Vinod Kannan, chief commercial officer, Vistara
What is Vistara planning to do to ramp up international services as the world reopens? Which international destinations did you reopen first and what are the upcoming ones?
While we have had to make temporary adjustments to our short-term plans due to the pandemic, we remain focused on our long-term vision of densifying our domestic network while expanding globally to become one of the world’s best airlines. Despite the challenging environment, we have continued to focus on capitalising every viable opportunity available to us and keep growing. We are fortunate to have been able to expand our international network during the pandemic, albeit with limitations and as part of ‘air bubble’ agreements. These operations not only helped us in introducing Vistara in markets that were already part of our expansion plans, but also helped us in making inroads into new geographies, paving way for a strong foothold in global aviation.
During this period, we expanded our network to seven new international destinations including London Heathrow, Dhaka, Doha, Frankfurt, Sharjah, Malé and Tokyo; besides restarting operations to Dubai which we were already operating to. Having received temporary Foreign Air Carrier permit from the Department of Transportation, USA, we are hopeful to start long-haul operations to the US soon.
The momentum we have gained in the last one year on our international expansion has been rewarding and will also be helpful in spreading our wings further when scheduled international operations restart. We have plans in place to add 10-12 destinations to our network as soon as we can.
What is the current traffic level and at what pace do you see it picking up?
After an unusually difficult last year and the devastating second wave of the Covid-19, the aviation industry is witnessing signs of gradual recovery. At Vistara, we are currently operating almost 60 pc of our pre-pandemic capacity connecting 27 destinations including key big-city routes such as Bengaluru, Delhi, and Mumbai. For international, we are almost at par with our pre-pandemic numbers. We are now observing a gradual return of traffic as the situation has started to stabilise.
But it is very difficult to give any estimates about the future given the volatility and unpredictability of the situation. However, with the ramped-up vaccination efforts across the country, we are hopeful that the situation will improve soon and the demand for air travel will return progressively.
As other sectors resume business after pandemic, do you think aviation industry has still not picked up?
The aviation sector has been one of the worst affected due to the pandemic. The industry has been facing its most challenging time with high cost of business, fluctuating demand and looming uncertainties.
But we remain optimistic about the future. We have been witnessing a steady improvement in demand, mainly in VFR (visiting friends and relatives) and leisure travel. We understand that people have held back their travel plans due to various reasons like travel restrictions, rapid spread of the virus in the second wave and we hope they will resume as soon as the situation gets stabilised globally. Governments across the globe are focusing on getting their populations vaccinated rapidly which makes us feel very positive about the future.
Before pandemic, Vistara had an aggressive fleet expansion plan. How was that impacted by the pandemic?
In the calendar year 2020, we added two new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, two Airbus A321neo and four Airbus A320neo aircraft to our fleet, while five of our old Airbus A320ceo aircraft were returned to the lessors. While we are working out the delivery schedules of aircrafts with Airbus and Boeing, we remain committed to the overall orders we had placed with both the OEMs. We are also on track to achieve a fleet of 70 aircraft by 2023.
Vistara is currently operating almost 60 pc of their pre-pandemic capacity connecting 27 destinations
How has the experience of flying internationally changed due to the pandemic?
The pandemic has led to an increased focus on safety and hygiene which will continue to be amongst the top considerations for customers. This has led to a growing preference for non-stop, direct flights to avoid the risk of contracting the virus while in transit. We are already witnessing this trend emerge and expect it to only get stronger in the future.
What measures have been taken by Vistara to ensure safety and hygiene not just aboard its aircraft, but also in the entire chain?
At Vistara, we have taken various measures to ensure a safe flying experience for customers across all touchpoints. In line with Covid-19 travel guidelines and social distancing norms, we incorporated a touchless check-in and arrival experience for all passengers while ensuring row wise staggered boarding and deboarding. Vistara kept a sharp focus on leveraging biometric technology for a seamless customer experience.
Interactions between cabin crew and passengers have also been minimised to ensure maximum safety and social distancing. Vistara also introduced an ancillary service that allows passengers to book an extra seat for themselves to ensure that the next seat is empty – to encourage travellers to fly with greater confidence.
Our newly introduced Gate-to-Gate service is aimed at helping customers by ensuring that they do not have to worry about their luggage and travel with absolute peace of mind. As a customer-centric organisation, it has been our endeavour to consistently aim for service excellence by offering a convenient and seamless travel experience to our customers.
We also introduced campaigns like #FlyingFeelsSafeAGain and #FlyerCODE that communicated all the measures we took while also creating awareness about the shared responsibility of keeping air travel safe. We believe these actions will cumulatively influence positive behavioural changes in travellers, ensuring a comfortable and safer air travel experience.
Additionally, recognising the crucial role of vaccination in the battle against Covid-19, we took several initiatives and managed to get almost 100 pc of our staff vaccinated with at least the first dose. Vistara was also the first airline in India to operate flights with fully vaccinated cabin crew and pilots.
What is your expectation of the Indian market for 2021 and 2022?
Most predictions about recovery of the aviation industry have been proven wrong and Indian airlines, just like their global peers, are badly hit by this pandemic-induced crisis. However, we are hopeful that the industry will witness a good rebound on the back of mass vaccination programmes. With passenger traffic improving both at the domestic and international front, outlook for the Indian market looks promising.
Who do you think will be flying from India — business travellers or tourists?
By the end of 2021, we can expect a return of corporate travel to some extent, mainly from SMEs, entrepreneurs, service providers etc. However, pre-pandemic levels would still be far away.
On the other hand, we feel leisure travel or VFR will pick up much faster. In fact, we are already witnessing a gradual return of demand in these segments.
When do you see the outbound market from India coming back to normalcy?
The normalcy of the outbound market from India depends on several factors like easing of travel restrictions by other countries, bilateral travel agreements, consistency of requirements and processes etc. Also, vaccine passports (or travel/health passes) are expected to become key to the future of global travel, given the vital role vaccination is playing in the fight against Covid-19 across globe.
Also, we are in a situation where demand will positively keep improving as more and more people get fully vaccinated. However, reaching pre-pandemic levels or even some level of normalcy for international travel is still going to take time.
