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In February 2020, I stumbled across and wrote about Vistara Airline, an airline that quickly became my latest plane obsession (well, one of my latest plane obsessions). 😉
WHO IS VISTARA?
If you’re not familiar with Vistara Airline, they were founded in 2013 by the Tata Group and Singapore Airline, two companies known for their luxury. They first took to the skies in 2015, aiming to offer passengers a full-service luxury experience.
Currently, Vistara is primarily an Indian domestic carrier. However, they serve 5 international destinations including Dubai (DXB), Colombo (CMB), Singapore (SIN), Bangkok (BKK), and Kathmandu (KTM). Their longest routes of Delhi (DEL) and Singapore (SIN) can easily be covered using their fleet of Airbus A320-200s, A320neos, A32neos and Boeing 737-800s.
Earlier this year, Vistara revealed they had a standing order of six Boeing 787-9 aircraft – the first of which was delivered in February 2020 and the second one in August 2020 – and revealed they would be using the same business class seat on their dreamliner as parent Singapore Airlines (the Stelia Aerospace Opal seat).
787 ROUTE REVEALED
The $1 million question up to this point has been “on what route will they debut this beautiful bird?”
This week, Vistara announced the maiden voyage would be in less than a week (August 28, 2020) and would fly to London.
The flights between India and the UK and will have the following schedule:
| Sector | Flight No. | Days of Operation | Departure | Arrival |
| Delhi – London Heathrow | UK 015 | Mon, Wed, Fri | 0215 Hours | 0655 Hours |
| London Heathrow – Delhi | UK 016 | Mon, Wed, Fri | 1535 Hours | 0415 Hours (+1) |
BOOKING WITH UNITED
Last year (2019) United Airlines and Vistara launched a codeshare agreement and that agreement has been expanded to include the ability to earn and redeem United miles on all Vistara flights.
It’s now possible to redeem United MileagePlus miles for travel on Vistara throughout their network. Flights are bookable directly through united.com, and award availability is readily available. Most domestic itineraries start at just 8,000 miles in economy or 35,000 miles in business class.
It’s worth noting that if you’re in Delhi (or can position before the 28th), the maiden voyage has available award space.
Unfortunately, as many know, departing London is a different story because London = crazy surcharges for all carriers, including Vistara…
FINAL STAMP
This week, Vistara announced the date (August 28, 2020) for their 787 maiden voyage to London.
The airline launched a codeshare agreement last year with United Airlines that has been expanded to include the ability to earn and redeem United miles on all Vistara flights.
Unfortunately, this is a terrible time for any airline to be starting additional service in light of a pandemic and decreased demand, but we’ll see what happens.
If you’re disappointed and don’t want to pay the surcharges to depart London, Vistara mentioned in their press release that the airline was also “seeking necessary regulatory approvals to soon operate similar special flights to Paris, France and Frankfurt, Germany” so it may be worth waiting.
Again, I’m extremely excited to see that United has partnered with Vistara because United MileagePlus miles are easy to earn. This airline has been on my radar all year and I can’t wait to review the airline and business class.
What do you think about Vistaras decision to fly to London?
p.s. I predicted they would fly to London in this blog post. 😉
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