Vistara launches direct flights on Colombomumbai route
Vistara , an India based fullservice carrier on Monday commenced direct flights between Colombo and Mumbai as the country’s tourism sector has bounced back from Easter Sunday attacks.
Colombo was to become Vistara’s first international destination. However, Easter Sunday deadly attacks and several other factors held Vistara from launching its direct flights on Colombo-mumbai route.
The airline inaugurated its international operations in August 2019 with Singapore as its first destination, followed by Dubai, UAE and Bangkok, Thailand.
“We are very happy to step into another new geography, a nation with enormous potential for tourism as well as trade. To Sri Lanka, we introduce India’s only five-star airline that’s committed to making a mark across the globe with a worldclass product and impeccable service delivery. We are confident that travellers will enjoy the unmatched hospitality when flying the ‘new feeling’ with Vistara,” Vistara, Chief Strategy Officer, Vinod Kannan told reporters in Colombo on Monday.
Vistara in particular is targeting business traffic on Colombo – Mumbai route. Currently, Start-up/ SME owners/young entrepreneurs and corporates form a large part of Vistara’s target customers.
The airline now flies daily (except Wednesdays) between Mumbai and Colombo, making it the first to offer the choice of Premium Economy Class for travel between India and Sri Lanka, in addition to Economy and Business Class.
Kannan revealed that Vistara also plans to commence direct flights between Colombo and New Delhi next year while South Indian cities such as Chennai and Bangalore are also under consideration.
Vistara has appointed North South Lines Pvt. Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary Hayleys PLC, as General Sales Representative in Sri Lanka.
Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), wherein Tata Sons holds 51 percent stake and Singapore Airlines holds remaining 49 percent stake.
Vistara commenced commercial operations on January 9, 2015 with an aim to set new standards in the aviation industry in India.
During the past seven months, the airline has expanded its fleet and network by close to 50 percent each and has flown around 4.5 million passengers. Vistara’s fleet size is set to almost double by the end of the current financial year ending March 2020, when compared to the size at the start of FY19-20.
The airline is poised to induct as many as 56 narrow-body and wide-body aircraft over the next four years, including 50 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family for domestic and international short and medium-haul operations and 6 Boeing B787-9 for long-haul international operations.
Vistara is India’s highest-rated airline on Skytrax and Tripadvisor and the winner of several ‘Best Airline’ awards.