Vistara to enter into codesharing pact with Singapore Airlines

Domestic carrier Vistara is likely to enter into a codesharing agreement with Singapore Airlines soon in a move that would allow seamless connectivity to its customers to Singapore and vice versa.
The city-based airline has already filed its codeshare flight schedule with aviation regulator DGCA and its approval is soon expected.
"We are working with the government on making it (codeshare) effective," Vistara Chief Executive Officer Phee Teik Yeoh told PTI.
The full-service carrier Vistara is a joint venture, in which Tata Sons owns 51-per cent stake and the rest is with Singapore Airlines.
Codesharing allows an airline to book on its passenger on its partner carriers and provide seamless transport to destination where it has no presence.

Vistara had informed the government about its plans to operate codeshare flights with Singapore Airlines about four months ago, following which it filed codeshare flight schedule to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for its approval, the official said.

As part of aviation sector reforms, government has done away with the prior approval for entering into international codeshare pacts with foreign carriers and they have to intimate the Civil Aviation Ministry as well as the DGCA 30 days before starting codeshare flights.
The two airlines were now in the process of finalising a pact in this regard, which is expected to be signed by the end of this month, the official said.

Vistara currently operates from 18 domestic airports with a fleet of 13 Airbus A320s, whereas Singapore Airlines flies to six Indian destinations - Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.