Vistara, India’s youngest airline, does not rule out buying a domestic airline to fly abroad before the mandatory five-year period even though it has no such plans “at this stage”, the airline’s chief executive officer (CEO) said.
India does not allow airlines to fly overseas until they have a fleet of 20 aircraft and flown locally for at least five years. Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines which completed one year of operations this month, had so far said that it will expand its fleet to 20 aircraft and wait for policy decisions.
Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh, who joined from Singapore Airlines, said that, regardless of any change in rule, the airline will be ready to fly abroad with 20 aircraft by 2020.
If Vistara eventually acquires another airline, it will be the second time the rule has prompted an airline buyout in India. In 2007, Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines Ltd bought G.R. Gopinath’s Air Deccan before completing five years in Indian skies.
Yeoh, chief executive at India’s youngest airline, Vistara, came to India in late 2013 from Singapore Airlines to launch the venture. Gurgaon is the fifth city Yeoh is working in, after stints in Singapore, Frankfurt, Berlin, London and Los Angeles. He frequently shuttled between Airline Road in Singapore to Bombay House in Mumbai and the aviation authorities in New Delhi as he worked to set up India’s third full-service airline.
11/01/16 Tarun Shukla/Dealstreet Asia
To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline
India does not allow airlines to fly overseas until they have a fleet of 20 aircraft and flown locally for at least five years. Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines which completed one year of operations this month, had so far said that it will expand its fleet to 20 aircraft and wait for policy decisions.
Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh, who joined from Singapore Airlines, said that, regardless of any change in rule, the airline will be ready to fly abroad with 20 aircraft by 2020.
If Vistara eventually acquires another airline, it will be the second time the rule has prompted an airline buyout in India. In 2007, Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines Ltd bought G.R. Gopinath’s Air Deccan before completing five years in Indian skies.
Yeoh, chief executive at India’s youngest airline, Vistara, came to India in late 2013 from Singapore Airlines to launch the venture. Gurgaon is the fifth city Yeoh is working in, after stints in Singapore, Frankfurt, Berlin, London and Los Angeles. He frequently shuttled between Airline Road in Singapore to Bombay House in Mumbai and the aviation authorities in New Delhi as he worked to set up India’s third full-service airline.
11/01/16 Tarun Shukla/Dealstreet Asia
