South Africa is the place to be this IPL season, but all flights back to Mumbai are booked and getting a visa takes forever
South Africa is the place to be this IPL season, but all flights back to Mumbai are booked and getting a visa takes forever
The Indian Premier League (IPL) fever is at its peak and all eyes are on South Africa. With the hype around the tournament, it comes as no surprise that flights to SA are going packed. And so, getting a return flight has also become a huge problem.u00a0u00a0
|
|
CRICKET CRAZY: With only 11 days to go for the finals to IPL 2, the demand for tickets to South Africa is only rising. REPRESENTATION PIC |
Sensing a rush for tickets to and from SA, South African Airlines has decided to introduce additional flights between Mumbai and Johannesburg between May 18 and 26.
According to travel agents, the additional capacity was to ease the flow of passengers returning to Mumbai. "There is a huge demand for return tickets. So introduction of added capacity became essential," said Reji Philip of Fort-based travel agency Cosmos Agencies, adding that tickets to SA were still available.
But increasing the number of flights does not seem to have solved the problem. Travel agents complained that though a number of flights were being added to the network, the minimum visa issuing time had gone up from three working days to one week. "The backlog needs to be expedited urgently. Just adding capacity (flights) will not help. People have purchased tickets, but are waiting for the visas," said an executive member of the Travel Agents Association of India.
And with only 11 days to go for the finals of IPL 2, the demand for tickets is only rising.u00a0
"South African Airlines had already received inquiries for as many as 2,500 passengers for the IPL even before the tournament began. And with the finals drawing closer, the demand has gone up," said Tauseef Khan, acting head, South East Asia, South African Airlines.
Jet to God's Own Country
In a first for any Indian airline and a state tourism board, Jet Airways and Kerala Tourism announced an alliance to promote tourism in the state. Under the promotion called Jet2Kerala, 20 seats on every Jet Airways, JetLite and Jet Airways Konnect flight to Kerala will now be reserved for tourists flying to the southern state.u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0
According to Sudheer Raghavan, chief commercial officer, Jet Airways, "After launching schemes like offering one free ticket on the purchase of another, we have now decided to tie-up with states to boost tourism."u00a0
Dr Venu V, secretary (tourism), Kerala, added, "Kerala has been positioned as an upmarket international destination. Despite the challenges posed by the global economic downturn, international tourist arrivals continue to be impressive, with a 16.11 per cent increase in visitors in 2008."u00a0
