Tata SIA Airlines Limited, operating as Vistara, is an Indian full-service airline, based in Gurgaon, with its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport. The carrier, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, commenced operations on 9 January 2015 with its inaugural flight between Delhi and Mumbai. The airline had carried more than two million passengers by June 2016[3] and as of May 2019, has a 4.7% share [4] of the domestic carrier market, making it the 6th largest domestic airline.[5]
The airline was founded in 2013 as a joint venture (JV) between India's conglomerate Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines (SIA).[9][10][11][12][13] The two companies had made a bid in the mid-1990s to launch a full-service carrier in India that was unsuccessful, being denied regulatory approval by the Indian government.[14] With India opening up its airline sector for 49 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2012, Tata and SIA once again decided to float a JV airline company in India.[15] The JV, Tata SIA Airlines Limited (TSAL), was envisaged as a premium full-service carrier to cater to the demands of high-end business travellers in India's civil aviation market dominated by low-cost carriers. India's Foreign Investment Promotion Board approved the JV in October 2013, allowing SIA to take a 49 percent stake in the airline.[16] The two parent companies initially pledged to invest a combined US$100mn as start-up capital, with Tata Sons owning 51 percent and Singapore Airlines owning the remaining 49 percent.[17] This was part of Tata's second major foray into the aviation sector along with a minority stake in AirAsia India.[18] The company's first venture, Tata Airlines, was established in the 1930s and later became the flag carrier Air India after nationalization.[19]
The company unveiled its brand identity "Vistara" on 11 August 2014.[10] The name was taken from the Sanskrit word vistara, meaning "limitless expanse".[20][21] Vistara received its air operator's certificate from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on 15 December 2014 and started operations on 9 January 2015.[18][22][23] Vistara became the first carrier to operate domestic services out of the new Terminal 2 at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.[24] On 24 August 2015, Vistara inaugurated the Aviation Security Training Institute, an in-house institute for training its cockpit and cabin crew, security staff and others related to aviation industry. The institute has secured the necessary approvals from the nodal body Bureau of Civil Aviation Security.[25] From the first month of operation, Vistara consistently achieved very high on-time performance records of over 90 percent, the highest among India's domestic carriers.[26][27] On 20 August 2015, Vistara declared it had carried half a million passengers in just over seven months of operations.[28] As of February 2016, Vistara has a share of 2% in the domestic carrier market.[29] Vistara recently received the membership of the International Air Transport Association (IATA),[30] joining the association of more than 280 airlines around the world that represents, leads and serves the airline industry. With this, Vistara becomes one of the select few airlines in India to have the IATA membership.
