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747-237 · Posted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 2:32 pm Post subject:

Vistara's fourth, VT-TTD, has been delivered today.
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747-237 · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 2:12 pm Post subject:

http://www.livemint.com/Companies/ZR7s7ZrgIbST1JKOhueU0J/Vistara-launches-first-strategic-tieup-with-parent-Singapor.html

Vistara launches first strategic tie-up with Singapore Airlines

Jan 29 2015

In what maybe a sign of things to come, Vistara—the joint venture between Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA)—has announced its first tie-up with the latter.

The partnership will allow frequent fliers on Vistara and SIA to accrue and redeem air miles on each other’s flights.

The accruals will begin from March and redemptions will start in May, Vistara said in a statement on Thursday.

“We are pleased to enter into this strategic partnership with Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer programme, which widens the choice and benefits for Club Vistara members,” chief executive Vistara Phee Teik Yeoh said in the statement.

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747-237 · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 2:23 pm Post subject:

Vistara's fifth, VT-TTE, has been delivered today.
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HAWK21M · Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 4:58 pm Post subject:

Whats the fleet plan for 2015 end.
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747-237 · Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 12:00 pm Post subject:

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/tata-s-vistara-trademark-objected-115021500152_1.html

Tata's Vistara trademark 'objected'

February 15, 2015

Tatas are facing 'objection' in registering 'Vistara' trademark for their aviation joint venture with Singapore Airlines which began operations last month.

Vistara is the brand name for Tata SIA Airlines, where Tata Sons hold 51 per cent stake and the remaining 49 per cent is with Singapore Airlines. It started commercial flight operations as a full service carrier on January 9, while the application for 'Vistara' trademark was filed on June 2, 2014.

After examining the application, Registrar of Trade Marks, Delhi, said it is "liable to be refused".

The status of the application shows "objected" in the latest publicly available update from the Controller General of Patents Design & Trade Marks.

When contacted, a Vistara spokesperson said it would be not be possible to comment on when the 'Vistara' trademark would be registered.

"All trademarks are processed by the Trademark Office as per its prescribed procedures and guideline and information about all applications is publicly available.

"Being a part of standard legal protection this is the responsibility of our trademark agents to follow up with the trade mark office in routine course. As a reason it will not be possible for us to comment on when the trademark is likely to be registered," the spokesperson told PTI.

In its communication to the company on January 12, the Registrar of Trade Marks had said the 'Vistara' trade mark application "is open to objection on relative grounds of refusal under... Of the Act because the same/similar trade mark(s) is/are already on the record of the register for the same or similar goods/services".

Besides, a trade mark shall not be registered "if, because of its identity with an earlier trade mark and similarity of goods or services covered by, the trade mark, or its similarity to an earlier trade mark and the identity or similarity of the goods or services covered by the trade mark.

"Hence, the above application is liable to be refused," the communication said.

The company was also asked to respond within one month of receiving the examination report or seek an hearing. It could not be immediately ascertained what has been the response of TATA SIA Airlines to the communication.

The Registrar's response came after the company, in a communication on January 9, had sought expediting the examination report with regard to the application for 'Vistara' trade mark.
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Aiel · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 927 Location: Bangalore

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

747-237 · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 6:59 am Post subject:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/logistics/bengaluru-may-be-chosen-as-tata-vistar-airport-hub/article6916338.ece

Karnataka invites Vistara to set up hub in Bengaluru

Feb 20

The Karnataka Government has invited Tata-Singapore JV airline, Vistara to set up its hub in Bengaluru and has also promised it would address the issue of high sales tax on ATF. Tata Vistara airline is a joint venture between Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) with Tata Sons holding the majority stake of 51 per cent in the company.

“I had one-to-one meeting with Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara and other company officials, here at Aero India. I have requested them to set up its base here in Bengaluru similar to Air Asia,” Karnataka Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee told BusinessLine.

“I made the proposal to the CEO keeping their expansion in mind and vibrancy of Kempegowda International airport operated by BIAL. The airport has been clocking 9 per cent growth annually for the past couple of years and passenger traffic has touched 7 million,” he added.

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747-237 · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:34 am Post subject:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Vistara-looks-at-overseas-flight/articleshow/46336938.cms

Vistara looks at overseas flight

Feb 23, 2015

Vistara has drawn up ambitious overseas network plans to be ready for the impending change in rules for Indian carriers to fly abroad. Termed "Plan B", the airline is eyeing long-haul flights to the west - US and Europe - when the government abolishes the current rule that a local airline must be five-year old and have a fleet of 20 planes to fly overseas.

