A look at security measures at Pune airport, railway station, Swargate bus depot amid India-Pakistan tension
The Indian Express takes a look at the heightened security arrangements at the three main entry and exit points in the city-the Pune Airport, Pune Railway Station, and Swargate bus station.
Pune Airport
The Pune airport had announced additional security measures in light of the tensions at the border.
On Friday, it said that 100 percent Secondary Ladder Point Checking (SLPC) has been made compulsory for all flights.
Among other measures, random baggage checks were conducted on passengers before entering the terminal, and an increased percentage of Explosive Trace Detection (ETD) checks for consignments was also being carried out.
'We were expecting intense checks and long queues. So we reached well before the usual reporting time. But surprisingly, everything moved quickly,' said Asit Sonavare, a cybersecurity professional, who had come to accompany a friend flying to Bangalore.
'My friend went through security and check-in without delays. There were even rumours that Digi Yatra services were suspended due to the situation. But that turned out to be false. The system was working perfectly. I think the bigger problem right now is the volume of unverified information being circulated. The ground reality is far more stable than what's being portrayed online,' he added.
Amruta Doshi, who had come from Nanded to see off her sister and her family flying to Germany, said they had come to the airport quite apprehensive about whether international travel would be permitted.
'Honestly, we were very anxious when we left home this morning. With everything we've been seeing on the news, it felt like we were stepping into a zone of uncertainty. But when we reached the airport, we were surprised by how normal everything was. There's security in place, yes, but it's organised, and it doesn't feel panicked. As family members, we're still a little scared, but there's nothing to worry about,' she said.
Pune railway station
The railway authorities at Pune station focused on strictly enforcing existing safety protocols as part of a precautionary approach during the heightened alert period.
'We already have safety measures in place. Right now, we're just making sure they are followed more strictly. There's nothing new being added,' said Ravindra P Dhumal, Station Operations Manager.
Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel are stationed across platforms, entry points, and near trains.
Baggage screening is being enforced more rigorously, with passengers required to scan their luggage through X-Ray scanners before entering the station across all entry points.
Those who attempt to bypass the scanners are being stopped by security personnel, who ask them to return and complete the necessary screening.
Metal detectors are also being used at various points within the station for added security.
Access control has also been tightened, and ticket checks are being carried out regularly.
Status quo continues regarding the restriction on the sale of platform tickets at the railway station as a safety measure to limit the presence of non-travellers on platforms.
The sale of platform tickets was suspended last year to reduce crowding.
Swargate bus station
Security guards were present at the entrance and inside the Swargate State Transport bus stand.
However, these security measures were put in place after the brutal rape of a Pune woman inside a parked Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus inside the sprawling bus station in February.
A security official deployed at the spot said that no additional measures were added in the aftermath of the tensions between India and Pakistan.
'A police van is present at Swargate round the clock, and senior police officers do continuous night patrols here,' he said.
Soham is a Correspondent with the Indian Express in Pune.
A journalism graduate, he was a fact-checker before joining the Express. Soham currently covers education and is also interested in civic issues, health, human rights, and politics. ... Read More
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Economic Times
17 hours ago
- Economic Times
IHCL guidance has been around 35% and we will achieve that for the year despite big disruptions: Puneet Chhatwal
Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL)'s MD & CEO, Puneet Chhatwal, highlights the strength of the Taj brand, recognized as India's strongest, driving a RevPAR premium exceeding 50% in various markets. Despite challenges like airport shutdowns, the brand's resilience, effective asset management, and successful renovations contribute to premium pricing. New business growth is robust, projected to reach 35% for the year with high margins. It has been another great quarter and despite all the flight disruptions, geopolitical tensions, you have managed to post an 11% year-on-year RevPAR growth. Tell me, what is the secret sauce? How resilient is your domestic business? Puneet Chhatwal: There is nothing like a secret sauce out there. It is what we have been communicating, what we have been doing. We have a very strong brand which is rated as India's strongest brand across sectors. Taj is still the backbone of the company. It tends to command a premium. Our RevPAR premium to the market that we have achieved is north of 50% depending on which markets we look at. In many markets, we have completely outperformed and in many we have also suffered when 33 airports shut down during Operation Sindoor. We have a Taj in Jaisalmer and a Taj in Jodhpur, and a Taj in Amritsar and in Srinagar, and so we had our share of challenges. But generally, a strong brand and a strong promise helps you sail through. Our efforts on asset management are paying off well. Our renovations are paying off well, helping us drive premium. And our new business growth as you might have seen is at 27%. Our guidance has been around 35% and we will achieve 35% for the year and there's a very high margin on new businesses. Are the aberrations because of Operation Sindoor, well behind us now? Puneet Chhatwal: Yes. When Operation Sindoor ended, suddenly there was the Iran and Israel conflict. 