Welcome to Indian Aviation Thread - August 2019, please continue to add your comments below

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehin ... 8.ece/amp/

CAPA’s take on Air India divestment ( or as they say in India — “disinvestment” )

AI Express reports fourth straight profitable year ...


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/arti ... 450447.cms?

6 ex 9W pilots caught cheating while giving Indigo A320 type rating exams.. debarred by DGCA for 6 months

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Not having a dominant carrier at BOM means that now every airline will try and win at BOM. 9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Methinks Indigo added that route to hit Vistara. They presumably want to make it hard for Vistara to make money to the stations they fly to. For instance, once Vistara announced it was starting BOM to Singapore and Dubai, Indigo announced it would Stratton that route or add a flight if it is already operating the route.

Indigo is also notorious for “network mirroring” (which is not illegal in India) , a strategy it used to drive down prices on routes by its competitors, namely Go and Air Asia India. Indigo is like the Darth Vader of Indian aviation (when dealing with competitors)

edealinfo wrote:

Methinks Indigo added that route to hit Vistara. They presumably want to make it hard for Vistara to make money to the stations they fly to. For instance, once Vistara announced it was starting BOM to Singapore and Dubai, Indigo announced it would Stratton that route or add a flight if it is already operating the route.

Indigo is also notorious for “network mirroring” (which is not illegal in India) , a strategy it used to drive down prices on routes by its competitors, namely Go and Air Asia India. Indigo is like the Darth Vader of Indian aviation (when dealing with competitors)

Network mirroring wouldn't have any effect on such a high volume/high yield int'l sector. There are all types of pax flying this sector, ie. even a lot of premium pax. So not sure how a LCC would have an effect on a FSC on such a route. At the most it would eat away Spice or Air India Express traffic on this route. Also FlyDubai operates on this sector.
If it was Male or Phuket, yes network mirroring has a major impact on rivals especially if they are another LCC. Also it works well on domestic flights when competing with any carrier - LCC or FSC, considering the line between the two types of carriers is even less on local flights.
* To add, 9W at its peak operated 7 daily flights on BOM-DXB.

CaliguyNYC wrote:

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Not having a dominant carrier at BOM means that now every airline will try and win at BOM. 9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

Have you looked at the route growth from CCU?

AVIER said;
“To add, 9W at its peak operated 7 daily flights on BOM-DXB”

Interesting information and good to know. Thanks also for your detailed response and analysis which is good background information and makes a lot of sense.

By the way this was once again the most active country specific forum on Anet last month. Congrats to everyone who participate here. Special mention about our most active member: edealinfo.

CaliguyNYC wrote:

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Not having a dominant carrier at BOM means that now every airline will try and win at BOM. 9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

In constrained slot airports, slots tend to go to the highest yield destinations. Bummer on less diversity to DXB, but premium slots will always go to the money.

Lightsaber

lightsaber wrote:

CaliguyNYC wrote:

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Not having a dominant carrier at BOM means that now every airline will try and win at BOM. 9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

In constrained slot airports, slots tend to go to the highest yield destinations. Bummer on less diversity to DXB, but premium slots will always go to the money.

Lightsaber

Im not at all saying it is irrational, I feel that some people felt that Jet at BOM somehow was hurting intl flight growth from smaller Indian cities. The classic chicken or egg question on which comes first. Some of us said that first you need airlines to have a strong hub and then they focus on secondary hubs and/or p2p flights (that are not high volume/high premium) vs no hubs means tons of p2p flights and good connectivity for small markets wrt intl flights.

edealinfo wrote:

AVIER said;
“To add, 9W at its peak operated 7 daily flights on BOM-DXB”

Interesting information and good to know. Thanks also for your detailed response and analysis which is good background information and makes a lot of sense.

At its peak time they operated a 77W too in that route . That time , they had code share partnership with EK .

