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By Author
Published on October 9, 2023
Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), India's largest hospitality company, has joined forces with Head Held High (HHH), a leading non-profit organization dedicated to youth transformation and empowerment in rural India. This partnership aims to establish skill centers that will provide training to rural youth, enhancing their employability in various industries, including hospitality.
Gaurav Pokhariyal, Executive Vice President of Human Resources at IHCL, expressed the company's commitment to social progress and inclusive growth. He highlighted IHCL's goal to set up skill centers in select locations across India to train youth for employment opportunities.
These skill centers will serve as empowerment hubs, offering tailored training modules designed to bridge the gap between rural youth and the professional job market. The focus is on equipping participants with the skills needed to confidently enter the workforce.
Pankaj Singh Thakur, CEO of Head Held High Foundation, emphasized that this partnership will address the unique challenges faced by rural youth, empowering them to unlock their full potential and seize opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Head Held High Foundation has a track record of reducing inequality by providing support in various areas, including skills-based training, livelihood support, career guidance, and counseling. This collaboration with IHCL promises to make significant strides in connecting rural communities with the professional world.
IHCL, known as the custodian of Indian hospitality, continues to invest in building industry-relevant talent pools under its Paathya framework. This initiative aims to develop and support deserving youth and their families while contributing to the overall growth of the industry.
Through this partnership, IHCL and Head Held High Foundation are taking a meaningful step towards empowering rural youth, fostering economic growth, and promoting inclusive development in India.
About Head Held High (HHH) Foundation
HHH is a non-governmental organization dedicated to empowering youth through foundational life and work skills training, education access, and employment opportunities. The foundation aims to catalyze economic opportunity and build resilience in vulnerable communities by addressing poverty-related challenges.
About The Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL)
IHCL and its subsidiaries comprise a group of brands and businesses offering warm Indian hospitality and world-class service. The portfolio includes Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta, and Ginger hotels. Founded by Jamsetji Tata, IHCL opened its first hotel, The Taj Mahal Palace, in Bombay in 1903. With a portfolio of 271 hotels globally, IHCL is India's largest hospitality company.
This partnership between IHCL and Head Held High Foundation reflects their shared commitment to fostering positive change and empowerment in rural India, one skill at a time.
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By Hariharan U
Published on October 22, 2025
SpiceJet has announced a major expansion of its domestic network ahead of Chhath Puja and Diwali, strengthening connectivity to Bihar with new and additional flights to Patna and Darbhanga.
The airline has introduced new flights to Patna from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, along with increased frequencies from Delhi and Mumbai. In addition, Darbhanga has gained extra services from Delhi and Mumbai, further improving accessibility for travellers heading home during the festive season.
These routes build upon SpiceJet’s existing operations to Patna from Delhi, Mumbai, and Guwahati, and to Darbhanga from Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Delhi. The new flights commenced in a phased rollout from October 10, 2025, ensuring greater travel flexibility and convenience for passengers amid the festive rush.
Earlier this month, SpiceJet also introduced special daily non-stop Diwali flights to Ayodhya from Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad, enabling devotees and tourists easier access to the Shri Ram Temple during the celebrations.
Commenting on the development, Debojo Maharshi, Chief Business Officer, SpiceJet, said, “The festive season holds immense significance for millions of our passengers, and we are delighted to make travel home for Chhath Puja and Diwali more convenient and accessible. With enhanced connectivity to Patna, Darbhanga, and Ayodhya, SpiceJet continues to play a key role in bringing people closer to their loved ones for celebrations that matter most.”
The expansion underscores SpiceJet’s commitment to meeting evolving travel demand, particularly during high-traffic festive periods, by offering affordable, direct, and seamless connectivity across India’s key regional hubs.
By Manu Vardhan Kannan
Published on October 20, 2025
IndiGo and Digi Yatra have announced a new app-to-app integration that allows IndiGo flyers to share boarding passes directly with the Digi Yatra app. The collaboration enhances contactless, biometric-enabled travel while ensuring user consent, data privacy, and faster passenger processing at airports.