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Puneet Chhatwal: As we have consistently communicated, it is about finding the right balance or the sweet spot between capital heavy and capital light, between growth in brands like Taj and brands like Ginger, having the right formula for growth in our private membership club, the Chambers and new destinations for the Chambers like we will be opening one now in Frankfurt, we are doubling the size in both Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba which is under renovation and it is also happening in London. So, increasing capacity of high margin businesses like private membership club, increasing the speed of growth in businesses like Ginger which are also high margin businesses and smart renovations of assets like we have done at the Taj Mahal Hotel popularly known as Taj Mansingh in Delhi, this is a combination which creates the high margin versus what we used to do 8-10 years ago and that is not changing because the quality of our pipeline of projects both for renovation as well as new construction and the fee-based growth is very-very robust. You have reaffirmed a double-digit revenue growth for FY26. Is there any key geography or brand Taj, Ginger or SeleQtions that you are going to be focusing on or that will drive this growth? Puneet Chhatwal: What has worked very well for us in this quarter is the growth going back to a very normal level, not a high level is San Francisco, the Taj in San Francisco, the Pier, has done very well for us in Q1 and is showing good trend in Q2 also. What's very important is that London is coming back strongly. London was very sluggish for a couple of years because of the elections and all the other things that were happening there and so was San Francisco. These are our company-owned assets and we expect them to do very well in the remaining nine months of this financial year and going forward also. Cape Town has also shown a great turnaround in the last few years and that is how things are working on the international front. And on the domestic front, obviously, Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Goa, Bangaluru continue to perform well, and I see no reason why they would not be doing as well as they have done in the past in the remainder of the year or in the years going forward. Since you touched upon London, I want to talk about that in greater detail because I understand you are investing a sizable 22 million pounds in London alone this year. How are the international markets both in the UK and the US which you just flagged off, contributing to your overall EBITDA if you could give me some colour on that and how do we see their margin profiles evolving going forward? Puneet Chhatwal: In the US, it is not a secret that San Francisco was fine till the city took a dip because of reasons beyond anybody's control in any sector, but now it is coming back to where it used to be and maybe it will take another 12 to 15 months. London has always been a strong performer for us and a very strong contributor. I was there for a day-and-a-half privately this month and I have to say that this month London is doing so well, it is so buzzing, the whole hotel, the property during Wimbledon. During cricket, we had the men's cricket team there, along with the women's cricket team and we had all the Wimbledon celebrations out there. So a lot is happening in London the way it always used to be and it is the most important lodging market in the world, besides New York and Paris and investing in that asset helps us to become a very strong brand that is an icon for us. It has always contributed well and we expect that it will continue to contribute even more than it has ever done in the past both on a percentage basis as well as in absolute terms. I wanted to talk about these 392 hotels and the fact that you are planning to add 504 own rooms across four properties in FY26. What is your road map to achieve the 700 hotel milestone by 2030 that you have talked about and which will continue to be largely asset light for you? Puneet Chhatwal: Yes, absolutely, our guidance for 2030 under 2030 has a 700 hotels portfolio of which, at least 500 will be in operation. Our growth brands will be Ginger, Gateway, Tree of Life and other new businesses which will significantly contribute to the number of rooms and number of dots on the map. We will keep the purity of Taj as an absolute priority and a selective growth of Taj in select international markets. Of our own hotels that we are talking about, two are in Ekta Nagar – a Vivanta and a Ginger, which are slated to open in September and October respectively, followed by the Taj in Frankfurt by the end of January, which means in this financial year or at the beginning of Q4. So, nothing is changing on that front. We had a great year last year in terms of growth. We had 74 signings and 26 openings. We expect to sign at least a hotel a week this year too and open 30 to 36 properties and that will be the trend going forward. 