Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

Airasia probe affecting Vistara’s ambitions

- Rhik Kundu

MUMBAI : Vistara, the joint venture airline of Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), may face the cascading effect of an ongoing probe into Airasia India’s operations.

Vistara, the joint venture airline of Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), may face the cascading effect of an ongoing probe into Airasia India’s operations.

The Central Bureau of Investigat­ion-led probe into Airasia, in which Tata Sons own a 49% stake, may be forcing the government to withhold permission sought by Vistara to fly overseas, two people familiar with the matter said.

Airasia is being investigat­ed by the central agency for allegedly lobbying the government for overseas flight permits and violating rules that prevent foreign airlines from controllin­g an Indian operator.

According to the people cited above, Vistara had applied in June for rights to start internatio­nal flights, after it took the delivery of its 20th aircraft, and was hoping to fly out from October.

The deadline has now been moved to December, Vistara chief executive Leslie Thng said in July.

“With the general elections coming up next year, bureauchou­bey crats may be wary of granting Vistara overseas flight permits in the backdrop of CBI investigat­ing another airline,” one of the two people mentioned above said.

CBI had in May raided the offices of Airasia India and filed a complaint against Tony Fernandes, chief executive of the company’s Malaysian parent. Fernandes has rebutted the charges.

Airlines were earlier required to fly for at least five years on domestic routes, and have a fleet of 20 aircraft before being allowed to fly internatio­nal. Now, they can fly just by having 20 aircraft in its fleet or 20% of total capacity (in term of average number of seats on all departures put together), whichever is higher for domestic operations, according to the new civil aviation policy.

Vistara became eligible to fly internatio­nal in June when it added its 20th plane. The same month, it submitted a list of potential overseas destinatio­ns to the government.

However, the civil aviation ministry is yet to clear Vistara’s proposal. “Once cleared, the Directorat­e General of Civil Aviation will also have to clear the airline to fly internatio­nal. But, the file hasn’t moved from the ministry yet,” one of the two people mentioned above said.

Civil aviation secretary R.N. did not respond to an email. A Vistara spokespers­on said, “We await necessary approvals from the authoritie­s and aim to start our internatio­nal operations by end of this year. Vistara’s expansion plans are on course at present.” A spokespers­on for CBI did not respond to an email.

Vistara, which started operations in 2015, has a fleet of 22 Airbus A320s. The airline, which had listed out a plan to fly to destinatio­ns like Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand and other neighbouri­ng countries, according to reports, may have seen rivals grab some of these routes in recent days.

For instance, Goair recently launched flights on Delhi-phuket route, while Jet Airways will start flights on Pune-singapore route from 1 December.

Yet, Vistara is willing to wait it out to begin its internatio­nal operations, the first person quoted in the story said.

The company, in July, announced its decision to order 19 planes worth $3.1 billion from Airbus SE and Boeing Co. It plans to lease 37 new A320neo planes.

The letter of intent with Airbus includes a firm order for 13 A320neo and A321neo jets, as well as options for seven more aircraft from the A320neo family. Another 37 new A320neofam­ily planes will be added from leasing companies.

 ??  ?? Vistara, which started its operations in 2015, has a fleet of 22 Airbus A320 aircraft.
Vistara, which started its operations in 2015, has a fleet of 22 Airbus A320 aircraft.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from India