The announcement has come at a time when the aviation sector of the country is considered very volatile, with the future of the national carrier still undecided. Several private players, both domestic as well as international, have been looking to make inroads into the Indian aviation sector with partnerships, initiatives and in the case of some foreign airlines like Qatar, even attempting to make direct entry into the market.
According to official media reports, Vistara recently announced the launch of an interline partnership with Qatar Airways. An interline agreement is an agreement to issue and accept tickets for flights operated by partnered airlines. The move is aimed at facilitating Qatar Airways’ customers to travel seamlessly on Vistara’s domestic flights, to and from Qatar Airways’ global network. The airlines’ will be providing “through check-in” facility to their fliers as a part of this initiative. This will allow fliers to get their boarding passes at the starting point of the trip, be it a domestic or international destination, and get the baggage checked in through to the final destination.
“We are delighted to launch our interline partnership with Qatar Airways, through which we will offer a seamless flying experience and international luggage allowance to our joint customers from various cities in India to and from over 150 destinations across the world on a single ticket. Qatar Airways’ customers will also now be able to experience ‘the new feeling’ with Vistara and enjoy the finest hospitality in Indian skies on their domestic connecting flights,” Vistara’s Chief Executive Officer, Phee Teik Yeoh was quoted as having said. Qatar Airways, which currently operates to New Delhi, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kozhikode, Kolkata, Goa, Chennai, Nagpur, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad, in India from its Doha hub, had in the past held talks with Indian budget carrier IndiGo for similar tie ups and other marketing initiatives but the talks failed to yield results. “This exciting new partnership with Vistara will bring enhanced connectivity and increased convenience to our customers travelling within India. This new partnership expands Qatar Airways’ presence in India and reinforces our commitment to this market,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, as per the reports.
This move is in addition to several other existing interline pacts that Vistara already has with carriers such as Austrian Airlines, Kenya Airways, Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines, Air France, KLM, Japan Airlines, , All Nippon Airways (ANA), British Airways, Finnair and Aeroflot.