Its plans go way beyond flying to just nearby countries where single aisle planes like its fleet of Airbus A-320s or the Boeing 737 can operate to. This is the first time after Air India that an India-registered airline has plans for long-haul international flights during the launch phase of overseas flights. "Almost 70% of India's outbound traffic is west-bound. US will be interesting for us, especially routes like New York and Washington. America has Open Sky with India. Once 5/20 goes and the US Federal Aviation Administration upgrades the Indian directorate general of civil aviation, we will like to go there. Many cities in Europe will also be interesting for us. Indian carriers are underutilizing their flying rights for overseas destinations. Why not open up flying abroad for them (without having restriction like 5/20)?" Giam Ming Toh, Vistara's chief commercial officer, told TOI. He said organizing wide-body aircraft operations required for long-haul flights like those to US or Europe will require 12 to 18 months after being allowed to fly abroad.
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747-237 · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 7:34 am Post subject:

Vistara to beam entertainment content directly on fliers' personal devices

Feb 22, 2015

In a first for Indian carriers, the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines JV Vistara will soon start beaming in flight entertainment (IFE) content directly on the personal electronic devices (PED) of passengers. Vistara does not have in IFE screens in its aircraft while other full service carriers (FSC) -- Air India and Jet -- have seat back screens where flyers can watch programs, play games or listen to music.

"We are introducing wireless inflight IFE systems. India does not allow Wi-Fi on board aircraft in terms of two-way connectivity. But one-way streaming of entertainment content like movies and music is allowed. This will be Wi-Fi one-way connectivity," Phee Teik Yeoh, Vistara CEO, told TOI. Being a FSC, the airline is unlikely to levy a charge on the entertainment programs it will stream on board.

Passengers in Vistara's business class may be given tablets for watching IFE on them. Flyers in premium economy and economy will be able to watch programs and listen to music on their PEDs like tablets or smartphones.

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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Interesting, for two reasons.
1. I did not know about India having rules not allowing in-flight WiFi. AI had possibly tried some experiments with this: I have witnessed this twice, once on an old double-bogey A320 on the IC 849 DEL-PNQ route, and later, on Princess ANI, a Dream)liner.
2. Vistara will need to take its planes out of its fleet to install the devices, since this needs a structural change on the plane (the bulbous carbuncle on the top). They may do this on the planes to come in, put route expansion on hold, and gradually have this on all their fleet.
Cheers, Sumantra.

Nimish · Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:31 pm Post subject:

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

747-237 · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 6:10 am Post subject:

http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/companies/vistaras-otp-stands-at-89-in-1st-month-of-operation_119521.html

Vistara's OTP stands at 89% in 1st month of operation

February 25, 2015

Vistara airline on Wednesday claimed that it surpassed all domestic carriers including budget airline IndiGo in the on-time performance (OTP) in January, with 89.35 per cent of its flight arriving and departing on their scheduled time.

The performance was achieved in a period which was of peak fog and low visibility, it said.

"Vistara's on-time performance in the very first month of its operations stood as high as 89.35 per cent," the airline said today.

"We are glad that starting from our first month of operation and even during the peak fog season we were able to deliver a record OTP," the airline said.

According to the DGCA statistics for January, released last week, while IndiGo had an on-time performance of 73.3 per cent in January, another budget carrier GoAir clocked an over all 65.8 per cent OTP in the reporting month.

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abhijith16 · Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 7:33 am Post subject:

Vistara announce Guwahati/Bagdogra service eff April 2nd.

UK717 DEL1225 - 1440GAU1520 - 1610IXB1655 - 1910DEL 320 D.
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747-237 · Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 7:31 pm Post subject:

http://www.firstpost.com/business/vistara-granted-3-month-exemption-flying-financially-unviable-regions-2133481.html

Vistara granted 3-month exemption from flying to financially unviable regions

Mar 3, 2015

New carrier Vistara has been allowed a three-month exemption from complying with the requirement of operating flights to financially unviable regions like the North East, the government said today.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma said that the Tata-SIA Airline was allowed a deferment of the compliance of route dispersal guidelines for three months from the day of starting its operations.

"The exemption is only a deferment from compliance of the mandatory guidelines for a period of three months and the airline will have to make up for this short fall in compliance within six months after the first quarter.

"No further extension of period would be considered," he added.

Under the route dispersal guidelines, domestic carriers are required to operate flights to financially unviable regions such as the North East.

In response to a question on whether Vistara has so far not covered even the North East region and other important sectors due to a limited number of aircraft, Sharma replied in the affirmative.

According to the Minister, the airline has suggested certain modifications in the existing international 5/20 flying norms and route dispersal guidelines.

At present, only domestic carriers that are in operation for five years and have a fleet of 20 planes are allowed to fly overseas.

