Indigo, the largest player in the domestic aviation space, cannot afford to ignore new entrant Vistara.
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.
Vistara was operating from Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Goa.
Vistara needs to launch more aircraft into service.
Vistara will have to face stiff competition from Jet Airways, AirAsia
Domestic air traffic rose 4.8 per cent on an annual basis to 126.48 lakh in February, while more than 1.55 lakh passengers were affected by flight delays during the same period, according to official data released on Friday. In February, Air India's market share rose to 12.8 per cent from 12.2 per cent while that of IndiGo marginally dipped to 60.1 per cent from 60.2 per cent in January. The domestic air traffic climbed to 126.48 lakh in February compared to 120.69 lakh in the year-ago period, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said.
'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.
The DGCA will probe the incident and the air traffic controller concerned has been derostered, one of the officials told PTI.
The India meteorological department (IMD) on Wednesday evening issued a red alert for Mumbai and its neighbouring districts, predicting "extremely heavy rainfall".
Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.
India's newest airline-Vistara is bullish on growth prospects.
IndiGo has delivered impressive operating performance in the past six quarters as it navigated cost and capacity challenges. It has managed to mitigate the impact of faulty engine-related groundings. The airline has also managed costs related to grounding, expensive secondary leasing, increasing airport charges, and pilot compensation inflation and delivered stronger yields and spreads.
IndiGo will introduce business class seats in select flights on 12 domestic routes starting from November 14 and also launch a customer loyalty programme, as the 18-year-old airline seeks to expand business and strengthen global presence. The announcements, made at an event in the national capital on Monday to mark 18 years of operations, also highlights a pivotal trajectory for the airline.
'There are smaller cities, which are very attractive to fly'.
Though Vistara is not a low-cost carrier, it could benefit from the fact that the difference between the fares of LCCs and economy class of full-service carriers in India is minimal today.
Sources say the arilines has inducted a senior pilot from IndiGo to head its safety team.
At least 15 variations were being evaluated regarding the '5/20 rule'.
'A formula can be reached so that everyone gets a fair share.'
Domestic air traffic rose 20.81 per cent in June on the back of low fares and peak season demand.
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.
Newly launched Vistara has a passenger load factor of 55% in the busy Delhi-Mumbai sector, compared with 80-85% in other airlines.
The Tata-SIA airline Vistara is gearing up to station an indigenously developed robot, RADA, at its signature lounge at Delhi airport's Terminal 3. Powered by AI, the robot is programmed to scan boarding passes, provide information on the terminal, departure gates, real-time flight status and weather conditions of destination city etc. And RADA can also entertain people by playing games and multimedia content, says Sangeeta Tanwar.
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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.
This is the largest single dose of equity infusion into the joint venture since its launch in January 2015.
Tata-SIA joint venture carrier Vistara on Friday announced scaling up of operations and said it plans to operate 164 flights per week.
'Just look at China: They have five or six major airlines and some smaller ones.'
J R D Tata's flight carrying mail between the two cities was the first by an Indian company and it opened the air link to peninsular India.
The Pakistan players were surprised with an in-flight celebration on their journey from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad.
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.
The first set of routes that it will launch internationally will be the routes that can be flown by its existing aircraft, the A320s, which will be routes within three, three-and-a-half hours of India
Vistara's growth and future funding requirement would hinge on how soon the government changes these rules.
Vistara reported a passenger load factor of 45.4 per cent.
The inaugural flight took off in the presence of Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Mahesh Sharma, along with a number of other people.
Airline officials said the operational launch may be held in the later part of October.
Both parties will discuss the issues and there will be a meeting again on May 28, he said.
Zudio was the standout performer as it tapped into the pentup demand in small-town India, at a pace never seen before, notes Indrajit Gupta, co-founder and director, Founding Fuel.
Vistara starts flying in India.
An airline's birth is a result of passion and enterprise, often not without its challenges and ordeals. And, Tata-run airlines are no exception
The airline will launch an additional daily flight on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Delhi-Ahmedabad routes during the period.
Vistara has a three-class configuration with business, premium economy and economy cabins.
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