Travel research site Skyscanner, which entered the Indian market nearly a year ago, plans to offer price comparisons between flights, trains and buses by next year.
Ewan Gray, Director-Asia Pacific, Skyscanner, said, “We are interested in offering comparisons between various forms of transport such as flights, buses and trains. We are in the research stage and may start offering these to Indian consumers by next year.” He said, at present, the company offers this service in Europe. The fact that there were nearly 15 million bus bookings in India last year, shows the potential the country offers for travel search, he added.
Skyscanner already offers price comparisons between flights, hotels and car rentals in India.
The Web site earns fees from flights and hotel partners if a consumer does a booking based on its research. India is among its fastest-growing sites in terms of the number of hits it gets. Gray also claimed that the company had the largest number of Facebook followers in India.
He said nearly 60 per cent of its traffic in India came from mobile phones. Skyscanner is now focusing on strengthening its partnerships with Indian travel aggregators, airlines and hotels.
Aviation marketing saw challenges in 2012 in India and there is now less capacity and air fares are high, which means there are fewer deals being offered.
This makes us important for consumers looking for cheaper fares, he said
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/travel-guide-skyscanner-to-offer-multimodal-fare-checks/article4654863.ece
Operators not keen to start services before monsoon
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala's seaplane project is progressing right on schedule, but seaplane operators say that they would prefer to wait out the monsoon before starting full-fledged operations.
Bharat Aviation director P Joseph Doss said he was ready with a Cessna 208 but would prefer to wait till September. "There is no point flying for two months and parking the aircraft for the next three. It is not economical. Also, as the pilots will be operating under visual flight rules, we don't want to compromise the safety of passengers, especially as we will be landing on water," he said.
Meanwhile, a senior tourism department official said four houseboats are being refitted to accommodate baggage screeners and safety equipment at Alappuzha. "We will be ready with houseboats by April 28. At the outset, seaplanes will operate from four locations - Ashtamudi, Punnamada, Kumarakom and Bekal. The Kochi shipping channel needs to be demarcated and a certain area cordoned off to include Bolgatty as a seaplane destination, which could take a while," he said.
Sandith Thandasherry, CEO of Navgathi Marine Design & Constructions that has been entrusted with designing the houseboats, said the boats would act as a security hold area. "Regular houseboats around 25-30 meters in length were found to be optimal. All boats are around six months to 1 year old, and some of them had life saving devices such as floodable protection keeping with the 2010 Kerala Inland Vessel Rules, but it will be a standard fixture. We've also redesigned the pontoon to improve handling. Partitions will be used to create separate spaces within the boat," he said.
The tourism official informed that prefabricated jetties were ready and would be floated as and when required. "Once the jetty and the houseboat is in place the airport security group will be pressed into service to guard the equipment," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Operators-not-keen-to-start-services-before-monsoon/articleshow/19733718.cms
Ewan Gray, Director-Asia Pacific, Skyscanner, said, “We are interested in offering comparisons between various forms of transport such as flights, buses and trains. We are in the research stage and may start offering these to Indian consumers by next year.” He said, at present, the company offers this service in Europe. The fact that there were nearly 15 million bus bookings in India last year, shows the potential the country offers for travel search, he added.
Skyscanner already offers price comparisons between flights, hotels and car rentals in India.
The Web site earns fees from flights and hotel partners if a consumer does a booking based on its research. India is among its fastest-growing sites in terms of the number of hits it gets. Gray also claimed that the company had the largest number of Facebook followers in India.
He said nearly 60 per cent of its traffic in India came from mobile phones. Skyscanner is now focusing on strengthening its partnerships with Indian travel aggregators, airlines and hotels.
Aviation marketing saw challenges in 2012 in India and there is now less capacity and air fares are high, which means there are fewer deals being offered.
This makes us important for consumers looking for cheaper fares, he said
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/todays-paper/tp-logistics/travel-guide-skyscanner-to-offer-multimodal-fare-checks/article4654863.ece
Operators not keen to start services before monsoon
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala's seaplane project is progressing right on schedule, but seaplane operators say that they would prefer to wait out the monsoon before starting full-fledged operations.
Bharat Aviation director P Joseph Doss said he was ready with a Cessna 208 but would prefer to wait till September. "There is no point flying for two months and parking the aircraft for the next three. It is not economical. Also, as the pilots will be operating under visual flight rules, we don't want to compromise the safety of passengers, especially as we will be landing on water," he said.
Meanwhile, a senior tourism department official said four houseboats are being refitted to accommodate baggage screeners and safety equipment at Alappuzha. "We will be ready with houseboats by April 28. At the outset, seaplanes will operate from four locations - Ashtamudi, Punnamada, Kumarakom and Bekal. The Kochi shipping channel needs to be demarcated and a certain area cordoned off to include Bolgatty as a seaplane destination, which could take a while," he said.
Sandith Thandasherry, CEO of Navgathi Marine Design & Constructions that has been entrusted with designing the houseboats, said the boats would act as a security hold area. "Regular houseboats around 25-30 meters in length were found to be optimal. All boats are around six months to 1 year old, and some of them had life saving devices such as floodable protection keeping with the 2010 Kerala Inland Vessel Rules, but it will be a standard fixture. We've also redesigned the pontoon to improve handling. Partitions will be used to create separate spaces within the boat," he said.
The tourism official informed that prefabricated jetties were ready and would be floated as and when required. "Once the jetty and the houseboat is in place the airport security group will be pressed into service to guard the equipment," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Operators-not-keen-to-start-services-before-monsoon/articleshow/19733718.cms
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