I noticed the extra flights allotted to airlines at BOM, from Jet's slot kitty, do not show up from sometime around in Oct. I'm wondering if airlines have to reapply for those slots or what happens then.

avier wrote:

I noticed the extra flights allotted to airlines at BOM, from Jet's slot kitty, do not show up from sometime around in Oct. I'm wondering if airlines have to reapply for those slots or what happens then.

They were granted only till 30SEP with the understanding that the extension will depend on the outcome of the IBC process, which has gone nowhere so far so they will most likely be extended.

unrave wrote:

avier wrote:

I noticed the extra flights allotted to airlines at BOM, from Jet's slot kitty, do not show up from sometime around in Oct. I'm wondering if airlines have to reapply for those slots or what happens then.

They were granted only till 30SEP with the understanding that the extension will depend on the outcome of the IBC process, which has gone nowhere so far so they will most likely be extended.

I don’t know if this will eventually all be smoke and mirrors but apparently 4 parties are interested in Jet. Getting in an Expression of Interest is a relatively low bar to begin with. A submission of an actual bid is the one that matters.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livemi ... 69124.html

I don't see the airline as a whole finding a buyer. It will go into liquidation and its assets will be sold. This will also be a test case for the IBC to determine how regulatory assets (slots, bilateral rights) are treated. If they are sold then IndiGo will make a strong bid for them.

unrave wrote:

I don't see the airline as a whole finding a buyer. It will go into liquidation and its assets will be sold. This will also be a test case for the IBC to determine how regulatory assets (slots, bilateral rights) are treated. If they are sold then IndiGo will make a strong bid for them.

My personal opinion is if the company as a whole can’t be sold, its slots should revert to the state. Otherwise, it could create distortions in the market, since the strongest player will gooble the available slots with its “war chest” (for purchasing slots) thereby widening the gap between the stronger and the weaker carriers.

CaliguyNYC wrote:

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Not having a dominant carrier at BOM means that now every airline will try and win at BOM. 9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

So be it; why is this even a problem?

CaliguyNYC wrote:

9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

Perhaps you might want to look at the data before you come to conclusion.

https://www.aai.aero/en/business-opport ... affic-news

Indigo's impending growth in CCU seems to be on the ascending scale. While this is indeed good news ( a diversified hub spread on a geographic basis is healthy) but the big question is does the hub airport offers any favorable transit experience say as compared to HYD or BLR. There needs to be a close study of the projected traffic growth with AAI and Indigo to make the passenger travelling experience more better than it is presently now. I did domestic transfers at CCU till 2017 July but then it was not something i would like to write about(nothing pathetic as such other than culture of the airport employees being not so friendly). International passengers say from China, Vietnam or Indonesia or even Bangladesh would certainly like a notch higher than what is being presently offered. Hope all stakeholders pay close attention to that. Expansion of the airport is necessity but the local government is not seen to be very excited about it (yes there is no land available but how about acquiring land from the existing owners after working out some commercially acceptable formula) to have an extra runway, maybe a bigger terminal, some in-house entertainment or transit hotel like features. Sourcing traffic is one aspect but sustaining them over a long period of time is equally important if not more.

edealinfo wrote:

My personal opinion is if the company as a whole can’t be sold, its slots should revert to the state. Otherwise, it could create distortions in the market, since the strongest player will gooble the available slots with its “war chest” (for purchasing slots) thereby widening the gap between the stronger and the weaker carriers.

The counter argument is that if the regulatory assets return to the state then the banks will not realise any of the outstanding loans.

vadodara wrote:

CaliguyNYC wrote:

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Not having a dominant carrier at BOM means that now every airline will try and win at BOM. 9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

So be it; why is this even a problem?

Very true. Growth in smaller cities should not be linked to growth in BOM/DEL. Traffic growth must be beneficial to indian carriers and indian passengers. It does not has to be from established big cities only. Services like AMD-NRO, or AMD-Mauritius, AMD-Dar er salam or BLR-Seychelles, BLR-French Reunion must be explored by all concerned independent of whether traffic originates from BOM/DEL or not. Traffic can always connect through BLR and AMD if it is feasible or not.

unrave wrote:

edealinfo wrote:

My personal opinion is if the company as a whole can’t be sold, its slots should revert to the state. Otherwise, it could create distortions in the market, since the strongest player will gooble the available slots with its “war chest” (for purchasing slots) thereby widening the gap between the stronger and the weaker carriers.

