Vistara to start flight service on Agartala-Bengaluru route on Aug 1

Vistara will introduce a flight service between Agartala and Bengaluru on August 1, an official said on Wednesday. At present, Indigo and Akasa operate three flights on the Agartala-Bengaluru route, he said.

"Vistara is scheduled to operate a flight on the Agartala-Bengaluru route from August 1. The flight will arrive here directly from Bengaluru, and on its return journey from Agartala, it will go via Guwahati. It will benefit flyers immensely," director of Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport KC Meena told PTI.

Chief Minister Manik Saha had urged Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for the introduction of more flights on the route.

Meena said SpieceJet is ready to kickstart services between Agartala and Chittagong in Bangladesh but the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is yet to notify the immigration centre.

31/05/2023 PTI/Economic Times

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IndiGo And Tata Group Airlines Now Control More Than 80% Of Indian Market

The early 2000s marked the beginning of a significant churn in Indian aviation. The dominance of a handful of full-service carriers (out of reach for most Indians) was about to be challenged by budget air travel.

Airlines, such as IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Go First (it was called GoAir back then), burst onto the scene, opening the floodgates for millions of first-time flyers nationwide. Even Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines were forced to launch low-cost brands such as Kingfisher Red and Jet Konnect.

The overwhelming sense prevailing in that era in India was that of democratization of air travel (to a great extent, if not entirely), where no single airline dominated the market, and airfares were kept competitive for passengers. But the latest data by the Indian regulator, the DGCA, suggests new dominant forces in an ever-evolving sector.

By now, the DGCA figures every month follow a predictable pattern, at least as far as airlines’ market share is concerned. Nobody is surprised by IndiGo commanding a presence of more than 50%, while other airlines remain primarily in the single digits.

But a close examination of these figures reveals an interesting trend. IndiGo is now in the region of the late 50s and inching towards the 60% mark, with a 57.5% market share in April. On the other hand, Air India, Vistara, and AirAsia India individually come nowhere close to IndiGo but collectively command a quarter of the Indian domestic market.

Currently, India’s domestic aviation is controlled by two forces – IndiGo on one side and the Tata Group airlines on the other. Together, they have a grasp over an eye-watering 82.4% of the Indian market.

Many are now wondering whether the aviation sector in the country is headed towards a duopoly. The term is being loosely thrown around for now because Vistara and Air India are technically still different airlines until their merger, and AirAsia India will eventually merge with Air India Express. But there’s little doubt that two power blocks dominate the Indian aviation space currently.

24/05/2023 Gaurav Joshi/Simple Flying

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Air India-Vistara Merger To Put Singapore Airlines On Forefront In Indian Aviation Industry

Singapore Airlines Group on Tuesday reported its highest-ever net profit and outlined various strategic initiatives, including the proposed merger of Vistara with Air India to boost the Singaporean carrier's presence in the Indian market. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group, which holds 51 per cent stake. The process to merge Vistara with Air India is underway. On Tuesday, Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group posted a record net profit of 2,157 million Singapore Dollars for FY2022-23. In the year-ago period, it had a net loss of SGD 962 million.

"This was mainly driven by better operating performance (+SGD 3,302 million) and lower net finance charges (+SGD 338 million), and partially offset by a tax expense versus a tax credit last year (around SGD 615 million)," the airline group said in a release.

Despite the Covid pandemic, the group said it remained committed to its longstanding strategy of buying and operating new-generation aircraft. Among other efforts, the group did the retrofit of its Airbus A380 and Boeing 737-8 aircraft and placed an order for the all-new Airbus A350F freighters.

17/05/2023 PTI/ZeeNews

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All for a phone: Man uses forged Vistara ticket to enter Mumbai airport, gets arrested

A man was arrested for using a fake ticket to enter the Mumbai airport on May 14, according to a Times of India report. The accused, a 37-year-old man named Noor Shaikh, had reportedly lost a mobile phone inside the airport last week while travelling from Delhi to Mumbai. He came up with the elaborate ruse to search for the device.

Shaikh used his laptop to edit an old e-ticket, which he then used to gain entry to the Mumbai airport. He managed to clear the Central Industrial Security Force (CSIF) security check point by showing them the forged e-ticket for a Mumbai-Delhi flight on his phone. The forgery came to light only when he tried to use the same ticket to check in.

Officials at the airline check in counter alerted CISF personnel about the fake ticket.

"Shaikh's family said he is depressed after losing his job recently and has been doing such acts without knowing knowing the consequences. He was caught after he forged the old Mumbai-Delhi ticket of Vistara Airlines using a computer software," said a police officer of Sahar police station.

"The accused had travelled on a flight from Mumbai to Delhi recently and he lost his phone at the airport. He decided to make the fake ticket and enter the airport to check the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the arrival area to look for his lost mobile. On a fake ticket, the passenger can go up to the security check where tickets are scanned," said an officer, according to Times of India.

17/05/2023 Moneycontrol

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Air India, IndiGo, and Vistara seize opportunity amid Go First's flight cancellations

In response to Go First's cancellation of flights during the busy summer travel season, Air India and IndiGo have swiftly stepped in to seize the opportunity. Air India has ramped up its flight frequency on popular routes like Delhi-Srinagar and Delhi-Leh, while IndiGo has introduced new flights connecting Mumbai to these cities. Additionally, Vistara has also increased the frequency of its Delhi-Mumbai flights.

The enhanced flight frequencies are specifically aimed at meeting the high demand for air travel to Go First's popular leisure destinations. With the current holiday season underway, fares in these sectors are expected to rise. Jyoti Mayal, President of the Travel Agents Association of India, commented to ET, "If the capacity is not filled up, airfares will go up further."

Go First (formerly known as Go Air) was the fifth-largest airline in India based on scheduled departures. Its owners, the Wadia Group, filed for voluntary insolvency proceedings on May 3. "The insolvency proceedings are aimed at reviving the airline and not selling it," Go First's CEO Kaushik Khona told Reuters.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) accepted the petition on May 10, providing Go First with the privilege of a moratorium, safeguarding the airline from the retrieval of loans and outstanding dues by banks and lessors. Additionally, the NCLT mandated the commencement of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process, leading to the suspension of Go First's management.

15/05/2023 Moneycontrol

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Mocha Cyclone: Port Blair-Bound Vistara Flight Returns To Kolkata Airport Due To Bad Weather

A Port Blair-bound Vistara flight (UK747) is returning to its origin airport Kolkata due to bad weather at the destination, the airline said on Saturday. The flight was expected to arrive in Kolkata at about 3 pm.

Bad weather was likely triggered by the active cyclone Mocha, which is currently centred around Port Blair. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the extremely severe cyclone Mocha has intensified even more over the east-central Bay of Bengal. It is now expected to track north-northeast and cross the shores of southeast Bangladesh and northern Myanmar on Sunday. On Saturday and Sunday, IMD issued rain and storm warnings for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, as well as portions of Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Assam.

On Friday morning, Mocha was roughly 520km to the west-northwest of Port Blair. The tropical heat potential, which fuels the cyclone, is at its highest level close to the coast of Myanmar, according to an IMD official. 

IMD issued a warning about the potential for landslides in sensitive places, minor damage to loose or unstable structures, uprooting of small trees and breaking of tree limbs, and damage to tiny trees like banana trees in Mizoram, Tripura, and south Manipur.

14/05/2023 Zee News

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