Singapore Airlines and Vistara to expand network

Singapore Airlines is working on a code share agreement with subsidiary Vistara, to offer its domestic network to India-bound passengers. The agreement would benefit both the Singapore Airlines and its Indian unit to increase their market share.

"We are also trying to see how Vistara and SIA can work together and feed our international traffic in the domestic network," CEO Goh Choon Phong told the Economic Times on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association AGM.

He said: "We have a lot of our flights to India and Delhi and through that we can bring in rest of the world to Delhi and connect destinations that Vistara connects to. We have applied for a code share and are waiting for approvals. Once the approval for code share comes in, you will see much more clarity on this.

Meanwhile, Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture airline company between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines that started operations on January 9. The airline offers 237 weekly frequencies connecting cities such as New Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune.

The domestic carrier has recently added Bengaluru to its network and is all set to introduce two daily flights connecting the city to New Delhi and Mumbai.

The New Delhi-based airline operates six Airbus A320 aircraft. It plans to expand its fleet to 20 aircraft during the first four years. This may change if the government revises the eligibility criteria for Indian carriers to fly overseas.

Currently, Indian carriers have to operate for five years in the domestic sector and have a fleet size of 20 aircraft before they can fly to destinations outside the country.
(Image: Indiatimes)