu, and Kuching.

Air India has cancelled around 60 flights between India and San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Newark and New York in USA between 15 November and 31 December, as it does not have adequate wide-body aircraft to operate some of the flights to these destinations. As part of this rationalisation, Air India has cancelled 14 flights on the Delhi-Chicago route, 28 flights on the Delhi-Washington route, 12 flights on the Delhi-SFO route, 4 flights on the Mumbai-New York route, and 2 flights on the Delhi-Newark route.

The Railway Ministry has reduced the time limit for advance reservation of tickets from 120 days to 60 days from November 1, 2024. The reduced period of advance reservation of railway tickets will not impact ticket bookings made before October 31, 2024. Also there will be no change in the limit of 365 days for foreign tourists to book tickets.

The international air connectivity from Pune finally gets a boost with Indigo introducing direct flights to Dubai and Bangkok from November 22 onwards. The Pune - Dubai sector will operate daily and Pune - Bangkok will operate thrice a week.

With this addition, Indigo will operate 383 flights weekly from Pune, covering over 25 domestic and 2 international destinations.

After launching direct flights between Pune to Kochi and Chennai last month which was covered in our
Oct Travel Updates newsletter, Air India Express is now offering connections to Sharjah (via Kochi) and Singapore (via Chennai) as per the below schedule:

Thailand-based low-cost carrier Nok Air (DD) has announced the launch of daily non-stop flights between Bangkok (DMK) and Mumbai (BOM) from October 28, 2024. Catering to business and leisure travellers, Nok Air aims to provide affordable, high-quality service with Thai hospitality. The airline will utilize Boeing 737-800 aircraft, accommodating 189 passengers

The service connects Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport with Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport with the following schedule from October 28 onwards:

Virgin Atlantic has launched a second daily direct flight between London Heathrow and Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), doubling its capacity on this highly sought-after route. This new addition, introduced on October 27, 2024, marks Virgin Atlantic's fifth daily flight to India, complementing its existing services to Delhi and Bengaluru.

The updated double daily schedule between Mumbai and London Heathrow is as follows:

Air India has introduced its flagship A350-900 aircraft on its daily, non-stop flights between Delhi and New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK). This will be followed by a 5x weekly A350 service from Delhi to Newark’s Liberty International Airport (EWR) commencing January 2, 2025.

With these deployments, Air India introduces to travellers visiting the New York region its all-new interiors, including private suites in Business Class and a Premium Economy cabin, as well as an award-winning new Inflight Entertainment (IFE) system, enhanced catering, and new serviceware.

The deployment of this flagship product, which also recently commenced on the Delhi-London Heathrow route, marks a significant milestone in the airline’s post-privatization transformation program.

Air India has introduced a new daily flight between Bengaluru and London from October 27 onwards with the following schedule:

Indian citizens are now eligible for visa-on-arrival at all ports of entry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) if they possess valid visas or residence permits issued by the European Union (EU) or the United Kingdom (UK). Earlier this facility was only valid for Indian citizens with a valid visa, residence, or green card issued by the United States.

These eligible travellers have the option to choose between two visa types upon arrival in the UAE:

1. 14-day Visa-on-Arrival: This visa is initially granted for 14 days and can be extended for a similar period.
2. 60-day Visa-on-Arrival: Available for a non-extendable period of 60 days, this option requires payment of the prescribed fees in accordance with UAE regulations.

By March 2025, Russia is poised to grant visa-free entry to Indian citizens. According to an agreement being worked upon between Russia and India, the first Indian visa-free group might arrive in Moscow by spring 2025, without having to apply and wait for visa approval. The move aims to increase the inflow of Indian tourists in Russia.

Under the proposed agreement, Indian travellers will no longer need to grapple with the visa application process; a simple passport presentation upon arrival in Russia will suffice. This streamlined approach will save time and effort while also eliminating associated visa fees.

Good news for Indian travellers! Thailand has indefinitely extended its visa-free entry policy for Indian nationals. Originally set to end on November 11, 2024, this policy now allows Indian visitors to stay in Thailand for up to 60 days without needing a visa, with an option to extend their stay by an additional 30 days at a local immigration office.

Over the last 24 months, Odyssey has handled a range of MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) events for our corporate clients from group sizes ranging from 25 delegates to our last conference in Gurugram which was 600 delegates.

From coordinating travel arrangements to planning logistics, accommodations, and event setups, our team specializes in end-to-end MICE solutions that elevate corporate events and engagements.

For more information on how we can assist in planning your next MICE event, please explore our MICE brochure here and let us help make your conference & incentive event a seamless success.

And with Pune’s new direct international flights to Dubai and Bangkok, this is the perfect time to plan your next event at an overseas destination. Please contact Rutwik at rutwik@uniglobeodysseytravel.com to plan your next MICE event.