Vistara'a launch, the steel plant at Kalinganagar and e-commerce venture are the ones most awaited for
Paving the way for launch of its flights, Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture airline Vistara was on Monday granted flying permit by aviation regulator DGCA, almost nine months after it applied for the licence.
The airline, which is slated to get its first Airbus A-320 soon, had earlier announced plans to start operations in October.
Vistara is likely to offer 148 seats in a three-class configuration in its Airbus A320s, industry sources said.
The Tata group may have to deploy upwards of $1 billion to improve the airline's passenger reservation system, upgrade and refurbish Air India's fleet, primarily the wide-body aircraft which are the mainstay for the airline's international operations, people in the know said. While the group has not yet decided on how it intends to integrate Air India with its existing airlines AirAsia India and Vistara, sources said the first task will be to refinance Air India's existing loans, upgrade its aircraft gradually, and rewrite multiple business contracts with vendors and suppliers. "They will have to do 100 things to stabilise the airline and will have to put in a lot of money," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, confirming that many aircraft are grounded.
R Venkataramanan, the managing trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust who is responsible for all Tata-run trusts, prefers to keep a low profile but has emerged as a power centre in the group - with more clout than many established CEOs, says Dev Chatterjee.
Sources say the arilines has inducted a senior pilot from IndiGo to head its safety team.
Management and leadership changes, in addition to synchronising operations between all its airlines, are showing visible results for Air India. Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) show that there has been a marked improvement in key operational parameters of Air India after the Tata group took complete control of the national airline in January. One of the most dramatic improvements has been noticed in Air India's passenger load factor (PLF) - a crucial metric of capacity utilisation of an airline's fleet that shows how many seats it has been able to fill on every flight.
However, this was subject to conditions like substantial ownership and effective control of the airline being vested in Indian nationals.
'I am seven months into the job, but it feels like seven years.'
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.
According to sources, Vistara was looking at commencing operations on Oct 15 to commemorate J R D Tata's flight from Karachi to Mumbai on the same date in 1932.
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.
Ajit Singh says will seek cabinet nod to scrap 5-year, 20 aircraft rule.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
With respect to the cancelled flights, customers can opt for a full refund or alternative travel dates free of cost.
The city will be the 10th destination for Vistara.
Vistara will operate from its base Delhi and fly to Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Goa, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu and Patna in the first year as per its plan submitted to DGCA while applying for the AOP.
This is the largest single dose of equity infusion into the joint venture since its launch in January 2015.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Manmohan issued notice to Civil Aviation Ministry, DGCA and others and sought their response by October 30.
Apart from Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, the codeshare agreement with Lufthansa will cover Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi and Pune.
.jpg)
Amadeus Altea Suite, a complete passenger service system, is currently used by more than 120 airlines across the world. Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Limited.
Though NOC was issued by the Ministry last week, this was the first formal statement by the AirAsia CEO on microblogging site Twitter.
Vistara starts flying in India.
The first Airbus A-320 aircraft of Tata-SIA joint venture Vistara airline, painted with its logo and livery, landed at the IGI Airport in New Delhi on Wednesday, taking the carrier a step closer to its launch.
Ratan Tata was the first one to realise that Indian companies had become a prisoner to tradition and needed to radically innovate.
Vistara launched first flight from Hyderabad to New Delhi on Sunday.
AirAsia India, which is using the training facilities of its parent airline AirAsia in Malaysia, plans to set up similar facilities in India in the coming years, airline sources said.
Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh discusses the airline's expansion plans and challenges with Alnoor Peermohamed.
Interestingly, the full service carrier's launch coincides with the concluding day of the the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations scheduled to be held in Gujarat's capital city Gandhinagar, near Ahmedabad, from January 7 to January 9.
IndiGo, Jet, SpiceJet and GoAir demand level playing field in aviation policy, say government can't favour only two new airlines.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday allowed a plea to implead DGCA as a party to a PIL seeking quashing of approvals being granted by the Centre to operationalise the $30 million deal between Tata Sons and Malaysia-based AirAsia.
Norms limiting airlines' stake in SPVs managing airports to hurt Tatas.
Vistara has fine-tuned strategies to tap the elite class and Jet Airways may lose out on market share in times to come.
With cash shortage and plans going awry, the AirAsia owner is looking to cash out of the venture he built with Ratan Tata in 2013.
Air India will no longer enjoy a priority in allocation of international traffic rights. This follows its takeover by Tata Sons in January. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has dropped a clause which gave Air India an advantage over other private airlines in the amended rules issued on April 19.
Indian airlines currently are required to have a minimum fleet of five aircraft and five years of operational experience for starting international services.
Bookings are already open, trial flights are being conducted.
Airfares in Indian market are unsustainable, says a senior Boeing official.
Mukund Rajan, who worked closely with Ratan Tata, recalls the unique experience of working with the corporate titan.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances