Tag Archives: Vistara

In a bid to drive innovation to offer customer-centric products and service, Vistara has created a robot using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist customers, address their queries and entertain them. Called ‘RADA’, the robot will help the airline in offering a seamless experience and an ‘intuitively thoughtful’ on-ground service to its customers, keeping with the changing consumer behaviour. Initially, RADA will be placed at Vistara’s Signature Lounge at Delhi Airport’s Terminal 3 from July 5, 2018 to assist customers using the lounge before they board their flights. ‘RADA’ will be further developed over a period of time in terms of functionality and features for future use cases, after gauging customer feedback. Currently, the robot can scan boarding passes and further provide information on the terminal, departure gates, weather conditions of destination city, real time flight status as well as information about Vistara’s products and services. RADA can greet customers and interacts with them using basic hand movements, and can move around in the lounge on predefined pathways. Additionally, it can engage with kids and adults alike by playing games and other multimedia content such as songs and videos. Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara said, “Innovation is one of the core values engrained in the DNA of Vistara’s culture, which we have fostered within the organization in many ways. RADA is a manifestation of this endeavour. Vistara has disrupted the market through several innovations with the sole objective of redefining air travel in the country, while making its processes more robust and resources more effective.”

Vistara has become the third Indian carrier to be a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the trade association of more than 280 airlines, which will help it provide a seamless travel experience through an extended global network to travellers to and from India. Vistara, the full-service carrier promoted by Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), recently became eligible to start international operations. Air India and Jet Airways are the two other airlines in India that are IATA members. The IATA membership will enable Vistara to collaborate with other international member airlines for codeshare and interline agreements, and provide a seamless travel experience through an extended global network to travellers to and from India, the airline said in a statement. IATA represents airlines from over 120 countries. It advocates for the interests of airlines across the globe, establishes standards to simplify process and increase passenger convenience, and helps airlines to operate safely, efficiently and economically. “This membership couldnt have come at a better time as we gear up to launch our international operations soon. Vistara has set new benchmarks for air travel in India, and with IATA?s membership we are confident to showcase Vistara’s strengths on a global scale,” Leslie Thng, Vistara chief executive officer said. Conrad Clifford, Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific, IATA, said they were looking forward to working with Vistara in shaping IATA’s priorities for India and the global aviation industry.   Source: PTI

Vistara has announced double daily flights between Kolkata and Chennai, as well as a direct same aircraft service to Kochi via Chennai, starting March 25, 2018. The airline has increased its frequencies between Kolkata and Delhi with the launch of a third daily flight to the national capital. With these additions, Vistara will connect Kolkata directly with Delhi, Chennai, Port Blair (Andamans) and Kochi. Customers from Kolkata can also connect via Delhi to many other domestic and international destinations, including Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar and Lucknow domestically, and multiple cities internationally through Vistara’s 21 international interline partners. Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara, said, “The launch of these new routes and flights from Kolkata reflects the commitment Vistara has to Kolkata, and of the positive response we have received to our flights from the city. Our Kolkata flights have high loads in all classes, and we are truly grateful to our customers for placing their trust in us and making us their airline of choice in such a short span of time.”

Vistara has launched a daily direct service between Delhi and Chennai and is set to double its frequency between the two cities from March 1, offering convenient same-day return options in both directions. Besides, the airline will fly daily direct between Chennai and Port Blair from March 1, and will further expand its operations from the city from March 25 with daily direct flights between Chennai and Kochi and double daily flights between Chennai and Kolkata. Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara said, “Many of our customers had been waiting for us to bring ‘the new feeling of flying’ to Chennai, and we’re pleased to finally inaugurate our service to the city. We may have been late in coming to Chennai, but our aggressive expansion plan from the city truly signals its importance to Vistara. The new Chennai service would offer additional connections through Delhi to many additional destinations including Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Varanasi, Bagdogra, and Guwahati.”

Vistara has announced the addition of Chennai to its expanding network, making it the 22nd destination on the airline’s network. Effective February 15, 2018, Vistara will operate a daily direct flight between Delhi and Chennai, and increase the frequency to twice daily from March 1, 2018. Vistara will also connect Chennai to Port Blair with a daily direct flight between the two cities, effective March 1, 2018. Bookings are now open on all channels, with one-way fares for Delhi – Chennai (economy class) starting Rs. 3,099 all-in, and Rs. 3,699 all-in for Chennai – Port Blair. As Vistara operates from the state-of-the-art Terminal 3 in Delhi, travelers will enjoy a superior experience, and those connecting to and from international flights at Delhi can seamlessly proceed to international transfers for same-terminal connections.

