Calling it the opening of the Indian aviation market, Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh, in an exclusive chat with TOI on Monday said that a change in regulations will help the Indian aviation industry and will enable more players to explore the vast market. "With such vibrant destinations and landscape, this is the opportunity for India. Delay of every single day is hurting the country and steps should be taken to change the old rules which hamper growth of the aviation industry. We are looking at an open market and once the rules change, we will surely incline ourselves to operate state-of-the-art international services," said Yeoh, while inaugurating the carrier's first flight from Lucknow to New Delhi on Monday.
Vistara flight would take off from Delhi at 12.05pm to arrive in Lucknow airport at 1.05pm. The flight would then take off from Lucknow at 1.50pm to land in Delhi at 2.50pm. The other flight will be in the morning. It will take off from Delhi at 7.30am to arrive in Lucknow at 8.30am. The same flight will subsequently take off from Lucknow at 9.15 am to land in Delhi at 10.15am. Vistara also added Awadhi cuisine to the on-board menu starting Monday.
Citing the importance of Tier-II cities, Yeoh said that the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines venture is expecting to add 3 more flights to the present fleet of 6 by the year end to bolster its efforts to connect with more exciting destinations. "We see huge potential in the evolving cities of India. Lucknow is a growing city and with our daily two flights to Delhi, we are planning to connect the Nawabi city to the world. We now have 6 aircraft and by the end of the year are planning to scale it up to 9. So we are looking at increased frequency and more destinations to be covered," he said.
Mentioning that the focus now will be to excel in services, the CEO didn't rule out direct flights to other cities from Lucknow in near future. "At present our focus is on providing the best services. Our in-flight services and on-time performance has been the best in the last two months and we are working hard to meet the expectations. We don't have any immediate plan to add more destinations from Lucknow for now, but we are studying the market and may be able to take a call in near future," he added.
On the growth of the premium economy sector, the Vistara CEO said that the on-and-off segment is picking up in India. "We designed this new segment where we give a lot more at a little extra cost. Flyers are enjoying this newer addition to the flying experience. Although we expected a better performance in the first few months of the year, the market was such that people opted for the cheapest tickets. Now with the experience of more privacy, comfort, leg space and fewer hassles, paying a little extra for a lot more in bargain has caught up. Also, the earlier travel policy of corporates had business or economy class travel. So after we offered this new product, the travel policies are changing to accommodate premium economy category. This is showing results now," he said.
-T.O.I