30, 35, 40, or even 50 hotels per year to open because our pipeline is so strong. We are already at 140 plus hotels in our pipeline. TajSATS has seen a solid growth of 21% on an annual basis and you have guided for a 20% growth for the full year as well. How central is the airline catering business to IHCL's diversification strategy and are there plans to scale it up internationally also? Puneet Chhatwal: At the moment, our focus remains India only. We might get opportunistic if something comes along our way in let us say Sri Lanka or Maldives, etc, because it makes sense for us to do it then for TajSATS to do it from Singapore, that is one. The second is that TajSATS is also diversifying into non-aviation business, into institutional catering very strongly. We expect that segment to get to 20% of the total revenue of TajSATS over the next three years. And very importantly, we should not forget that India has ordered more than 1,000 planes amongst various airlines. As they come in, the needs and wants of the flight kitchen business is expected to grow. We are the largest with more than 50% share of all meals served in the sky. We think TajSATS is very well positioned to take advantage of that. Spiritual tourism will be growing in the coming years and it has been a great growth driver for you as well. Are you developing any new products, locations, or experiences to further tap into this emerging segment? Puneet Chhatwal: Well, we are in a B2C business and the needs and wants and preferences of customers are always changing and evolving and that is why it is also a capital intensive and a labour intensive business. Being the largest hospitality ecosystem from India, we have to be at the forefront of any new innovations that come in. Over the last few years, as you are aware, one of our big customers favourite – Homestay came out of nowhere. Today we have a portfolio of 300 Homestays and almost 140 are in operation and another 160 will open in the next few years. Home delivery with Qmin to Qminsation of Ginger – all these are new concepts including Tree of Life. I do not know if anybody would have thought five years ago that we would be having these brands in our portfolio. Continuous evolution is a part of the journey and being at the forefront of the hospitality sector, it is our responsibility to take this to the next level. What is the final message to your long-term shareholders? What should they be expecting? Is the stock fairly priced right now or still undervalued? Puneet Chhatwal: I am not qualified to comment on it but what I can definitely say is that Taj will continue to be the crown jewel not just of Indian Hotels but the crown jewel of India. We will do whatever it takes to secure the next 100 years of Taj and we will put enough power behind our new businesses and scale them up as fast as possible so that they are all standing on their own feet and are recognisable business units contributing well to both the top line as well as EBITDA and the net profitability of the company.
Time of India
17 hours ago
- Time of India
IHCL guidance has been around 35% and we will achieve that for the year despite big disruptions: Puneet Chhatwal
Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL) 's MD & CEO, Puneet Chhatwal , highlights the strength of the Taj brand, recognized as India's strongest, driving a RevPAR premium exceeding 50% in various markets. Despite challenges like airport shutdowns, the brand's resilience, effective asset management, and successful renovations contribute to premium pricing. New business growth is robust, projected to reach 35% for the year with high margins. It has been another great quarter and despite all the flight disruptions, geopolitical tensions, you have managed to post an 11% year-on-year RevPAR growth. Tell me, what is the secret sauce? How resilient is your domestic business? Puneet Chhatwal: There is nothing like a secret sauce out there. It is what we have been communicating, what we have been doing. We have a very strong brand which is rated as India's strongest brand across sectors. Taj is still the backbone of the company. It tends to command a premium. Our RevPAR premium to the market that we have achieved is north of 50% depending on which markets we look at. In many markets, we have completely outperformed and in many we have also suffered when 33 airports shut down during Operation Sindoor. We have a Taj in Jaisalmer and a Taj in Jodhpur, and a Taj in Amritsar and in Srinagar, and so we had our share of challenges. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Design Thinking others healthcare Digital Marketing Cybersecurity Project Management Product Management PGDM Leadership Management MCA Artificial Intelligence Data Science Degree MBA Technology Healthcare CXO Data Analytics Others Public Policy Finance Data Science Operations Management Skills you'll gain: Duration: 22 Weeks IIM Indore CERT-IIMI DTAI Async India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 25 Weeks IIM Kozhikode CERT-IIMK PCP DTIM Async India Starts on undefined Get Details by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 20 Things Women Should NEVER Wear! Undo But generally, a strong brand and a strong promise helps you sail through. Our efforts on asset management are paying off well. Our renovations are paying off well, helping us drive premium. And our new business growth as you might have seen is at 27%. Our guidance has been around 35% and we will achieve 35% for the year and there's a very high margin on new businesses. Are the aberrations because