In what could add more teeth to India’s ‘Act East Policy’, strengthening air connectivity to Tokyo and beyond, Japan Airlines and Vistara have recently signed a codeshare agreement to open more routes between the two regions. Vistara has now become the first Indian carrier to have an MoU in place with the Japanese flag carrier. The move will benefit Vistara in reaching out to a larger global market, in the process, acquiring a pole-position in markets yet untapped by other Indian carriers.
Japan Airlines (JAL) and Vistara have inked a codeshare agreement to open up more routes between India and Tokyo. As ticket sale commences today on all channels and major GDS systems, Vistara has effectively become the only codeshare partner for Japan Airlines in India.
As per the agreement, Japan Airlines will add its ‘JL’ designator code to approximately 32 Vistara-operated flights each day across India, covering seven Indian cities of Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.
JAL and Vistara have an interline check-in partnership in place after the two airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September 2017.
Commenting on the development, Sanjiv Kapoor, Vistara’s Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer, said, “We’re delighted to further strengthen our partnership with Japan Airlines with this codeshare agreement, which is a step that underlines our commitment of partnering with some of the leading airlines in the world and of putting Vistara, India’s best airline, on the global map. This partnership helps us offer greater convenience and variety of choice to customers with a comprehensive network, as well as the opportunity of welcoming travellers from Japan and beyond to experience Vistara’s award-winning hospitality and service. We’re confident that our respective customers will truly enjoy the shared benefits of this partnership between two airlines committed to being amongst the best service providers on the ground and in the sky.”
“The number of passengers travelling between Japan and India has increased over time,” said Hideki Oshima, Executive Officer, Japan Airlines. “By strengthening the partnership with Vistara, we will be able to provide better network access for our mutual customers. And, we look to further cooperate with Vistara to open up additional opportunities for both airlines.”
The codeshare flights will provide seamless connectivity to and from a daily flight already operational by JAL to Delhi from Tokyo Narita. Japan Airlines and Vistara operate from the same terminal at Delhi (T3), adding to seamless connectivity.
Vistara currently operates to 22 destinations with over 800 flights a week and a fleet of 22 aircraft.
