Vistara to tap regional connectivity

COO Sanjiv Kapoor says carrier cannot take profitable 20% growth in air traffic for granted

Vistara might tap regional routes as  part of its long-term growth plan, chief commercial and strategy officer Sanjiv Kapoor said on Wednesday.

Vistara, owned by Tata-Singapore Airlines, is known for its premium offering. It has 11 Airbus A320 aircraft in its fleet and will receive nine more by 2018. It is preparing to launch flights abroad and the first phase could see flights within South Asia.

The airline, however, does not want to miss out on the growth in regional markets, with the civil aviation ministry framing policy to link unconnected towns. A presence in regional markets could provide a feed for the airline's mainline domestic and foreign routes,  Kapoor said.

No decision has been taken on regional expansion and it is part of a growth vision.

“Most full-service airlines the world over have a commuter arm. The nature of (aviation) markets is such that airlines need to feed their hubs and a lot of it comes from small cities, which need small aircraft. There are two ways to do that. Either we get small aircraft or partner a regional airline. I am not talking of it (happening) instantly, but at some point, we will want a regional domestic feed,” Kapoor said.

Kapoor denied the airline was contemplating a regional play to speed up plans to fly abroad.

Kapoor said relaxation of the five-year and 20-aircraft rule for flying abroad and the push for regional connectivity were positive measures by the government but capacity constraints at major airports needed to be addressed.

“I do not think we can take profitable 20 per cent (annual) growth for granted until we fix infrastructure problems at major airports and until capacity addition is more measured. Certainly, there is a huge potential in India, but in the next two-three years the kind of aircraft we see coming is way above the market demand growth,” he said.

Kapoor said the airline was expanding its fleet and network at a steady pace and denied it was facing a cash crunch.

“We have grown from 12 destinations to 17 and will launch flights to Port Blair in September. The number of daily flights has grown from 40 to 70 and will reach 100 by the end of the year. Our aircraft utilisation is around 13 hours and we managed to improve the load factor to 80 per cent in May,” he said.

Vistara-Axis Bank launch credit card
Vistara and Axis Bank have launched a co-branded credit card that will offer bonus miles, discounts, lounge access and free tickets to customers.  Rajiv Anand, executive director, Axis Bank, said, “Travel is a key spending category for credit cards and the Axis Bank-Vistara range of cards will help us strengthen our travel product suite, as it addresses both the business and leisure travel segments.”