Tata SIA’s joint venture — Vistara Airlines got government approval to fly international routes to become fifth Indian airline to get international flight routes.
“The airline received permission from the aviation ministry just before the election dates were announced”, CNBCTV18.com said citing sources.
“We are closely working with the ministry of civil aviation. Specific details will be shared at an appropriate time,” a Vistara Spokesperson told Financial Express online.
Vistara’s first flight could be to Colombo, Sri Lanka. However, there is no announcement of a concrete date.
The company had hoped to launch its international operations last year but did not get government approval. It had already added 60 aircraft for its international operations ahead of the government clearance.
“We are hopeful of getting the permission to fly international soon,” Leslie Thng, CEO, Vistara had earlier said at CAPA Aviation Summit. “Yes, there is a delay in the sense that earlier we hoped that we could start the international operations before the end of last year, now we are already in February. We are deploying the resources in the country,” he had added.
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Meanwhile, Vistara also expanded its domestic flights to 16 new routes. Starting 5 March, the new routes include Delhi-Raipur, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Bagdogra and Delhi-Jammu amongst others. With daily flights, these routes start operating in the period of 31 March to 1 May.
Previously, Vistara also became the first airline to start providing free sanitary napkins on-board to the women who request for it, the company had announced. “The airline will provide ISO 9001:2015 certified, bio-degradable and organic sanitary napkins made from plant-based fibres that are free of plastic, toxins and perfume,” Vistara had said just before women’s day.
Vistara, which was launched in January of 2015, will be completing five years of its operations next year.