The central government on Monday permitted airlines operating in India to provide in-flight wi-fi services to passengers, according to an official notification.
Phee Teik Yeoh, who has returned to the SIA HQ in Singapore worked hard to make Vistara the airline of choice. New CEO Leslie Thng would have the job of cutting losses while going international.
'A growing segment wants to fly Vistara but may not be really ready to pay for certain products that come with a full-service carrier. That is a large segment and we can't ignore it,' says CEO Leslie Thng.
Currently, Vistara has more than 22 planes and operates around 850 flights every week.
Airlines sought a limited period concession of the standing rule of slot allocation, which mandates that firms must operate at least 80 per cent of their allocated slots.
Aircraft lease rentals are fixed costs and account for around 15 per cent of an airline's expense and since these are paid in dollars are also subject to currency fluctuations.
'I am seven months into the job, but it feels like seven years.'
This is the largest single dose of equity infusion into the joint venture since its launch in January 2015.
Approval was held up due to CBI investigation into international flying permit of Tata group-owned AirAsia India.
However, while the capacity void in the domestic market has been filled, a vacuum still remains in international connectivity, especially on the India-Europe and onwards route, which was well connected by Jet Airways via the Boeing 777, Airbus A330 aircraft and its hubs in Paris and Amsterdam.
The Delhi-based airline currently has 13 Airbus A320 aircraft in the fleet and it plans to take another seven (A320 Neo) planes by June 2018.
An unprecedented decision to form a ministerial-level committee was driven by fears of witch-hunt by investigating agencies.
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