The wait has just got longer for the full service domestic airline Vistara, jointly promoted by Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.
Having launched the brand through a series of carefully crafted public relations events that included a high profile all-hands-on-board media event just to announce the name of the airline, Vistara did not seem to have taken into account the formalities it has to go through when it said the airline would take to the skies in October.
It now appears that the aircraft, which will join the fleet, would first have to undertake route proving flights after which Vistara will be permitted to operate normal scheduled commercial flights.
According to Civil Aviation Ministry sources, the first Airbus aircraft that will join Vistara will go to Singapore to acquire the airline’s colours as also perform route proving flights which will be monitored by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In addition, the DGCA will approve Vistara’s flight manuals after which it will be licensed to begin regular services.
However, Vistara was not willing to state whether the October launch might get delayed due to the absence of these formal clearances. “Vistara is working very closely with the regulators to ensure all requisite requirements and processes are being complied with. As regards market speculation, we would not like to comment on the same,” said a Vistara spokesperson.
Vistara had originally planned to launch regular passenger services on October 15, the day Tata patriarch J. R. D. Tata had flown from Karachi to Mumbai in 1932 which was the first by an Indian company and it opened the air link to peninsular India.
This is the second time Vistara’s launch has stumbled due to official requirements. The airline had initially planned to begin operations this summer but found in December last year that some of the requirements were too onerous to stick to the original plan.
