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Operating at over 90% pre-Covid capacity, says Vistara
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SME Times News Bureau | 19 Nov, 2021
Accelerated domestic vaccination drive along with trends like 'revenge
travel' during the festive season and easing of Covid-19 restrictions
has bouyed Vistara's demand outlook.
Accordingly, the airline
operating at more than 90 per cent of pre-pandemic capacity, expects to
reach pre-Covid levels of demand "very soon".
In a conversation
with IANS, Vinod Kannan, Chief Commercial Officer, Vistara, cited a
consistent rise in demand for domestic air travel during the last two to
three months.
"The government's decision to remove restrictions
on capacity deployment has also come as a very welcome news for the
industry. We can expect to reach pre-Covid levels of demand very soon.
We are already operating more than 90 per cent of our pre-Covid
capacity," he said.
Besides, he pointed out that even
international routes have been performing well due to the growing number
of countries easing travel restrictions.
At present, India has
formed air bubble pacts with about 28 countries. India-based airlines
are allowed to operate flights to these countries on a reciprocal basis.
"We
can expect the (demand) trend to move in a positive direction and the
demand to increase progressively, subject to no large shocks like a
third wave," Kannan said.
According to Kannan, the airline
witnessed a surge in demand during the festive season which was backed
by increasing confidence in air travel.
"This surge can be
attributed to people visiting friends and relatives (VFR) or travelling
for leisure particularly on the metro routes, between cities such as
Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and leisure
destinations such as Goa and Leh.
"We hope that the demand will continue to rise in the coming months as well," he added.
In addition, he said that the airline has resumed hiring selectively, aligned with its growth strategy.
"Despite
the challenges of the pandemic, we have been focused on our expansion
plans and have been consistently working towards it. As the market
gradually started improving from the impact of the pandemic in the
second half of 2020, we continued to tread our way carefully...."
The airline is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA).
Currently,
it has a fleet of 50 aircraft, comprising 39 Airbus A320, four Airbus
A321neo, five Boeing 737-800NG, and two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner
aircraft, and has flown more than 29 million.
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