Singapore Airlines Ltd's Indian joint venture with the Tata conglomerate, Vistara, will start flying from Jan. 9, the airlines said.
Six months ago, the Tata Group launched a low-cost airline – Air Asia India – in a joint venture with Malaysian airline AirAsia. Rajan says that both brands: AirAsia India and Vistara will operate in different segments and will not compete with each other.
The Vistara will begin operations with a fleet of new Airbus A320-200s with 148 seats, Tata SIA Airlines Ltd said in a statement late on Thursday.
The Vistara will start flights between Mumbai and Ahmedabad initially.
Earlier, sources had said the plan was to start services in five cities and go up to 11 within a year of launch with 87 weekly flights. These would link Delhi with Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Srinagar, Patna and Chandigarh.
Phee Teik Yeoh, the CEO of the start-up full-service airline 'Vistara' also avoided several questions on the pricing strategy of the new carrier, saying the thrust now was to get the new airline "quickly off the ground".
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On the full-service model, he said "full-service is not just serving food in-flight, but there will be a clear strategy based on customer experience and expectations." The company is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and SIA, with Singapore Airlines planning to invest USD 49 million and the Tatas providing the rest of the total USD 100 million investment.
Tata-SIA Airlines Chairman Prasad Menon exuded confidence that Tata-SIA would become "a significant player" in the Indian aviation market by "redefining the way we travel in India. I can confidently say that Tata's and SIA's legendary hospitality standards and service excellence will make 'Vistara' a natural choice for passengers".
The announcement comes in the middle of a particularly testing week for the airlines industry in India, with budget carrier SpiceJet struggling for survival.
The Tata Group and Singapore Airlines announced the idea to takeoff Vistara on Sept. 19, adding a deep-pocketed player to a fast-growing but competitive Indian aviation sector where most operators lose money.
[Source: Reuters]
Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines 'Vistara' set to take off on Jan 9
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