Vistara has introduced ‘Vistara Getaways’ for user-customisable holiday packages covering flights, hotels, cars, and sightseeing options at attractive package prices. Customers can choose holiday packages for as many as 35 cities in and around Vistara’s network of 21 destinations, at getaways.airvistara.com. The packages include air travel options on Vistara, airport transfers as well as car rental options, and sightseeing tours, and hotel stays in partnership with leading hotel chains such as Taj, Hyatt, Radisson, Le Meridien, and upscale boutique hotels. In addition, ‘Vistara Getaways’ allows travellers to personalise their holiday packages by choosing the duration of holidays, their preferred cabin class for air travel, options to upgrade hotels and the category of rooms, and even upgrade the choice of cars for local transportation. Customer can even choose to split their stay in a city in more than one hotel. Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara, said, “Planning the perfect holiday involving air, hotel, car, and sightseeing options can be an arduous and time-consuming task. With Vistara Getaways, the globally experienced discerning travelers of today are assured of having all their holiday needs met via a convenient, online one-stop-shop, and more importantly, with attractive pricing and great flexibility to design their holidays the way they want it, very unlike traditional packaged holidays. The introduction of Vistara Getaways is in line with our promise of providing more options along with a seamless world-class travel experience to our customers.” As part of the launch, Vistara is offering an inaugural discount of flat Rs. 4,000 on the holiday package price for the first 100 customers of Vistara Getaways. The discount is available using the promo code ‘FIRST100’.

Vistara recorded an excellent performance on several key parameters in September 2017, as per the DGCA monthly report. The airline topped on-time performance (OTP) and passenger load factor (PLF) amongst full service carriers, as well as in consistently maintaining the lowest cancellations and customer complaint rates amongst all pan-India carriers while having zero denied boarding. Vistara’s PLF stood at 84.1 per cent and continued to be the highest amongst all full-service carriers in India for the seventh consecutive month. The airline registered a year-on-year growth of 60 per cent in weekly flights from July-September 2017, operating close to 100 daily flights across 19 destinations. Though its fleet in the period increased just 23 per cent, Vistara had flown 1.1m passengers, compared to 0.6m in the same period the previous year, demonstrating 83 per cent growth and resulting in a 12pp increase in its average load factor. The improved performance was driven by higher utilisation of aircraft compared to the same period last year.

Vistara and car rental company Avis India entered a partnership to provide a seamless car rental experience to Vistara customers. Customers booked on any Vistara flight can make their airport transfer, chauffeur-driven or self-driven car reservations at the time of booking a Vistara ticket, using the ‘Enhance My Booking’ option on the airline’s website. Members of Club Vistara (CV) will get to earn 10 CV points on every INR 100 spent on making bookings with Avis, using this option. Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara said, “It is our constant endeavour to offer our customers a seamless and superior travel experience across all touchpoints, whether it is on ground or at 35,000 feet above it. In Avis India, we find a partner that shares our passion for delighting customers with a first-rate travel experience.” Sunil Gupta, Managing Director & CEO of Avis India said, “We are committed to providing a premium and a hassle-free car rental experience to consumers across the country. Our core values of providing a safe, reliable and comfortable transportation solutions resonate with what Vistara stands for in air travel.”

Vistara has completed the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Operational Safety Audit or IOSA, cementing its status as one of the world’s safest airlines. The audit confirms Vistara’s compliance with internationally approved aviation safety standards across multitudinous parameters in operational management and control systems, including corporate organisation and management, flight operations, operational control, cabin operations, aircraft engineering and maintenance, ground handling, cargo operations and operational security. Vistara joined IATA’s IOSA Registry on September 25, 2017. Commenting on the achievement, Phee Teik Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said, “At Vistara, maintaining operational excellence is a business imperative, engrained in our DNA. Safety and security are the most important aspects of it, and so they remain our highest priorities in everything we do. Achieving this milestone in so little time in our journey of less than three years is a testament to our commitment to delivering a safe and seamless flying experience to millions of our customers.” Inclusion of the airline in the list of operators to have completed the IOSA means the recognition of Vistara by the global aviation industry as a safe and secure airline that meets the strictest international requirements. The total accident rate for IOSA carriers between 2011 and 2015 was 3.3 times lower than the rate for non-IOSA operators.

Japan Airlines and Vistara have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pursue commercial operations between India and Japan. This MoU will help the two airlines pursue significant cooperation in the near future, such as codeshare, frequent flyer partnership as well as other operational arrangements, allowing them to leverage each other’s network, expertise and assets, subject to necessary approvals from authorities. Commenting on the same, Tadashi Fujita, Executive Vice President, Japan Airlines (JAL), said, “The strengthened partnership with Vistara represents a significant milestone for the two airlines to provide customers better access to destinations between and in Japan and India, and we believe it will open up commercial opportunities on the two airlines’ networks.” He informed that JAL recorded 75 per cent PLF last year between India and Japan. “Out of the total passengers from India to Japan, 20 per cent are business travellers while 30 per cent are leisure travellers. We are hoping to increase the leisure market from India to Japan, primarily in cities like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka etc.,” said Fujita. Earlier this year, Vistara and Japan Airlines entered an ‘Inter-Airline Through Check-in (IATCI) partnership, enabling customers to enjoy a seamless ‘Through Check-In’ facility, when connecting to or from a Vistara flight in India and more than 50 countries across the globe on Japan Airlines’ network, using a single ticket. Phee Teik Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, added, “Vistara and Japan Airlines share a great deal in common, key among which are the focus on excellence in operations and delivery of exceptional service to customers. We are delighted to enter the next phase of our association with Japan Airlines, and we believe this is only the beginning of …