India’s latest airline, Tata SAI’s Vistara will be launched in October this year.
A joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines — Tata SAI’s Vistara — is set to soar the Indian skies in October 2014.
The full-service airline will be finalizing its network cover over major cities with a clear demand and would include non-metro cities as well.
At present, Vistara is yet to receive its air operator’s permit from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Government of India. The company is expected to have five aircrafts by this year end.
Initially, Vistara would fly to five cities, and within a year it would expand its operations to 11 cities in India.
It’s fleet, as per company plan, will have 20 Airbus A-320s, including seven fuel-efficient A-320 Neos over the next five years.
Tata Sons holds a 51 per cent stake in the airline, while Singapore Airlines owns the rest for $49 million. This is the second tie up for Tata Sons for a budget airline–first one was with Malaysia’s AirAsia in June this year.
In the high cost and low fares aviation environment in India, most airlines are undergoing great losses annually. In this scenario, the Tata’s seem to already have made their insulating move by entering the above two deals.
Photo Credits: Channel News Asia