The counter argument is that if the regulatory assets return to the state then the banks will not realise any of the outstanding loans.

I think the Banks will realise something, how much or how soon is a different issue altogether. Auction of slots is not possible since the market is not mature or prepared for that (stressed balance sheet of most airlines is the big reason) and it is not legally mandated ( Presidential Reference to Supreme Court of India after the cancellation of 122 licenses of radio-telephony wireless spectrum allocations clearly spelt out that auction is not the only method to give away state rights{assuming slots are authority of the state}).

This is a test case for all the parties involved. Employees are hassled for no salaries received and KF saga is still hovering in the horizon, Banks are restless to get something and leave and government is eager to paint a rosy picture in aviation as the larger economic growth slows down. Wait and watch and lets hope for the best.

srkSJC wrote:

I think the Banks will realise something, how much or how soon is a different issue altogether. Auction of slots is not possible since the market is not mature or prepared for that (stressed balance sheet of most airlines is the big reason)

It is precisely this factor that IndiGo seems to be banking on. If the slots are auctioned it alone will be able to offer strong bid to acquire them

If there are no takers for 9W and their pieces, then the slots should go back to the airport and be at their discretion to issue them to whichever airline they deem fit. Some parameters like operational performance of the airlines over the last few months like OTP, safety should be factored into this process. No political interference in this. So airlines like GoAir and Vistara and can get a larger share of the available slots. *I find these two airlines doing well in their respective categories.

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Vistara to fly Mumbai- Dubai effective 21st August, their second int'l destination-

UK201 BOM1625 - 1815DXB
UK202 DXB1915 - 0015(+1)BOM

Daily flights, operated by three-class A320/Neo

unrave wrote:

edealinfo wrote:

My personal opinion is if the company as a whole can’t be sold, its slots should revert to the state. Otherwise, it could create distortions in the market, since the strongest player will gooble the available slots with its “war chest” (for purchasing slots) thereby widening the gap between the stronger and the weaker carriers.

The counter argument is that if the regulatory assets return to the state then the banks will not realise any of the outstanding loans.

My issue with that is that slots were and are never issued as collateral towards a bank loan. How can it now suddenly be part of the equation? It could also be a bad precedent in the sense that airlines will use slots towards borrowings

avier wrote:

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Vistara to fly Mumbai- Dubai effective 21st August, their second int'l destination-

UK201 BOM1625 - 1815DXB
UK202 DXB1915 - 0015(+1)BOM

Daily flights, operated by three-class A320/Neo

Finally!!! And, yay!

A couple of points to note:

1) it is an 4.30 pm afternoon departure from BOM. Is this a good or bad thing? I think the flight timings both ways, departure and landings, are very good for O & D passengers but that’s just my opinion and I would love to hear the opinion of others.

2) wow, they start an international flight with just 3 weeks of advance bookings. I know indigo, Spicejet, go and AI do that as well but doesn’t this hurt yield?

3) For Singapore they are using the 737 But for Dubai the A320. Are there any insights as to why this is the case?

4) Are there any insights into when Vistara will announce service from DEL to Bangkok? I am actually surprised they applied for the route as I assumed they would funnel their traffic to BKK via Singapore. In my opinion, they should have bid for another India (BLR) to SINGAPORE route over the one to BKK but then maybe they lost out on that in the route bidding process. I am curious as to the viability of another DEL to BKK flight. Comments?

The Vistara flight to Dubai involves a 1 hour turnaround at DXB. Does this mean they will carry food from India for the return flight?

edealinfo wrote:

1) it is an 4.30 pm afternoon departure from BOM. Is this a good or bad thing? I think the flight timings both ways, departure and landings, are very good for O & D passengers but that’s just my opinion and I would love to hear the opinion of others.

