Just this week we told you about GoAir’s international operations, taking off later this year. While the airline plans to connect Mumbai and Phuket with a direct flight, can Delhi be far behind? We also hear that Vistara’s international operations may commence starting October this year, connecting Delhi to Phuket and Colombo.
The airline is in the process of seeking necessary approvals from various authorities and finalizing their international operations plans. There have been no announcements yet about the launch of these routes, but if they indeed plan to start flying internationally by end of October, we could expect the announcement soon.
While there are no direct flights between Delhi and Phuket, Air India and SriLankan Airlines have been flying to Colombo from Delhi for quite some time now. Now with Vistara entering the fray, it would be interesting to see how the other two airlines react to this development, especially on the pricing front.
Vistara’s management has always been clear about their intentions of the airline becoming a global airline. And while the A320neos should help them fly on shorter routes, they are already in the process of picking up Boeing 787-9s for their medium-to-long-haul operations.
I personally am a fan of Vistara’s service, both on the ground and onboard (The Starbucks coffee served in the premium economy being of the highlights). While I don’t get to fly Vistara as often as I’d like to, I am looking forward to seeing what they have in store for passengers flying abroad.
Bottomline
Vistara’s foray into international markets is great news for Indian flyers. The airline has already proved to be a force to reckon with when it comes to passenger experience on the domestic front, and we hope that they keep up with their high standards on their international routes too.
Would you pick Vistara over other airlines to fly internationally? Tell us why.
This strategy of expanding internationally, while not connecting important city pairs, especially out of BOM appears to be self defeating.
While Delhi is a large business and tourist hub, BOM is an queally large business hub.
Is it slot constraints, or part of their strategy?
I for one would rather fly 9W out of BOM with a non stop, rather than layover in DEL.
Well let’s just say all things being equal (schedule, FFP network, frequency) I would unequivocally be on a Vistara 320 then a Jet 737 or Air India 320. I would even pay a small fare difference if I had to. However, I would always prefer a carrier operating a wide body aircraft with a similar schedule of course only until Vistara has their on dreamliners.
Am sure this would be a no-brainer for anyone so the question I would like to open up is how much of an upcharge would you be willing to pay for the Vistara premium economy product on a Delhi Singapore leg?
My figure would be INR 7000 for a return trip over the economy fare considering the priority check-in, baggage allowance, extra legroom and yes the slightly enhanced catering (they should differentiate more considering there is more scope to do so on an international leg).
Virgin Atlantic has a virtually identical product that is sold as an add on to economy fares called Economy delight (different from premium economy which is a separate cabin class altogether) that typically goes for a 12000-15000 upcharge over a return economy fare to London.