The joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, Vistara's take-off has been delayed. Speaking to CNBC-TV18, the CEO of the airline, Phee Teik Yeoh, said the launch could happen at the start of the New Year.
According to Yeoh, there have been changes in the plan as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will soon be undergoing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) review.
Since the Indian civil aviation was downgraded in January and the review will be taking place very soon, Vistara had to make some changes in its certification process.
But the airline isn’t disappointed. “While it was a setback to us, at the end of the day we would like to see the civil aviation get its rating restored. So, we duly comply with the changes and have made all the changes we have submitted and it has been accepted. Now we are just waiting for the final hurdle,” added Yeoh.
Vistara is hopeful of getting a flying permit very soon. The company is finely tuning its plans and is hopeful of sharing its launching plan with the nation very soon.
Below is the transcript of Phee Teik Yeoh's interview with Shereen Bhan on CNBC-TV18.
Q: What is the earliest that you believe you will be able to launch, if the permit comes in at the end of this month or in the middle of this month, so is a January first week launch something that we can expect?
A: The permit is going to be given to us very soon. So right now we are fine-tuning our plans and hopefully very soon we will be able to share with the nation the day we are going to launch.
Q: A new flight in the New Year, at the start of the New Year perhaps?
A: It can even happen before a year is over but we are now looking at which is the best time so it doesn’t necessarily have to wait to the New Year but a New Year, a new experience, a new flight why not.
Q: What is the latest now in terms of the number of flights that you will operate on a weekly basis, the number of cities that you are going to reach out to, does it continue to be nine cities that you will start with, the fleet size?
A: We are going to have five aircrafts by the end of the year and based on the five aircrafts fleet plan, we are going to operate to destinations where there is demand for full service.
Q: I would imagine that is largely going to be the metros?
A: Not really. There are enough non-metros that has mushroomed and grown in potential over the years.
Q: Which non-metros excite you the most?
A: There are many.
Q: The top five?
A: The potential of each metros keep changing. The Civil Aviation in India is at the cusp of change. What you see as exciting today in terms of potential, you will be surprised how fast things will change. Some of these cities are emerging very quickly and very fast. It is a combination of a few factors, not just about the demand, it is also about the profile of customers, the competition. So a lot of factors goes into consideration before we decided okay, for the limited fleet of aircraft that we have, we are going to use our limited resource to operate to this destination. It is not just about the size of the market alone, there are many other factors.
Q: As far as specifically regulations for the Civil Aviation sector is concerned, there continues to be back and forth on 5:20 whether it is going to stay or go. The latest we hear is it is likely to go, we don’t know when. But as and when the government were to decide to do away with 5:20, when do you believe you will be ready to go international from India?
A: I think the writing is on the wall. We welcome the change, the repeal of this rule that has so far been penalizing the India carrier, there is no such rule that prohibits the foreign carriers from operating into India. As and when and we like to see that this 5:20 rule gets repealed very soon and we have overseas ambition. Yes of course when we first set foot into India, we know there is a 5:20 rule so our operation, our structure, our plan has all been geared up to domestic operations for the next five years but as and when the 5:20 rule goes away, we will look into operating on the international sectors as soon as we are capable of because it involves a lot of planning, the aircraft that must be the right type for us to operate into the destinations that we will choose to operate in the first few years.
Q: But in your experience as and when 5:20 goes, how long would it take to be able to put the plan in place and then to actually operate internationally?
A: Very much depends on where you intend to operate. There are some overseas destinations you can operate with 80:20 aircraft but if we want to flight further beyond the reach of 80:20, you need to start procuring a twin-aisle aircraft for instance to provide grater customer comfort, you have got to go for aircraft that can operate the range desired. So that will take some time because the leasing out of procurement of aircraft is not just a simple exercise that can be completed in a month.
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