2) wow, they start an international flight with just 3 weeks of advance bookings. I know indigo, Spicejet, go and AI do that as well but doesn’t this hurt yield?

3) For Singapore they are using the 737 But for Dubai the A320. Are there any insights as to why this is the case?

1) For O&D, especially VFR/leisure traffic, this is a very convenient time.
2) Do note: it's a high yield/high volume route. Fares are about ₹25K rt. for this 2.5hr flight. Which is more than many other longer flights of 3-5hrs also. Also the airlines have to quickly use up the bilateral of 9W given to them on so called temporary basis.
3) Their A320 had route payload restrictions for SIN, and the 737's they got were of higher operating weights. Hence they could use them economically to SIN.

edealinfo wrote:

The Vistara flight to Dubai involves a 1 hour turnaround at DXB. Does this mean they will carry food from India for the return flight?

Even the Indian LCC's do a turnaround of 1hr or more at DXB. I guess that's standard. So no way to guess their catering uplift from their turnaround times.

Nice article on the bidding for Jet.

1) Only 1 bidder likely. It is an NRI backed by financial investors.
2) AdiGro and Etihad likely to bail out of bidding.
3) Etihad is thinking of selling its stake in Jet Privilege and also putting up London slots for $35 million each.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.moneyc ... 1.html/amp

vadodara wrote:

CaliguyNYC wrote:

avier wrote:

IndiGo will add a 4th daily frequency between Mumbai-Dubai effective 25th August-

6E 1768 BOM0155 - 0335DXB
6E 1769 DXB0435 - 0910BOM

Looks like most of the available DXB seats of 9W are going to BOM/DEL from the Indian carriers.

Not having a dominant carrier at BOM means that now every airline will try and win at BOM. 9W's demise actually hurt route growth to cities outside of BOM/DEL/BLR. This was not expected by many on anet although several of us were saying exactly this.

So be it; why is this even a problem?

I don’t think it is problem, it is the BOM is hurting smaller cities crowd that should seem surprised that airlines are clearly looking to open intl routes from the 3 biggies. I haven’t heard of that many new routes from Kerela to the gulf using Jet slots as an example. Instead it is BOM/DEL/BLR. Ironically only AI actually started an. Interesting route with a Jet DXB frequency - Indore. That is all I can think of. I have zero problem with that. To your other post on growth in smaller cities, you are conflating stats. No one is saying that those cities won’t grow Dom/intl flights. Of course they will grow. My point is that now Indigo, Spice, Go and Vistara are all racing to ramp up BOM. Where as before many of them ( like vistara) focused on other cities since Jet was there. All I am trying to counter is the notion that a strong hub airline in BOM or Del or BLR hurts small cities. I firmly believe it doesn’t.

edealinfo wrote:

unrave wrote:

edealinfo wrote:

My personal opinion is if the company as a whole can’t be sold, its slots should revert to the state. Otherwise, it could create distortions in the market, since the strongest player will gooble the available slots with its “war chest” (for purchasing slots) thereby widening the gap between the stronger and the weaker carriers.

The counter argument is that if the regulatory assets return to the state then the banks will not realise any of the outstanding loans.

My issue with that is that slots were and are never issued as collateral towards a bank loan. How can it now suddenly be part of the equation? It could also be a bad precedent in the sense that airlines will use slots towards borrowings

I don’t think just the slots should be sold. They should go back to the administrator. What should be sold is the BOM hub ops (staff, machines, slots, what ever planes remain). It has been so long, I don’t even know what infrastructure remains at this point. But that is what they should have done long ago as part of IBC. Once selling the full thing with debt failed. You bring it into IBC, carve out the best parts of the business and sell that (so people get a more or less running business without having to build it up). I can’t believe the GOI is dragging this out to 9/30. Either there is a buyer or not. It is not even clear if someone buys the majority of Jet if it includes debt or not. Selling Jet with massive debt failed, so unclear why the IBC would once again try to sell Jet with debt. In the US bankruptcy court, the judge sells a much cleaner business than before it entered the process. So again what is the purpose of IBC

