Vistara took delivery of its twenty-first aircraft back in June last year. It then applied with the Government of India to fly overseas. But the approval was delayed due to a probe regarding AirAsia India. Vistara then went on to take one more aircraft, VT-ATV aka the RetroJet.
Vistara had to utilise one aircraft which was earmarked for international operations to increase capacity on domestic routes. Recently, Vistara introduced several new routes some of which were seasonal due to surplus available capacity.
According to Business Standard, Vistara has been approved to fly international routes. The decision was taken on March 8, 2019, right before the government is getting into the election mode. Vistara will be the fifth Indian carrier to fly overseas.
When the news of Vistara going international surfaced last year, some rumoured international destinations also came to light including Colombo. A lot of their routes have now been already taken over by competitors, such as Phuket. Vistara is planning to launch their international foray with flights to Colombo from its hub in Delhi and has applied for slots as well as bilateral rights for the same.
They would compete with Air India and Sri Lankan Airlines on this route. Both airlines operate 2x daily flights each (one on A321 and another on A320) between Delhi and Colombo. Vistara would have the advantage of offering a Premium Economy cabin on this route.
Delhi-Colombo
Well if I was to go by Sanjiv Kapoor’s word, an announcement is imminent.
We have a plan ready which we can implement once we get the approval.
You can read more into how I tried to crack Vistara’s International plan here.
Are you excited as Vistara goes international? What routes are you looking forward to?
Can they do a DEL-NRT or DEL-HND with their A320neos?
Vistara is actually the 6th Indian airline to fly overseas, as G8 started last year. Update your article.