Vistara: Tata-SIA's full-service airline gets a name, eyes October launch

New Delhi: So the full service airline from Tatas will be called Vistara and will have “two-and-a-half” class configurations. The new airline which is slated to launch from October, will have Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class offerings but no First Class.

The Economy Class seats will most likely come for a small premium compared to the pricing of other full service airlines, Jet Airways and Air India, on domestic routes. The airline will have five aircraft some months after launch and promises a “seamless and personlised” experience of domestic travel. As per current norms, it is not allowed to immediately launch international operations.

Vistara will initially launch operations to cities where the airline sees potential for a premium service offering, CEO Phee Teik Yeoh said today without explaining either the pricing strategy or the cities it will initially service.

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In the new airline, which is a result of 51:49 partnership between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, there is a visible attempt to keep things Indian. The brand name, Vistara, comes from Sanskrit word Vistar which means expanse. Yeoh said Vistara refers to limitless possibilities for the Indian traveler and limitless potential for the airline to tap the growing Indian air travel market.

The brand logo comes from Indian ‘yantra’, which is a mathematical form reflecting unbounded universe. Even the crew dresses have a very Indian touch - unlike other airlines which either expect their air hostesses to wear sarees or skirts, the Vistara crew will wear something like a kurti and loose trousers. Brand colours are gold and aubergine.

So what will Vistara offer that other full service airlines do not in India? The only other airline brand which comes to mind when we talk about a luxurious and personalized travel experience is Kingfisher. When that airline launched, its service standards were unmatched but we all know what happened to it ultimately. Is Vistara overestimating the paying capacity of Indian travelers who may, after the novelty wears off, not want to pay any premium at all to travel domestic routes?

The Indian market has about 430 aircraft to carry 1.2 billion people whereas the Chinese market has four times this number for a population which is almost the same size as ours, Yeoh said. He also said India is expected to become the third largest aviation market by 2020.

Even if these projections are prudent, how much of the market will be willing to pay a premium for domestic air travel - today, almost three in four Indian air travelers prefer LCCs. In fact, the full service airlines are routinely forced to offer deeply discounted fares to ensure aircraft loads on popular routes.

Then, present norms do not allow Vistara to go international, which would perhaps have increased aircraft utilisation and helped bring down costs. Mukund Rajan, Brand Custodian for Tata Sons, says the 5/20 rule should go and that Vistara would be happy to see it scrapped. This rule mandates that an Indian airline cannot mount overseas flights without having completed five years of domestic operations and without having a fleet of 20 aircraft.

As per the application the airline filed earlier with DGCA, VIstara will initially have twice daily non-stop flights from Delhi to Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad in the first year. In all it will have 87 daily flights in the first year.