In a tit-for-tat move, US bars Air India from managing ground operations at its airports

I support the US move as I think that a doctor (India in this example) needs to taste his own medicine


https://www.google.com/amp/s/theprint.i ... 71359/amp/

edealinfo wrote:

In a tit-for-tat move, US bars Air India from managing ground operations at its airports

I support the US move as I think that a doctor (India in this example) needs to taste his own medicine


https://www.google.com/amp/s/theprint.i ... 71359/amp/

"However, Air India claimed this ban would not impact its operations. A spokesperson for the airline said: “This is just a formality and there will be no impact since Air India does not operate ground handling on its own. It is all outsourced locally, because it would be too expensive to take labour from India for this job.”
Does not impact Air India

yashk wrote:

edealinfo wrote:

In a tit-for-tat move, US bars Air India from managing ground operations at its airports

I support the US move as I think that a doctor (India in this example) needs to taste his own medicine


https://www.google.com/amp/s/theprint.i ... 71359/amp/

"However, Air India claimed this ban would not impact its operations. A spokesperson for the airline said: “This is just a formality and there will be no impact since Air India does not operate ground handling on its own. It is all outsourced locally, because it would be too expensive to take labour from India for this job.”
Does not impact Air India

They might find another way. Trump hasn’t relented in China. On the contrary he doubled down. The US Administration is highly unpredictable. Air India should have kept its mouth shut instead of proclaiming in the news story that it is unaffected. It will just give an excuse for the Trump administration to spring a googly

Ex civil aviation minister blows his trumpet

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.livemi ... 08059.html

Vistara will receive its 787 aircraft in Jan 2020, just 5 to 6 months from now. What do you think will be their initial destinations.?

London LHR is a no brainer but slots are hard to come by so you can rule that out. Hong Kong is the next logical choice but you can rule that out as the bilateral is exhausted. You can rule out Australia and other South East Asian destinations since passengers to those countries will be funneled through Singapore on Singapore Air. You can rule out China since it is low yield and rule out USA and Canada since Vistara has publicly stated that it wants to start “medium haul” on those initial 787s.

So, that pretty much leaves Japan and Europe. but where in Europe since London LHR, the logical choice, is ruled out? And, aren’t there more than adequate flights to Japan from India?

Perhaps Vistara can start DEL -Tokyo - San Francisco ( two medium haul routes) assuming Japan offers fifth freedom flights. If not, I can’t visualize other potential feasible routes. can you?

Other than London, in which other European city are Indians present in reasonably large numbers so as to sustain O & D service?

Looking at Vistara's latest August in-flight magazine it appears:

1) The count of aircraft in Aug is the same as in previous month including just six 737-800 NG -- wren't they supposed to receive 10 by now? What happened?

2) It appears no new stations are opened (other than the previously announced Singapore). [Today Avier mentioned that Dubai will be started this month but that announcement must have been too late for the newsletter.]

3. The route map shows direct flights from Bombay to Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Goa, Varanasi, Delhi, Calacutta, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangaluru, and of course Singapore. Wow that's 11 destinations from Bombay not including Dubai which will make it 12. Which of these direct flights are not publicly announced as yet?

4. Other than Delhi and Bombay, there doesn't appears to be any other Vistara station that supports flights to more than 3 destinations. [Bangalore and Chennai each have flights to 2 destinations; and Kolkatta and Hyderbad each have flights to 3 destinations.)

Separately, while the Vistara magazine appears to be nicely done, the user experience for reading it online (via a computer) is annus horibilis. I mean, is Vistara outsourcing their IT to Timbucktu? Yes, its that bad and not at all intuitive. Besides the layout reading it on a computer couldn't be any worse. And, they aim to touch the clouds? Fat chance.

