Vistara announces expansion in summer 2016 schedule
Vistara has announced a 25 per cent increase in flights at the start of summer 2016 schedule, including the launch of new services to Jammu, Srinagar and Kochi. Vistara’s network will now cover 15 cities as the airline increases its weekly flights from 317 to almost 400. With the induction of four new A320 aircraft during the course of the year, the airline will introduce additional new destinations and further increase frequency on its existing routes. By the end of October 2016, the total number of flights will be increased by 85 per cent relative to the current schedule.
Starting April 7, 2016, Vistara will offer direct daily return flights from Delhi to Srinagar and from April 9, 2016 daily same-aircraft flights from Delhi to Jammu via Srinagar. The direct daily return flights from Mumbai to Kochi, and daily same-aircraft flights from Delhi to Kochi via Mumbai will commence from April 14, 2016. The new summer schedule has 17 city pairs connected through direct flights; 16 additional city pairs connected through connecting flights such as Mumbai to Varanasi, Lucknow and Bhubaneshwar and Bengaluru to Guwahati; and over 40 additional single-stop travel options through connecting flights such as Srinagar to Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bhubaneshwar; and Lucknow to Pune and Hyderabad (all via Delhi). Flights and connections on the new schedule will be open for sale through all channels this week.
With a focus on enhancing its connectivity in key metros, Vistara will also increase the frequency of its existing Delhi-Bengaluru service, offering same-day return options to customers in both cities.
Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara said, “With growing market presence and phenomenal customer uptake, we plan to double our domestic capacity this year by offering more flights, destinations and increased frequencies to our customer base. The addition of Jammu, Srinagar and Kochi to our route network coupled with the introduction of convenient same-day return flights on Delhi-Bengaluru in both directions and several new connecting flight options, represent the first phase of our growth plan this summer as we ramp up utilisation and add new aircraft to our fleet. We believe that these will help us further broaden the appeal of Vistara to our business and leisure customers alike across our network.”