Tag Archives: April

Abu Dhabi hotels welcome 2.4mn guests from Jan-May

Abu Dhabi hotels received 2.411 million guests during the first five months of this year, according to recent data.
The data, based on statistics from the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, showed that hotel guests were distributed as follows: 498.7 thousand in January, 507.4 thousand in February, 433.7 thousand in March, 500.08 thousand in April, 471.8 thousand in May.

Hotel revenues rose to AED3.18 billion during the same period, with January contributing AED629.7 million, February AED717.1 million, March AED608 million, April AED660.3 million, and May AED566.5 million.
Abu Dhabi city accounted for the majority of hotel guests, with 2.179 million, while Al Ain attracted around 169,000 guests, and the Al Dhafra region welcomed approximately 64,000 guests.

By the end of May, the number of hotel establishments in Abu Dhabi stood at 169, offering 34,079 rooms. This includes 126 hotels with 28,600 rooms and 43 hotel apartments with 5,476 rooms. (Source: Zawya)

April sees global passenger demand surge 11%: IATA

As per the International Air Transport Association (IATA) data for April 2024, total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), was up 11.0% compared to April 2023. Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 9.6% year-on-year. The April load factor was 82.4% (+1.0ppt compared to April 2023).

International demand rose 15.8% compared to April 2023; capacity was up 14.8% year-on-year and the load factor improved to 82.2% (+0.7ppt on April 2023).

Domestic demand rose 4.0% compared to April 2023; capacity was up 2.1% year-on-year and the load factor was 82.6% (+1.5ppt compared to April 2023).

“Passenger demand has been growing for 36 consecutive months. As we enter the peak northern summer travel season, there is every reason to feel optimistic for a strong summer with airlines offering a wide range of travel options. 97% of passengers asked in our recent survey said they were satisfied with their last flight. Every part of the travel value chain needs to be focused on maintaining that,” said Willie Walsh, Director General, IATA.

The IATA Passenger Survey also revealed 88% agreement that ’air travel makes my life better’. “That’s an important motivation as our members gather for the IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Dubai next week. This strong endorsement of the power of air connectivity to transform lives and boost economies brings with it a challenge that will also be on the minds of all attending. It is critically important that we achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 so that people can continue to rely on all the benefits of air travel,” said Walsh.

Asia-Pacific airlines continue to lead the way, with a 32.1% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 29.3% year-on-year and the load factor rose to 83.7% (+1.7ppt compared to April 2023). Traffic flows from the Middle East and Africa to Asia are notably strong.

April Sees Slight Uptick in Domestic Air Travel Activity

In April 2024, the domestic air travel industry experienced a mixed scenario, transporting 1.32 crore passengers, marking a modest year-on-year increase of 2.4 percent. However, this figure fell slightly short of March’s count of 1.33 crore, hinting at a potential seasonal decline. Remarkably, compared to April 2019’s 1.09 crore passengers, there was a notable resurgence, indicating a significant recovery from pre-pandemic levels.

For the second consecutive month, Akasa Air maintained its position as the most punctual airline, boasting an 89.2 percent on-time performance across four major airports: Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. This achievement places it ahead of established competitors like IndiGo, potentially disrupting the market.

IndiGo maintained its lead with a 60.6 per cent market share, flying 80 lakh passengers in April. Air India followed with 14.2 per cent market share (18.8 lakh passengers). However, Vistara and SpiceJet experienced a decline. Vistara’s strategic 10 per cent capacity reduction (around 25-30 daily flights) to stabilise operations resulted in a drop to 9.2 per cent market share (12.18 lakh passengers). SpiceJet continued its downward trend since February 2022, dipping further to 4.7 per cent market share (6.17 lakh passengers). Akasa Air, despite being a new player, held steady at 4.4 per cent market share (5.8 lakh passengers), indicating a promising foothold.

Occupancy rates across airlines differed. Major carriers such as IndiGo, Air India, Vistara, SpiceJet, and AIX Connect enjoyed a healthy 85-91 per cent passenger load factor, suggesting strong demand on many routes. Akasa Air, however, saw a slight dip to 87.9 per cent, suggesting potential for improvement in filling seats.

Despite the traffic growth, cancellations rose slightly. The overall cancellation rate for airlines reached 0.80 per cent (around 17 basis points higher than March). The regional carrier Flybig had the highest disruption rate at 10 per cent. Vistara faced challenges with a 2.4 per cent cancellation rate due to crew shortage, impacting over 32,000 passengers. Miscellaneous reasons such as crew unavailability contributed most to cancellations (42.3 per cent), followed by technical, weather and commercial factors.

Flight-related issues led to 774 passenger complaints in April. Fortunately, airlines addressed nearly all complaints (99.7 per cent). Flight delays affected around 1.09 lakh passengers, while cancellations impacted over 32,000. (Source The Hindu Business Line)

Louisiana honoured at the Bocuse d’Or Americas 2024

On 12th and 13th June, for the first time in the United States of America, the 2024 Americas selection for the Bocuse d’Or will take place in New Orleans, the largest city of Louisiana. A doubly original selection as it is also the first participation of Venezuela alongside 11 other teams from all over the American continent. The candidates in the running will have to work with traditional Louisianan products for the legendary platter theme in the presence of the Honorary President Emeril Lagasse – recognized for his mastery of New Orleans gastronomy – and Jeffery Hayashi, President of the Jury and Bocuse d’Or Americas 2022. The theme on a plate will be revealed in April!

