NE BUSINESS BUREAU
SINGAPORE, NEW DELHI, DEC 7
Singapore Airlines and Vistara have signed a commercial cooperation framework agreement that will allow them to harmonise efforts in capacity planning, sales, marketing, joint fare products, customer services and operations, an official statement said Monday.
The agreement is an extension of a codeshare partnership between the airlines.
“Strengthening the partnership between SIA (Singapore Airlines) and Vistara will allow both airlines to achieve further synergies on services between Singapore and India, as well as in the key regions of South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand,” the airlines said in a joint statement.
JoAnn Tan, Acting Senior Vice President Marketing Planning, Singapore Airlines, said: “By bolstering our partnership, Singapore Airlines and Vistara are able to work together to provide additional options for our customers. It also reflects the importance of the Indian market to Singapore Airlines, as well as our commitment to grow our network in the coming years.”
Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara said: “We are thrilled to further strengthen our partnership with Singapore Airlines. The intent is reflective of our deep-rooted commitment to providing our customers the finest and the most convenient way to fly across the world with the consistency of a five-star travel experience. This is in line with our long-term growth plan of expanding Vistara’s global presence and presenting India’s best airline to the world.”
Vistara is a 51:49 joint venture between the Tata group and Singapore Airlines, it said.
The commercial cooperation framework agreement is subject to regulatory approval in Singapore, the statement mentioned.
India resumed scheduled domestic passenger flights on May 25 after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus lockdown. At that time, carriers were permitted to operate not more than 33 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic flights.
Currently, the airlines are allowed to operate a maximum of 80 per cent of their pre-COVID domestic services.
Scheduled international passenger flights continue to remain suspended in the country since March 23 due to the pandemic.
However, airlines have been permitted to operate special international flights under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under the bilateral air bubble pacts since July.
