Aerospace Diary

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13 Jan Vistara aims to go the extra mile to make passengers smile- Neelam Mathews Jan 13 2019 Vistara, a young, boutique airline in India, is seeking to make waves for its service and gracious staff. With a fleet of 22 aircraft including nine Airbus A320neos, Vistara – which is jointly owned by Tata and Singapore Airlines – has an endearing quality. Its name was drawn from the Sanskrit word Vistaar, which means “limitless expanse”. Presented with the opportunity to try .....https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2019/01/13/vistara-aims-to-go-the-extra-mile-to-make-passengers-smile/ By Neelam Mathews   → https://runwaygirlnetwork.com/2018/12/04/oman-air-continues-to-embrace-its-roots-with-737-max-experience/ Oman Air continues to embrace its roots with 737 MAX experience Dec 4, 2018    By Neelam Mathews  → Oman Air recently celebrated the delivery of its fifth of 30 Boeing 737 MAX 8s on order with the airframer. Ke...

by  Neelam Mathews  -  October 12, 2018, 2:09 PM India's SpiceJet took delivery of its first CFM Leap-1B-powered 737 Max 8 on October 12. (Photo: Boeing) CFM International expects to meet its target for delivering 1,100 engines by the end of the year, as a once six-week schedule lag progressively dwindles thanks to what CEO Gael Meheust attributes to a strict dual-source supplier policy. “Production will be in line with the projected schedule by the end of this year,” said Meheust as he addressed reporters in New Delhi this week. “For each (engine) part, we have a dual supplier and sometimes even three…. [a reason] we have made the ramp up fast…We are on track for the next year.”  He confirmed to  AIN  that the present production rate per year would nearly double to 2000 in 2020.  Referencing a turbine disc issue in Leap-1As for the Airbus A320neo and a batch of flawed metal discovered last May in some Le...

by  Neelam Mathews  -  August 10, 2018, 7:32 AM Add caption Overcapacity is creating a financial setback for India's airline industry. (Photo: Neelam Mathews) Fortunes have reversed for Indian airlines that had been growing at an average of 18 percent a year for the past three years. An exceedingly competitive fare environment, the adverse impact of a depreciating rupee, and increasing fuel prices have resulted in the sector showing signs of stress. “Cost pressures amidst weakness in fares are turning the operating environment adverse for operators,” Santosh Hiredesai, analyst at Mumbai-based SBICap Securities told  AIN . Fares for a two-hour flight between Delhi to Mumbai can be as low as $48. Given the infrastructure constraints at airports and in the airspace, Hiredesai says capacity rationalization often results in sharp improvement in industry yields. He said when Kingfisher Airlines ceased operations in 2013, followed by budget Spi...

by  Neelam Mathews  - October 18, 2016, 9:00 AM  Twenty-month-old Indian startup airline Vistara plans to adjust its strategy to fly internationally following the establishment of a new civil aviation policy in the subcontinent that allows carriers with 20 aircraft to fly abroad immediately. The previous mandate called for a minimum of five years of domestic flying with 20 aircraft. Against a background of a booming economy and India’s fast growing aviation industry, Vistara expects to launch its international operations by 2018. Talks have begun “with two airlines for partnerships [to foreign destinations],” confirmed Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO of the Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines joint venture. While it has applied for a code-share agreement with parent Singapore Airlines, Vistara has signed 12 interline agreements including those with British Airways, Finnair, Air France-KLM, ANA and JAL. Fleet addition has proved steady. “By June 2...

by  Neelam Mathews  - June 29, 2016, 3:00 AM New Indian carrier Vistara stands to be a beneficiary of the long-delayed reforms of the country's air transport policy. [Photo: Neelam Mathews] India released a national civil aviation policy on June 17 after two decades of fits and starts, as the country works to properly develop its fledgling infrastructure and prepare for a forecast 20 percent annual traffic growth until 2020. Within three days of the announcement, India radically liberalized its restrictive foreign direct investment regime by opening ten sectors, including defense and aviation. Ministry of Civil Aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey called June “a fun month,” while admitting challenges of implementation lay ahead and that “nuts and bolts” of the policy still required fine-tuning. “We are concerned that if we fall behind our growth curve, we will face civil aviation slumps,” he said. “We have told OEMs to bring in ...

Neelam Mathews Feb 16, 2016 Faced with regulatory bottlenecks and high taxation, and a fledgling infrastructure, India’s aviation industry–having grown by 20 percent in 2015–is set to get a boost a new civil aviation policy. While the government has said it aims to provide a level playing-field to aviation-related sectors including airlines, airports,  MRO  organizations and  GA , systems and processes will need to be simplified and made transparent. This is believed to be one of the conclusions of the draft aviation policy that is expected to be released imminently. The policy recognizes an eco-system will be needed to handle a high-growth market that saw 70 million domestic tickets sold last year, with forecasts for 300 million by 2022 and 500 million by 2027. International ticketing is expected to touch 200 million by 2027 also. Thorny issues remain, however. The government has not decided on the 5/20 rule that disallows start-ups from flying in...

by  Neelam Mathews  -  February 8, 2016, 1:07 PM Although Indian law limits foreign ownership of domestic airlines to 49 percent, some established carriers in India complain that startups such as Vistara operate under direct control of their overseas parents. (Photo: Flickr:  Creative Commons (BY-SA)  by  Rameshng ) India plans to release a new aviation policy next month and put it into effect on April 1, Ministry of Civil Aviation secretary  R.N.  Choubey confirmed to  AIN  during a civil aviation seminar in Delhi on February 2. The policy that has remained a draft for almost two decades comes at an opportune time, as Indian aviation posts record growth rates and low oil prices lead to competitive fares. Once a policy exists, investors can look seriously at investing in infrastructure-related projects. The policy focuses on development of regional connectivity and waiving of taxes that make maintenance, repair and...

Dubai Air Show By Neelam Mathews  - November 4, 2015, 8:30 AM With a focus on India and Dubai–the latter thanks to a strategic investment it made in Dubai’s Empire Aviation Group–Air Works India Engineering is looking at a new business model with a focus on line maintenance, an area that was until recently a domain handled by airlines. The move follows Airbus India signing comprehensive maintenance-support agreement with full-service startup airline Vistara, the first such agreement in the country. Air Works and Air India Engineering Services will honor the so-called Flight Hour Services Tailored Support Package (FHS-TSP) for Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Tata Group. Vistara started operations in October last year, and with a current fleet of nine A320s, expects the fleet size to grow to 20 by 2017. The support package will enable Vistara to benefit from the expertise offered by Airbus in airframe maintenance, engineering, reliability and c...

Neelam Mathews Nov 4, 2015 Indian domestic carrier Vistara wants to expand its existing fleet of nine A320s to begin international services. A report by the Center for Aviation (CAPA) commissioned by Indian domestic carrier Vistara has called on India’s government to take a long-term view of the air transport industry’s needs as it finalizes long awaited  new legislation. “The report, we hope, will form one of the significant inputs the government will take on board before it finalizes what is currently a draft civil aviation policy,” said Dr. Mukund Rajan, a board director with Vistara’s parent company Tata-SIA Airlines at a press conference in Mumbai on October 30. Vistara’s main concern is that its expansion plans will be undermined if the government does not abolish the so-called 5/20 rule, which obliges airlines to have a minimum of 20 aircraft and five years of domestic operational experience before they can launch international routes. This rule has been in place s...

Story published before release of draft aviation policy, though issues remain http://asianaviation.realviewtechnologies.com/#folio=44