NEW ORLEANS, MELTING-POT OF FLAVORS

For its first visit to the United States, the Americas selection for the Bocuse d’Or is heading for New Orleans in Louisiana, a region renowned for its rich and varied culinary heritage, perfectly reflecting the diversity of its history and culture. This is borne out by its specialties such as gumbo, a traditional soup inherited from Creole cooking, and po boy, a typical Louisianan sandwich made with seafoods or chicken.

New Orleans is home to an exemplary gastronomic scene: a multitude of local restaurants and chefs are rewarded each year by the James Beard Foundation, with one of the most prestigious culinary awards in the US. This year, the “Best Food Destination in the US” award was also granted to New Orleans by TripAdvisor in the framework of its 2023 Travelers’ Choice Awards.

It is in this land of gastronomy that twelve candidates are going to be competing for one of the five places for the Grand Finale under the gaze of exceptional chefs such as Jeffery Hayashi, President of the Jury and Bocuse d’Or Americas 2022, Gavin Kaysen, President of the Continental Organizing Committee, Emeril Lagasse, Honorary President and one of Louisiana’s leading chefs, not to mention Mathew Peters, the only American to win the Bocuse d’Or, in 2017.

A 100% LOUISIANA PLATTER

The twelve teams will have five and a half hours to complete the Bocuse d’Or’s two iconic tests: the theme on a plate and the platter theme. The last one has just been revealed to the participants and, as for each continental selection, it highlights the host region’s local and emblematic products. The candidates will have to prepare wild boar rack, alligator sausage and grits, served as a dish to share:

̶ The wild boar rack, a strongly flavored red meat, will have to be presented in two equal pieces on the platter, accompanied by two plant-based accompaniments, one must include an ingredient from the candidate’s country of origin, a strong marker of the latter’s culinary heritage.

̶ As a side dish, they will have to propose a reinterpretation of the Cajun and Creole gastronomic culture based on grits (grain).

̶ Lastly, alligator sausage! Alligator meat, which tastes a lot like chicken, is a strong marker of the gastronomic culture of southeastern USA. Louisiana is one of the largest suppliers of alligators, whether it’s for their hide – used for leather goods – or their meat, which Louisianans eat in several forms (fillets, nuggets, hamburgers, etc.).

12 COUNTRIES IN THE RUNNING, 5 TO BE QUALIFIED FOR THE GRAND FINALE

This 2024 selection is marked by the first participation from Venezuela and the second participation of the team from Ecuador who took part in the 2021 Grand Finale. Both of them, as the ten other competing countries, intend to defend their vision of contemporary gastronomy in order to secure one of the five places for the Grand Finale which will be held during Sirha Lyon on 26th and 27th January 2025.

Airlines in India expected to report net loss of INR 5,000-7,000 cr in FY24: ICRA

Indian airlines are expected to see a sharp drop in net losses to INR 5,000-7,000 crore this fiscal as they continue to witness healthy passenger traffic growth and improvement in their revenue, rating agency ICRA said on Thursday.

The net loss would be much lower compared to the INR 11,000-13,000 crore loss the industry is estimated to have reported for 2022-23 due to elevated aviation turbine fuel prices, coupled with depreciation of the rupee against the US dollar, it said.

The airlines have improved the cost of available seat kilometre to the cost of available seat kilometre (RASK-CASK) spread through better pricing discipline, it said.

According to the rating agency, the domestic aviation industry continues to face challenges despite witnessing a healthy recovery in air passenger traffic because of sequential increase in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices and depreciation of the value of rupee against the US Dollar.

It said domestic air passenger traffic rose 26 per cent to around 1.22 crore in July as compared to 97 lakh in the same month last year.

The outlook for the aviation sector is stable, on the back of fast-paced recovery in the previous fiscal and expectations of the trend continuing in 2023-24, ICRA said.

(Last fiscal’s losses) were much lower than the net loss of INR 23,500 crore in 2021-22 and ICRA’s earlier estimated net loss of INR 15,000-17,000 crore for 2022-2023, driven by improved ability of airlines to shore up yields without impacting demand,” it said.

The net loss is expected to reduce further to INR 5,000-7,000 crore in 2023-24 as airlines continue to witness healthy passenger traffic growth and improve their RASK-CASK spread through better pricing discipline, ICRA said.
The trend is expected to continue as the industry regains some pricing discipline, coupled with year-on-year decline in ATF prices since April compared to the last fiscal, ICRA said.

The average ATF prices were at INR 95,906/kilo litre in the first five months of this financial year as against INR 1,21,013/kilo litre in FY23 and Rs 64,715/kilo litre in FY2020, according to ICRA.

Further, some airlines have foreign currency debt, ICRA said, adding that while domestic airlines have a partial natural hedge to the extent of earnings from their international operations, overall, their net payables are in foreign currency.

The airlines’ efforts to ensure fare hikes, proportional to their input cost increases, will be the key to expanding their profitability margins, it said.