of Operation Sindoor, well behind us now? Puneet Chhatwal: Yes. When Operation Sindoor ended, suddenly there was the Iran and Israel conflict. It does have an impact on the foreign tourists of business people from outside of India coming in. There is a certain drop. Then, there were air disruptions because of the unfortunate accident (Air India crash). But generally speaking, everything is behind us and our guidance stands at a double-digit growth on a very high base for the year and it is driven 70% by the market and 30% by strong openings that will follow for us from September till March. We expect to open at least 20 to 25 hotels in this period, and a total of 30 to 36 for the full year. I was just looking at your EBITDA margins and they remain steady despite a change in your payroll cycle. What are the cost control or productivity initiatives you are prioritising right now in order to maintain or even expand margins going forward. Puneet Chhatwal: As we have consistently communicated, it is about finding the right balance or the sweet spot between capital heavy and capital light, between growth in brands like Taj and brands like Ginger, having the right formula for growth in our private membership club, the Chambers and new destinations for the Chambers like we will be opening one now in Frankfurt, we are doubling the size in both Taj Mahal Palace in Colaba which is under renovation and it is also happening in London. Live Events So, increasing capacity of high margin businesses like private membership club, increasing the speed of growth in businesses like Ginger which are also high margin businesses and smart renovations of assets like we have done at the Taj Mahal Hotel popularly known as Taj Mansingh in Delhi, this is a combination which creates the high margin versus what we used to do 8-10 years ago and that is not changing because the quality of our pipeline of projects both for renovation as well as new construction and the fee-based growth is very-very robust. You have reaffirmed a double-digit revenue growth for FY26. Is there any key geography or brand Taj, Ginger or SeleQtions that you are going to be focusing on or that will drive this growth? Puneet Chhatwal: What has worked very well for us in this quarter is the growth going back to a very normal level, not a high level is San Francisco, the Taj in San Francisco, the Pier, has done very well for us in Q1 and is showing good trend in Q2 also. What's very important is that London is coming back strongly. London was very sluggish for a couple of years because of the elections and all the other things that were happening there and so was San Francisco. These are our company-owned assets and we expect them to do very well in the remaining nine months of this financial year and going forward also. Cape Town has also shown a great turnaround in the last few years and that is how things are working on the international front. And on the domestic front, obviously, Delhi, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Goa, Bangaluru continue to perform well, and I see no reason why they would not be doing as well as they have done in the past in the remainder of the year or in the years going forward. Since you touched upon London, I want to talk about that in greater detail because I understand you are investing a sizable 22 million pounds in London alone this year. How are the international markets both in the UK and the US which you just flagged off, contributing to your overall EBITDA if you could give me some colour on that and how do we see their margin profiles evolving going forward? Puneet Chhatwal : In the US, it is not a secret that San Francisco was fine till the city took a dip because of reasons beyond anybody's control in any sector, but now it is coming back to where it used to be and maybe it will take another 12 to 15 months. London has always been a strong performer for us and a very strong contributor. I was there for a day-and-a-half privately this month and I have to say that this month London is doing so well, it is so buzzing, the whole hotel, the property during Wimbledon. During cricket, we had the men's cricket team there, along with the women's cricket team and we had all the Wimbledon celebrations out there. So a lot is happening in London the way it always used to be and it is the most important lodging market in the world, besides New York and Paris and investing in that asset helps us to become a very strong brand that is an icon for us. It has always contributed well and we expect that it will continue to contribute even more than it has ever done in the past both on a percentage basis as well as in absolute terms. I wanted to talk about these 392 hotels and the fact that you are planning to add 504 own rooms across four properties in FY26. What is your road map to achieve the 700 hotel milestone by 2030 that you have talked about and which will continue to be largely asset light for you? Puneet Chhatwal: Yes, absolutely, our guidance for 2030 under 2030 has a 700 hotels portfolio of which, at least 500 will be in operation. Our growth brands will be Ginger, Gateway, Tree of Life and other new businesses which will significantly contribute to the number of rooms and number of dots on the map. We will keep the purity of Taj as an absolute priority and a selective growth of Taj in select international markets. Of our own hotels that we are talking about, two are in Ekta Nagar – a Vivanta and a Ginger, which are slated to open in September and October respectively, followed by the Taj in Frankfurt by the end of January, which means in this financial year or at the beginning of Q4. So, nothing is changing on that front. We had a great year last year in terms of growth. We had 74 signings and 26 openings. We expect to sign at least a hotel a week this year too and open 30 to 36 properties and that will be the trend going forward. 