Vistara offers premium economy ticket to every business class passenger

Vistara says the offer is to celebrate its 500,000 customer mark since it began operations in Jan this year

In a bid to attract its customers to premium economy seats, a first of its kind in India, Vistara on Wednesday announced to offer a complimentary premium economy ticket to every business class traveler flying till September 30.

Vistara said the offer was to celebrate its 500,000 customer mark since it began operations in January this year. "To mark this special milestone and as a token of appreciation, we will present all our business class customers, travelling from August 12 to September 30, one complimentary premium economy class ticket on the Vistara network," a company release said. The offer will be valid for bookings made 48 hours in advance.

Selling the premium product has been a bit of a challenge for the full-service airline. The airline offers around 35 per cent of its seats on every flight in the business and premium economy categories. Its seat configuration is: 16 business, 36 premium economy and 96 economy class. The premium economy seats are priced 75 per cent higher than economy seats.

However, airline's CEO, Phee Teik Yeoh said the demand for premium economy had "improved significantly" as the companies review their travel policies. Vistara is the first airline in India to have a three-class configuration.