Indian full service carrier Vistara has announced nonstop flights between Delhi and Paris, France which will be its 3rd destination in the United Kingdom and Europe after London and Frankfurt.
Bonjour! France
Starting 7th November 2021, Vistara will operate twice-weekly flights between Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport and Paris’ Charles de Gaulle International Airport.
The flights will run with the following schedule:
- Delhi-Paris
- Departure time: 13:45
- Arrival time: 18:40
- Flight time: 9 hours and 25 minutes
- Flights number: UK21
- Frequency: Wednesdays and Sundays
- Paris-Delhi
- Departure time: 21:45
- Arrival time: 10:30 (the next day)
- Flight time: 8 hours and 15 minutes
- Flights number: UK22
- Frequency: Wednesdays and Sundays
Flights will be operated by Vistara’s Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner featuring 30 lie-flat business class seats, 21 premium economy class seats and 248 economy class seats.
Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said:
We are very pleased to commence flights to Paris, a step that reflects our commitment to growing our global network. These flights give us the opportunity to further build our presence in Europe and to present India’s finest full-service carrier to the world.
The airline in a statement said:
Vistara will accept all eligible customers meeting visa/entry requirements in both the countries, as specified by the respective government bodies. Vistara strongly encourages its customers to fully understand these guidelines before making their bookings.
Bookings for these flights are now open on all channels including our website, Vistara’s iOS and Android mobile apps, through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and travel agents.
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Expanding
Vistara presently has 2 B787-9 Dreamliners in its fleet. The airline inducted its first Dreamliner in February 2020, just a few days before the world went into a lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, the Delhi-based carrier has made the most out of the opportunities it had. Vistara launched flights to London Heathrow, its first international destination to be served by the B787. This was followed up with flights to Frankfurt and Tokyo.
Presently, the airline uses its 2 B787-9s for 5-weekly services between Delhi and London, 2-weekly service between Delhi and Frankfurt and once-weekly service between Delhi and Tokyo. Vistara has already got permission from US’ Department of Permission (DOT) to launch flights to the United States. Two of the airlines’ aircraft are in storage awaiting delivery as global deliveries of Boeing B787 remain halted pending approval from the United States’ Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Competition
At present, Air France, the flag carrier of France, operates 4-weekly service to Delhi from Paris while Air India, flag carrier of India, operates 3-weekly flights between the two cities.
The Delhi-Paris market ranks amongst top five for origin-destination traffic from Delhi and Vistara will look at establishing itself in current times to ensure that it gains significant share of the market in future.
France is one of the 16 countries in the European Union which allows Indians vaccinated with COVISHIELD to enter the country. However, it is advised to check the latest guidelines before travelling as the entry requirements change at any time.
Meanwhile, Vistara is planning to start nonstop flights to the United States in the fourth quarter of 2021 after the airline got permission from the Department of Transportation (DOT) of the US. The airline recently restructured its ‘Freedom Fares’ programme. Vistara also recently operated India’s first flight with fully vaccinated crew and took delivery of first owned Airbus A320neo. The Indian full-service carrier has restarted flights to the Maldives and will restart flights to Jodhpur in October 2021. Vistara recently launched ‘Purple Ticket’ Gift Card.
Featured image by Vistara
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