Vistara may tap Singapore Airlines’ reach to fly abroad
Vistara, the full-service Indian airline, could tap into the global expertise of one of its founders, Singapore Airlines Ltd, as it gears up to start international flights from the end of this year.
A joint venture between Tata Sons Ltd which controls India’s diversified Tata group, and Singapore Airlines, Vistara may collaborate in areas such as revenue sharing, frequent flyer programmes, lounge facilities and codesharing of flights, David Lim, Singapore Airlines’ general manager for India, said.
Vistara plans to launch its international services with short-haul regional flights using its fleet of Airbus A320 jetliners. The airline is expected to leverage Singapore Airlines’ extensive network in South-East Asia although Vistara executives have maintained that it won’t be a feeder for the Singapore carrier.
“There could be partnerships between Vistara and Singapore airlines, that will benefit both airlines in time to come,” Lim said in an interview on Tuesday. “This could include revenue sharing on flights, something similar to Jet Airways-Etihad and Jet Airways-Air France model”.
A spokesperson for Vistara said the carrier has an existing codeshare partnership with Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary SilkAir, which can be leveraged to tap into their extensive networks once Vistara starts its overseas flights.
Vistara is expected to follow up the launch of its shorthaul regional international routes (three to five hours long) to longer flights (five to six hours) using Airbus SE’s 320 family of planes followed by a progression into longhaul routes using Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
Last week, Vistara said it will place an order for 19 planes worth $3.1 billion from Airbus and Boeing with options for seven more narrow body planes from Airbus, besides leasing another 37 new A320neo planes. Vistara had also signed a letter of intent with Boeing for six wide-bodied 787-9 Dreamliner planes and purchase rights for four more from the Dreamliner family.