New Delhi. Vistara, India’s fastest growing full service carrier, on September 30 inaugurated operations to Port Blair as its flight UK 747 took off from Delhi for Port Blair via Kolkata at 0720 hours.
With the addition of Port Blair to its rapidly expanding pan-India network, Vistara now serves 18 destinations across the length and breadth of the country.
Port Blair, with a population of 1,10,000, is a perfect fit for Vistara’s growing network for leisure and business travelers alike. The city is a gateway to a group of over 500 islands in the Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, boasting of an indigenous culture, South Asia’s only active volcano, rich marine life as well as wildlife, world-famous pristine beaches, and thrilling underwater sports.
Its reputation as one of the most beautiful holiday destinations in Asia also gives a major boost to its fishing and handicraft industries. Port Blair, clean and neatly laid out, with colourful buildings and impressive colonial architecture, has been selected as one of the 100 Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under the government’s flagship Smart Cities mission.
The new service to Port Blair offers a daily flight from Delhi and Kolkata (same aircraft service via Kolkata), with arrival and departure timings that allow for convenient connections to ferry and catamaran services between Port Blair and Havelock Island. The island is the site of Radhanagar Beach, voted Asia’s Best Beach by Time magazine.
Commenting on the launch of the new services, Mr Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara, said, “We are delighted to add Port Blair to our fast-growing network with a daily direct flight from Delhi via Kolkata. The Andamans are a beautiful part of India with rich history and breathtaking natural beauty. We are pleased to offer both the visitors, and the wonderful residents of this region, the chance to experience ‘the new feeling’ of flying Vistara, an airline that is setting new standards of service excellence, when they travel to and from Port Blair.â€
Mr Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara, added, “Delivering on our brand promise to provide seamless, thoughtful and personalised services, we are pleased to introduce a variety of attractively priced packages in cooperation with top travel entities to offer our customers the most convenient travel in the Andamans. While Port Blair itself offers a lot to see and do, including the historic Cellular Jail and an excursion to the neighboring Ross Island, we have also timed our flights to offer the most convenient connections to and from the most popular inter-island ferries such as to Havelock Island.â€
Vistara also announced the addition of a third daily flight between Delhi and Kolkata to cater to the Puja rush. This supplementary flight will operate between September 30 and October 12.
In a span of just 20 months, Vistara has expanded its network to 18 destinations with 430 weekly flights, further connecting India with multiple international destinations through its interline partners. Over the next few weeks, Vistara’s fleet will grow to 13 aircraft which will fly 515 flights weekly. Having already achieved the benchmark of flying more than 2.5 million customers, Vistara continues to grow and gain accolades as it redefines air travel in India.
