As the world starts to open up, one airline with major international aspirations is beginning to feel the heat to an extent. Vistara, which has had aspirations to fly across the globe and create a premium carrier out of India, on the back of a fleet of 787-9 and A321 aircraft for international operations, has been opening up various routes but is struggling to keep some going.

For Vistara, the FAA embargo on Boeing 787 deliveries couldn’t have come at a worse time. The airline has been adding up various routes using the Boeing 787-9 aircraft, of which they only have two right now:

• Delhi – London and v.v. (5x weekly)
• Delhi – Frankfurt and v.v. (2x weekly)
• Delhi – Tokyo and v.v. (1x weekly)
• Delhi – Paris and v.v. (2x weekly)
• Mumbai – London and v.v. (yet to be resumed)

Additionally, Vistara seems to be doing very well on the charter market, with more than one charter operating every week between Chennai and Seoul for the airline using the Boeing 787-9. Not to forget, they are already at an advanced stage of getting a flight launched to the US, with approvals in place and some slots also acquired (via London Gatwick)

While the airline is operating the 787-9s to full capacity, it is clear that the airline could have done with more of those aircraft, which, unfortunately, can’t come to them at this point. They are operating sub-optimally in some markets where two flights a day can’t do much for the airline to establish it as a preferred option for the long haul in these markets.

Hence, something had to give, and it has. Vistara has withdrawn from the Delhi -Tokyo service, for the time being, suspending operations to Tokyo Haneda for over a month now. Vistara launched the flight in July 2021 and operated the flight only till September 2021, with the last flight having operated on September 29, 2021.

Vistara has confirmed that they have suspended the flight on the back of low demand for now. A Vistara spokesperson said,

We’ve temporarily suspended service to Tokyo due to current demand pattern and the ongoing limitations on visitors into Japan, which is being gradually relaxed. Tokyo is an important route for us and we will review this as we have more resources.

Bottomline

A lack of demand and perhaps enough aircraft has caused Vistara to temporarily suspend operations on the Delhi – Tokyo segment, which was launched in July 2021 with just one frequency a week. The airline intends to return to this route as more “resources” (read aircraft?) become available in the future.

What do you make of Vistara’s suspension of Tokyo services?

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