News
Vistara “keen” on long-haul destinations; SriLankan seeks investor
July 22nd 2016
"Low-cost carriers have not been able to really make the business model work on long-haul international routes. Read More » And that is the segment that we are very keen on,”said Vistara chief strategy and commercial officer, Sanjiv Kapoor. Full service carrier, Vistara, operates eleven leased A320s to 18 domestic Indian destinations.
That said, the Tata Group/Singapore Airlines-owned airline is “reviewing and refining” plans for overseas routes after the Modi government last month relaxed the 5/20 rule which eased restrictions on international flights for airlines in business for less than five years.
Vistara also is expected to expedite its fleet expansion as the new rules require carriers to fly at least 20 aircraft on Indian domestic routes before being permitted to operate international services.
Speaking to DNA India, Kapoor raised the possibility of Vistara forming a regional commuter subsidiary, tentatively named Vistara Express, to operate 70-seater services from India’s hub airports to second- and third-tier cities.
Vistara this week also announced the appointment of Ravinder Pal Singh as its chief information officer. Singh, the former global chief information and technology officer at Indian MRO Air Works, is tasked with consolidating, identifying, acquiring, evaluating and incubating the right technology to support the airline’s IT and digital platforms.
In other India aviation news, Coimbatore-based commuter carrier, Air Carnival, this week commenced revenue operations on the Coimbatore-Chennai-Madurai route. Air Carnival has a single leased ATR72-500 in its fleet, but plans to acquire two more ATRs in September and October.
In neighbouring Bangladesh, flag carrier Biman Bangladesh, will retire its two remaining A310-300s in September, The Nation has reported, and said the A310s will be replaced with two B737-800s secured on sixty-month dry lease agreements. Biman has a fleet of four B777-300ERs, two B777-200ERs, four B737-800s, and two Dash 8-400s.
Across the Palk Strait in Sri Lanka, Colombo is looking for investors to take minority stakes in state-owned SriLankan Airlines and its budget offshoot, Mihin Lanka. Combined, both carriers have accumulated debt exceeding $3 billion.
An advert, titled “invitation for expression of interest for the reorientation of SriLankan Airlines and Mihin Lanka,” has been placed in print publications by National Savings Bank subsidiary NSB Fund Management, which is managing the process. Sources have suggested the government is looking to sell approximately 40% of both airlines. Interested parties have until August 24 to submit their bids.
To stem mounting losses, SriLankan recently announced it would terminate all flights to Europe, with the exception of a daily service to London’s Heathrow.
