Vistara to fly international as early as possible

Though planned in June next year, Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons may start flying international before that.

"We do not rule out going international before the earlier announced time,, Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh told ET.
Pretty young in the market, Vistara has earned popularity and is often deemed as a favourite airline to fly domestic by many frequent air flyers. A competitive pricing and grand hospitality have made that possible.

He added that the international launch plan is at the discussion stage hasn't been approved. "We have approached our airline board with the international plan and we are refining it. The plan is not approved yet and will require funding from promoters,” he said, without sharing additional details.

Vistara, which completes two years of domestic operations on January 9, has maintained that it would like to start flying overseas as early as possible.

In June last year, the government relaxed a 12-year-old rule on Indian airlines flying overseas by scrapping a requirement for them to complete five years of domestic services. It retained the minimum fleet size norm at 20 aircraft.

In a move that possibly signals it is preparing for an international launch, Yeoh said the next aircraft to be inducted will be its first Airbus 320 neo (new engine option) and will come with a changed interior. "Our 14th aircraft that joins in April this year will come with interior changes.

I would not specify the kind of change but it is based on a collection of the data and feedback we got from passengers,” Yeoh said.