30, 35, 40, or even 50 hotels per year to open because our pipeline is so strong. We are already at 140 plus hotels in our pipeline. TajSATS has seen a solid growth of 21% on an annual basis and you have guided for a 20% growth for the full year as well. How central is the airline catering business to IHCL's diversification strategy and are there plans to scale it up internationally also? Puneet Chhatwal: At the moment, our focus remains India only. We might get opportunistic if something comes along our way in let us say Sri Lanka or Maldives, etc, because it makes sense for us to do it then for TajSATS to do it from Singapore, that is one. The second is that TajSATS is also diversifying into non-aviation business, into institutional catering very strongly. We expect that segment to get to 20% of the total revenue of TajSATS over the next three years. And very importantly, we should not forget that India has ordered more than 1,000 planes amongst various airlines. As they come in, the needs and wants of the flight kitchen business is expected to grow. We are the largest with more than 50% share of all meals served in the sky. We think TajSATS is very well positioned to take advantage of that. Spiritual tourism will be growing in the coming years and it has been a great growth driver for you as well. Are you developing any new products, locations, or experiences to further tap into this emerging segment? Puneet Chhatwal: Well, we are in a B2C business and the needs and wants and preferences of customers are always changing and evolving and that is why it is also a capital intensive and a labour intensive business. Being the largest hospitality ecosystem from India, we have to be at the forefront of any new innovations that come in. Over the last few years, as you are aware, one of our big customers favourite – Homestay came out of nowhere. Today we have a portfolio of 300 Homestays and almost 140 are in operation and another 160 will open in the next few years. Home delivery with Qmin to Qminsation of Ginger – all these are new concepts including Tree of Life. I do not know if anybody would have thought five years ago that we would be having these brands in our portfolio. Continuous evolution is a part of the journey and being at the forefront of the hospitality sector, it is our responsibility to take this to the next level. What is the final message to your long-term shareholders? What should they be expecting? Is the stock fairly priced right now or still undervalued? Puneet Chhatwal: I am not qualified to comment on it but what I can definitely say is that Taj will continue to be the crown jewel not just of Indian Hotels but the crown jewel of India. We will do whatever it takes to secure the next 100 years of Taj and we will put enough power behind our new businesses and scale them up as fast as possible so that they are all standing on their own feet and are recognisable business units contributing well to both the top line as well as EBITDA and the net profitability of the company.
News18
2 days ago
- News18
Phuket-Bound Air India Express Flight Returns To Hyderabad Shortly After Takeoff
An Air India Express flight from Hyderabad to Phuket returned to Rajiv Gandhi Airport due to a technical issue. Passengers waited without clear communication. A Phuket-bound Air India Express flight from Hyderabad returned to city's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport on Saturday morning shortly after takeoff due to a technical issue. According to flight tracking data from FlightRadar24, Air India Express flight IX110 (Hyderabad-Phuket), operated by a Boeing 737 Max 8 (registration VT-BWA), took off from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at 6:41 am but returned by 6:57 am, with a total airborne time of just 16 minutes, due to a technical issue. The flight was originally scheduled to land in Phuket at 11:45 am. Agitated passengers stormed the social media about the experience, saying they were left waiting inside the aircraft without any clear communication from the airline. Airline Responds While replying to a passenger, Air India Express apologised on X for the disruption and clarified that the delay was caused by a technical glitch. 'We apologise for the inconvenience caused due to the disruption of your flight. Please note that the delay was due to technical reasons, as ensuring our guest's safety remains our top priority. We are working on resolving the issue and are currently awaiting the updated ETD. Our team will keep you informed and provide the necessary assistance regarding the departure time. We sincerely apologise once again and look forward to providing you with a better experience the next time you fly with us," it said in a post on X. Earlier this week, an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Imphal was forced to return mid-air on Thursday morning soon after takeoff following a technical snag. The aircraft underwent mandatory checks before resuming its journey and finally landed in Imphal nearly four and a half hours after its original departure time. In another incident, an IndiGo flight — 6E-6271 — from Delhi to Goa reportedly suffered an engine failure mid-air and was diverted to Mumbai, where it landed safely. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
