New Delhi/Singapore: Singapore Airlines just picked a fight with Emirates in a grab for India's international travellers, and a slice of one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets.
Singapore Airlines' unprofitable Indian venture Vistara completed its first overseas flight -- between New Delhi and Singapore -- yesterday. It's the start of an uphill battle against Middle East airline giants, led by Emirates and Etihad Airways, that dominate India's offshore routes.
For Singapore Airlines, ambushed all over Southeast Asia by budget airlines, the prize is clear. The number of passengers in India will more than triple to 520 million by 2037, the International Air Transport Association says. And of the 63 million people that flew to and from the country last year, two thirds were carried by foreign airlines.
"Vistara will focus on growth in Southeast Asia and the Middle East this year,'' chief executive Leslie Thng told reporters in Singapore after its maiden offshore flight touched down at Changi Airport at about 8 a.m.yesterday.
"The company plans to have a fleet of 41 by the end of this year, and increase it to as many as 70 by 2023,'' he said.
Vistara, 49% owned by Singapore Airlines and 51% by Indian conglomerate Tata Group, started out in January 2015. India doesn't allow foreign airlines to fly between local airports, unless they partner with a local company to start a domestic airline.
08/08/19 Bloomberg/Bangkok Post
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Singapore Airlines' unprofitable Indian venture Vistara completed its first overseas flight -- between New Delhi and Singapore -- yesterday. It's the start of an uphill battle against Middle East airline giants, led by Emirates and Etihad Airways, that dominate India's offshore routes.
For Singapore Airlines, ambushed all over Southeast Asia by budget airlines, the prize is clear. The number of passengers in India will more than triple to 520 million by 2037, the International Air Transport Association says. And of the 63 million people that flew to and from the country last year, two thirds were carried by foreign airlines.
"Vistara will focus on growth in Southeast Asia and the Middle East this year,'' chief executive Leslie Thng told reporters in Singapore after its maiden offshore flight touched down at Changi Airport at about 8 a.m.yesterday.
"The company plans to have a fleet of 41 by the end of this year, and increase it to as many as 70 by 2023,'' he said.
Vistara, 49% owned by Singapore Airlines and 51% by Indian conglomerate Tata Group, started out in January 2015. India doesn't allow foreign airlines to fly between local airports, unless they partner with a local company to start a domestic airline.
08/08/19 Bloomberg/Bangkok Post
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