Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

VISTARA ARRIVES IN SRI LANKA

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Vistara - India's finest full-service carrier and a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines - today inaugurate­d service to Colombo, Sri Lanka. 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.

Passengers on Vistara's inaugural flight from Mumbai were welcomed in Colombo with garlands and Sri Lankan sweets, as a special troupe performed the traditiona­l Kandyan dance in celebratio­n.

Vistara's chief guests for the occasion, Dr. Sushil Kumar, First Secretary – Economic & Commerce, High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, Mr. Rayhan Wanniappa, Director - Air Transport and Economic Regulation, Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka and Mr. Ruwan Waidyaratn­e, Executive Director, Hayleys PLC, graced the occasion.

Vinod Kannan, Chief Strategy Officer, Vistara, said: “We are very happy to step into another new geography with flights to Sri Lanka, 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 has appointed North South Lines Pvt. Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of the iconic Sri Lankan conglomera­te, Hayleys PLC, as its representa­tion company in Sri Lanka. The airline inaugurate­d its internatio­nal operations in August 2019 with Singapore as its first destinatio­n, followed by Dubai, UAE and Bangkok, Thailand.

In the last seven months, the airline has expanded its fleet and network by close to 50% 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.

Vistara is India's highestrat­ed airline on Skytrax and Tripadviso­r and the winner of several ‘Best Airline' awards. It has consistent­ly raised the bar for operations and service delivery in the Indian aviation industry in a short span of time to be known today as India's only five-star airline (per 2020 APEX OFFICIAL AIRLINE RATINGS™).

The airline now flies between Mumbai and Colombo

 ??  ?? Vistara Chief Strategy Officer Vinod Kannan and Hayleys PLC Chairman and Chief Executive Mohan Pandithage, flanked by Vistara Cabin Crew members Rahul Mahajan and Tricia Das.
Vistara Chief Strategy Officer Vinod Kannan and Hayleys PLC Chairman and Chief Executive Mohan Pandithage, flanked by Vistara Cabin Crew members Rahul Mahajan and Tricia Das.

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