IndiGo, India’s leading airline, has partnered with Digi Yatra, the Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI)-based ecosystem that uses facial biometric technology for contactless passenger processing, to enable this direct integration between their mobile applications. The initiative eliminates the need for passengers to manually scan or upload boarding passes on the Digi Yatra app.
After completing web check-in, IndiGo flyers can now simply click “Share with Digi Yatra” within the IndiGo app to securely transfer their boarding pass. This process ensures that passenger consent is obtained at every step and that only essential data is shared with authorised Digi Yatra verifiers at airports.
Designed with privacy by design principles, the transaction occurs entirely offline through deep linking between the two apps, without involving any cloud or server processing. This ensures data integrity, authenticity, and enhanced security while improving convenience for travellers.
Commenting on the development, Suresh Khadakbhavi, CEO of Digi Yatra Foundation, said,
“Our mission is to transform air travel into a seamless, secure, and paperless experience for every passenger. This collaboration with IndiGo marks a significant milestone in that journey. By integrating our technology directly with IndiGo’s app, we are enabling travellers to enjoy faster check-ins, smoother boarding, and enhanced convenience. As more airlines and airports embrace our ecosystem, we will continue to innovate and support India’s vision for digital transformation in travel.”
Neetan Chopra, Chief Information and Digital Officer, IndiGo, added,
“Every year, we fly millions of customers who trust us for our promise of safe, on-time, and hassle-free travel. This partnership with Digi Yatra takes our commitment to customer convenience a step further by enabling a smooth, contactless boarding journey. We are thrilled to be among the first airlines to adopt this technology and remain focused on leveraging innovation to make air travel simpler, faster, and more enjoyable.”
This collaboration underscores the aviation industry’s shared commitment to digital innovation and highlights growing confidence in Digi Yatra’s secure, paperless travel ecosystem as India moves closer to a fully digital airport experience.
Published on October 14, 2025
Etihad Airways is focusing on premium travel and customer segmentation to boost its business in India, one of its top three global markets, while operating at full capacity under a bilateral seat agreement with the country.
The Abu Dhabi-based airline has been upgrading its services with new aircraft and enhanced cabin experiences to attract high-value travellers. Since relaunching flights to Kolkata in March 2023, Etihad increased its weekly frequency from four to eight flights by 2025. Across India, the airline now operates 185 flights a week to 11 cities.
“We fly all the seats that the bilateral agreement allows us,” said Javier Alija, Etihad Airways Vice President for Global Sales and Distribution. The agreement caps 50,000 weekly seats for Abu Dhabi-based carriers, shared between Etihad and Air Arabia Abu Dhabi. Until the agreement changes, the airline cannot add more frequencies or destinations.
To overcome these capacity constraints, Etihad is building partnerships, including a tie-up with Akasa Air, connecting four Indian cities to Abu Dhabi. The airline is also enhancing the passenger experience for long-haul travellers, especially to the US, with Abu Dhabi’s new terminal and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pre-clearance. This allows passengers to arrive in the US as domestic travellers, saving time at immigration.
Kolkata is the first Indian city to receive Etihad’s new A321 LR aircraft, featuring a redesigned cabin with just 160 seats, two first-class suites, 14 business, and 144 economy seats, offering a widebody-like experience in a narrow-body aircraft. “This reflects Kolkata’s strong premium travel potential,” Alija said.
Etihad’s focus on yield optimisation and operational efficiency has helped the airline achieve record financial results. For the current year, it expects 21–22% growth in seat capacity, 22–23% increase in revenue, and a 30% rise in absolute profit, supported by expansions in other markets. The airline plans to launch 13 new international routes by year-end, aiming to serve nearly 90 destinations worldwide.
Alija added, “Even if our frequencies and destinations remain static, these customer-focused and operational efforts ensure Etihad continues to be the preferred airline for Indian travellers. We are very conscious that our rapid growth should not compromise the financial gains we have achieved.”
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