(MENAFN- The Peninsula) India's newest airline made its maiden flight yesterday, kickstarting attempts to attract well-heeled passengers in a market dominated by loss-making, no-frills carriers.
New airline Vistara - a Sanskrit word meaning "limitless expanse" - took off from New Delhi for financial hub Mumbai, offering flyers premium services including a string of special meal options.
"Being full service doesn't mean you're lavish or you're over the top. It means serving different customers' needs differently," Vistara Chairman Prasad Menon said at Delhi airport.
India's aviation market is expected to be the third-largest globally within a decade. But the sector is currently plagued by losses stemming from hefty operating costs and bruising fare wars that has left at least one no-frills carrier, SpiceJet, struggling.
Vistara is steering clear of the budget market dominated by a string of mostly loss-making airlines who last year had offered fares lower than the price of a second-class train ticket.
Instead, Vistara's premium economy fares for short flights from the capital to Mumbai start at Rs12,000 ($190).
The airline is 49-percent owned by deep-pocketed Singapore airlines, one of the world's top-rated carriers. Mumbai-based Tata conglomerate controls the other 51 percent.
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