Vistara Forays Into the Land of the Rising Sun - Japan

India, October 26, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​Vistara, a TATA SIA JV, today announced a formal partnership agreement with Japan Airlines (JAL) and the appointment of Air System Inc. (ASI) as its General Sales Agent (GSA) in Japan. Coming soon after the appointment of a GSA for the GCC and establishment of an offline office in Dubai, these moves mark Vistara’s foray into another major international market. As India’s fastest growing full service carrier, Vistara offers the discerning leisure and business travellers from Japan a new flying experience within India, at par with the finest international standards offered by partner, JAL. The establishment of a presence in the Japanese market reaffirms Vistara’s focused growth plans to expand its customer base and widen its presence across international markets.

In line with the rapid growth of India’s economy and strengthened relations between the two countries, air travel demand between Japan and India has also been growing strongly. With JAL operating daily nonstop services between Tokyo (Narita) and Delhi, Vistara’s hub in Delhi IGI Terminal 3 offers JAL customers seamless connectivity to and from its network of 11 cities across India. With this agreement, JAL customers can initially avail the convenience of purchasing one ticket in Japan or India for combined itineraries on JAL and Vistara, and enjoy the fully international baggage allowances on Vistara’s domestic services in India. Future enhancements could include inter-airline through check-in facilities, lounge access and codesharing.

Further underlining its commitment to serve travellers from Japan, Vistara has also appointed Air System Inc. (ASI) as its General Sales Agent (GSA) in Japan. One of Japan’s most reputed GSAs with a successful track record of over 30 years, ASI will help expand Vistara’s presence in the Japanese market by providing reservations, ticketing and sales services directly in the country.

Mr. Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara, highlighting the importance of the initiative, stated, “Japan is among the fastest growing travel markets in the world and the origin of significant business and leisure travel in India. Cities like Tokyo and Osaka account for the majority of traffic coming to India and this trend is expected to grow progressively with the strengthened cooperation between both countries. We are thrilled to have established a presence in Japan through the partnerships with Japan Airlines and ASI. With Vistara’s growing domestic network, we look forward to providing seamless connectivity for Japanese customers to and from various parts of India.”

In September 2015, Vistara appointed Sharaf Travels LLC as its GSA for the GCC and opened its first overseas sales office in Dubai. Sharaf Travels now represents Vistara in the GCC territories of UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In a short span of nine months, Vistara has rapidly expanded its services with 293 weekly frequencies across 12 destinations in India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Goa, Guwahati, Bagdogra, Bhubaneswar and Varanasi (w.e.f. 21st Oct). Having flown more than 700,000 customers since its maiden flight, Vistara stands tall on its promise of providing personalised and seamless travel experience, delivered with intuitive thoughtfulness. Vistara’s on-time performance (OTP), which is consistently one of the highest in the industry ever since its launch, is yet another reason for time conscious travellers to choose Vistara.

The coming months will witness the opening of Vistara’s signature lounge at T3 IGI Airport, addition of new aircraft, scaled up frequencies to existing destinations and introduction of the revolutionizing in-flight entertainment (IFE) system which wirelessly streams preloaded content to customers’ personal electronic devices.

Notes to the editor:
Vistara has introduced many unique product and service offerings which include-
o First airline to introduce Premium Economy in India’s domestic skies at a competitive price
o First to offer a seamless boarding experience through designated queues and various check in options including auto check-in
o First to introduce IntelliCabin™ in-flight entertainment (IFE) system in partnership with BAE systems which integrates inflight wireless streaming of preloaded content to customers’ personal electronic devices (PEDs) across all three cabin classes in its fleet of A320 aircraft (w.e.f Dec 2015). The system also includes fully integrated Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablets for Business Class customers (w.e.f. May 2015)
o First to introduce a value based points accrual in Frequent Flyer Program, Club Vistara A user friendly mobile app packed with an array of features for customers to enable self-servicing
o The hassle-free check-in and boarding process with thoughtfully designed on-board experience, comfortable and spacious seating
o Offers an interesting and innovative in-flight dining experience with a wide range of cuisines, which not only showcase the diversity of regional dishes, but also incorporates global culinary trends. Keeping customers’ preference in mind we keep introducing interesting twist to our menu.
o Vistara is the first domestic airline that started operations from Terminal 2 of Mumbai International airport and to launch the e-boarding pass facility for its customers flying out from this terminal. Hence, providing a truly international and seamless experience to its customers.

About Japan Airlines (JAL)
Japan Airlines (JAL) was founded in 1951 and became the first international airline in Japan. A member of the oneworld® alliance, the airline now reaches more than 305 airports in 51 countries and regions together with its codeshare partners with a modern fleet of more than 220 aircraft. JAL Mileage Bank (JMB), the airline's loyalty program, has reached over 29 million members worldwide. Awarded the most punctual major international airlines in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013, JAL is committed to providing customers with the highest levels of flight safety and supreme quality in every aspect of its service, and aims to become the most loved, and number one airline of choice in the world. For more information, please visit http://www.jal.com/en/outline/

About Air System Inc.
Air System Inc. (ASI) is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and has branches in Osaka and Nagoya. Established in 1984, ASI has become one of Japan's most respected General Sales Agents and its current airline client list includes a mix of national flag carriers and low cost carriers

About Vistara (TATA SIA Airlines Limited)
TATA SIA Airlines Limited, known by the brand name Vistara, is a joint venture between Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) with Tata Sons holding the majority stake of 51% in the company and SIA holding the remaining 49%. Vistara brings together Tata’s and SIA’s legendary hospitality and renowned service excellence to launch the finest full service carrier in India aimed at creating memorable and personalised flying experiences for its customers. Vistara commenced its commercial operations on January 9, 2015 with an aim to set new standards in the aviation industry in India. For additional information, visit www.airvistara.com.