Vistara currently has a fleet of five planes.

"The reasons offered by the airline for revision of international flying norms include enhanced connectivity for India and growth in international tourism," Sharma said.
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ameya · Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 8:24 pm Post subject:

I fail to understand why every newspaper says that flying to north east and J&K is financially unviable !
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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

indopaki · Member Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 479 Location: Pakistan

Have other carriers recieved this exemmption when they were new? or is UK being treated different.

drpiru · Member Joined: 07 Feb 2008 Posts: 156 Location: LBA

Any idea why UK is not offering connecting flights?. For e.g, HYD-AMD or BOM-GAU is possible via Delhi as per their schedule. But they don't offer it. As FSC, they are suppose to do that..aren't they?

mayankarora1411 · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2013 Posts: 35

Hi guys!

I have joined the Planning Team of Vistara as an intern since the 16th of Feb. I have signed an NDA which does not allow me to disclose anything that has not been released to public. However, I can take your ideas and suggestions forward to the team. Feel free to post here.

justbala · Member Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1898 Location: Bangalore

All the best Mayank!! Smile

sshank · Member Joined: 16 May 2007 Posts: 377 Location: NYC

747-237 · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 6:01 am Post subject:

Vistara's next, the future VT-TTG is ready.

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Nimish · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 3:06 pm Post subject:

Caliguy · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 7:00 pm Post subject:

Agreed they need to be aggressive with their FF program and providing upgrades at the gate when space available Y to Y+ and Y+ to J for top elites. Either you compete on price or perks. Sort of amazes me how Indian aviation has not sent he value of FF programs for corp travelers. Also offer a 30 day in advance with Sat stay discount J. Get the rich to sample your product. In the states J seats at off peak times for say NY-Miami can be just $200 more than coach and people will pay (then start to get hooked). And as said before you can always ROLL THEM back when you are doing really well see the US airlines again for that. Finally don't partner with the ME3. Their networks basically will negate your network out of India when you can fly international. And partner with a US airline. For instance DL has no one in India right now. I fly GOL in Brazil only because of Delta. at least US origin customers tend to follow the miles...

mayankarora1411 · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2013 Posts: 35

Something innovative coming soon on the FFP front. Wait for it!

Lets see if I can convert it, I'm just 21, youngest in the Corporate Office.

jbalonso777 · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 9:22 pm Post subject:

Congratulations, Mayank!

Awesome to know! And I wish you the very best!
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mayankarora1411 · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2013 Posts: 35

Thank you! Very Happy

GF1011 · Member Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 87

Vistara to launch daily Delhi-Pune flight from April!

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46556573.cms

Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara today said it will launch a daily flight on the Delhi- Pune route from next month, which will take the new carrier's total destinations to eight.

From April 9, Vistara will operate a daily air service on the Delhi-Pune-Delhi route, for which the bookings have commenced from today, the airline said in a release.

With the latest addition of Pune in the route network, customers can now book Vistara flights from Delhi to seven destinations -- Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Goa, Hyderabad and Guhawati and Bagdogra, it said.

The airline will deploy a 148-seater A320 aircraft, with 16 business, 36 premium economy and 96 economy class seats, to service the new route.

"Pune has some of the well-developed conglomerates present and is one of the major modern cities in India. For Vistara, these places showcase immense potential as their robust infrastructure and good quality of life ultimately attracts more travel," Vistara Chief Executive Phee Teik Yeoh said.

The city-headquartered carrier at present has five aircraft in its fleet, which it plans to take to nine by the end of the year.

With the addition one more airport in its network, Vistara would offer a total of 197 flights per week, the release said.

GF1011 · Member Joined: 02 Jan 2015 Posts: 87

Whats with the pathetic website? Nowhere close to that of SQ or even other Indian carriers..

747-237 · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 8:29 am Post subject:

Vistara's sixth, VT-TTG, has been delivered today.
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ameya

Vistara launches Pune ahead of other stations – Why?

It was no surprise that Vistara, the joint venture of TATA & Singapore Airlines – latest entrant in the Indian Skies choose to fly to Pune this soon. Newspapers and online media was abuzz with the network plan based on the submission the yet unnamed airline made to DGCA and formed part of the public notice DGCA had on its website sometime in May 2014. Back then I had tweeted that the plan submitted and the plan followed is different in most of the cases and has been so in this case too.

Vistara – the now named entity continues this with choosing Pune over Bengaluru, Srinagar, Patna and Chandigarh, which were listed to come online in the first year of operations as per submitted plan.

Pune is the most populous city in the country which is not a state capital and was known more of retirement destination and education hub till the Information Technology boom. As things started changing in late 1990s, the city along with its neighbor Pimpri – Chinchwad which is home to large manufacturing houses like Bajaj, Firodias and Tata’s has seen exponential growth.