India wants Bangladesh land for Agartala airport expansion

Apparently this is not a new concept:

"Established in 1920, the Geneva airport lies in the Swiss territory while its northern boundary runs along the border and the airport can be accessed from both Switzerland and France.

Freight operations are also accessible from both the countries, making Geneva a European Union freight hub although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union.

The airport, which is the property of the state of Geneva, is an autonomous public institution."


http://www.newagebd.net/article/80277/i ... -expansion

Here is nice analysis on Indigo building a Buddhist tourism circuit around a Kolkatta hub. They need to connect Kolkatta with direct flights to Kathmandu and Sri Lanka to make it perfect. If they do, then hats off to them!

Note that Kolkatta is a Level 3 IATA airport which means that it is severely slot constricted.

https://www.cnbctv18.com/aviation/why-r ... 088401.htm

Amazon inks pact with GMR Hyderabad Airport City to expand fulfilment centre

"The move will help Amazon, which is locked in an intense battle for market leadership with Walmart-backed Flipkart, to deliver products faster as the festive season approaches."

I always see Hyderabad as the nice City for aviation-related potential. Hyderabad should outshine Kolkatta and Madras hands down no later than 5 years from now if not much sooner.

https://yourstory.com/2019/08/amazon-pa ... ent-centre

Wheeling and dealing with Kerala MPs to begin on aviation related issues. I say allow extra Gulf flights to Kannur in exchange for MPs not causing trouble with the privatization of Thiruvananthapuram

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/ ... a-mps.html

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 779548.ece

edealinfo wrote:

Vistara will receive its 787 aircraft in Jan 2020, just 5 to 6 months from now. What do you think will be their initial destinations.?

London LHR is a no brainer but slots are hard to come by so you can rule that out. Hong Kong is the next logical choice but you can rule that out as the bilateral is exhausted. You can rule out Australia and other South East Asian destinations since passengers to those countries will be funneled through Singapore on Singapore Air. You can rule out China since it is low yield and rule out USA and Canada since Vistara has publicly stated that it wants to start “medium haul” on those initial 787s.

So, that pretty much leaves Japan and Europe. but where in Europe since London LHR, the logical choice, is ruled out? And, aren’t there more than adequate flights to Japan from India?

Perhaps Vistara can start DEL -Tokyo - San Francisco ( two medium haul routes) assuming Japan offers fifth freedom flights. If not, I can’t visualize other potential feasible routes. can you?

Other than London, in which other European city are Indians present in reasonably large numbers so as to sustain O & D service?

Vistara shouldn't try one stop to US. They'll be at a competitive disadvantage then.
Well Vistara can try Manchester now that they codeshare with VS.

binayak wrote:

Vistara shouldn't try one stop to US. They'll be at a competitive disadvantage then.
Well Vistara can try Manchester now that they codeshare with VS.

But isn't Manchester relatively low yield? Vistara may fill the back of the aircraft but it can't make a profit if the front is relatively empty.

Indigo to open a new station (INDORE) in the upcoming winter schedule which is effective from October 27 to March 28, 2020. Vistara will fly on the New Delhi to Indore sector.

https://www.knocksense.com/indore-city/ ... ore-cities

A report earlier in the year indicated that they hoped to start two flights a day on the Indore to New Delhi sector:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cit ... 444770.cms

From IndiGo Annual Report for FY 2019:
- Addition of 11 new destinations in the next 12 months
- Focus on improving connectivity in North East with ATR aircraft
- Focus on starting services to countries with large outbound tourism like China, Russia and Israel

edealinfo wrote:

Indigo to open a new station (INDORE) in the upcoming winter schedule which is effective from October 27 to March 28, 2020. Vistara will fly on the New Delhi to Indore sector.

https://www.knocksense.com/indore-city/ ... ore-cities

A report earlier in the year indicated that they hoped to start two flights a day on the Indore to New Delhi sector:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cit ... 444770.cms

Indigo or Vistara?