Despite the booming economy, the city has to rely on Civil Enclave at Air Force Station Lohegaon for connectivity. The Air Force Station is one of the most important in the country and home to few active squadrons of frontline superiority fighter aircraft the SU-30MKI. The aircraft was inducted in Pune in 1997 and since then continues to be based here. An active fighter base comes with limitations for civilian traffic and has led to restricted operating hours. The airport is closed from 0800-1030 and used to be closed from 2000-2230 until 2012.

Traffic Spike

Pune saw an average 11% growth in traffic Y-o-Y and January 2015 saw 28% more passengers fly from Pune as compared to January 2014. The numbers could have been better had Spicejet not curtailed its services.

Due to the limited slots offered to civilian movements by the Air Force – airlines are forced to adjust their flights as per slot availability and not commercial requirements. It is not just Pune which faces this but other Air Force controlled airports like Chandigarh, Srinagar and Bagdogra also face sot constraints and tend to be commercially successful for airlines like Pune.

Pune, with its neighbor Pimpri – Chinchwad, has a population which is 20% lower than that of Ahmedabad but sees equal or more domestic traffic than Ahmedabad. However, taking into consideration the large catchment area – traffic has not picked up well for the city. Consider this, Pune has 25% less population than Hyderabad and 40% lesser than Bengaluru but the traffic is 46% lesser than Hyderabad and 65% lesser than Bengaluru!

Will Pune be a smooth ride?

Vistara is launching services on Delhi – Pune – Delhi sector effective April 9th. The flights would operate as below,

UK991 DEL1845 – 2100PNQ

UK992 PNQ2140 – 2350DEL

Aviation is India can be much more than traffic and while Vistara has obtained an exemption for mandatory Route Dispersal Guidelines, that has come with a promise that the first three months when it is exempted would be fulfilled in the later months. Thus, Pune has its own importance since the city pair forms part of category 3 routes which no implications on route dispersal guidelines unlike a Delhi – Bengaluru flight.

Vistara is already facing issues of attracting more passengers. In September 2014, I had written about how challenging it would be for Vistara to fill up its premium economy and will the configuration make money. ” Is Vistara’s rumoured seating config a right mix?“

It is difficult to predict if the airline is making operational profits on metro routes due to lack of split between its passenger numbers, and the load factors are not something which the airline would be looking forward to.

Vistara wanted to operate a morning / evening flight from Delhi to Pune and vice versa and the morning flight is not up and running due to the slot constraints at Pune!

Vistara is likely to see fierce competition from Jet Airways which is upping the ante on lucrative Delhi – Pune sector by increasing the frequency to four from existing three. To aid this increase in frequency along with availability of bay for the Abu Dhabi shuttle, the airline will operate a late night Pune – Mumbai flight and an early morning return. Essentially the night parking it has in Pune will be utilized for the Delhi flight instead of the Bengaluru flight.

Vistara will have its own challenges. A premium airline as it is branding itself will have to do with modest infrastructure in terms of office space, check-in counters and lounge at Pune Airport. The bigger challenge is competition with IndiGo being a dominant player on the sector with 5x daily flights.

Key Numbers

Vistara would connect Pune to a single destination Delhi. Compare that with incumbents like IndiGo who connect Pune to 11 destinations and Jet Airways and Spicejet to 8 each by direct or non stop flights. This is one challenge which the airline will face in all markets.

IndiGo leads the frequency game with 5 frequencies on the sector along with the maximum seats on the sector, staggering 30% of all seats!

Capacity breakup seats deployed

Will Pune prove to be the premium market Vistara is on the lookout of? Only time will tell, but I feel Vistara is here to stay, adding one more frequency early morning or mid day in near term.

Kingfisher during its peak found it hard to sustain a 20 seater business class cabin and had to shift back to all economy operations. Yes, the peak for Kingfisher was around the same time when economy was tumbling and a stable and growing economy could mean some good numbers in front cabin for Vistara.

The airline would have to put forward its case and get more slots at Pune to not just increase presence on Delhi Pune sector but to also increase services to other important metro’s. With Vistara’s launch, all carriers except Air Costa would have presence in Pune!
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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

ameya

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

justbala · Member Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1898 Location: Bangalore

Was looking at tkts on UK on the BOM-DEL sector, and was surprised to find the lowest available Y class tickets at 9752 INR and Prem Economy tickets at 7232 INR.

mayankarora1411 · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2013 Posts: 35

Vistara is now selling Delhi-Lucknow, Delhi-Bangalore and Mumbai-Lucknow (via Delhi). Bookings opened minutes ago.