Vistara, which is going to be merged with Air India by next year, has announced its first destination in Africa. The airline will start flying to the island country of Mauritius from March this year.
First destination in Africa
Starting 26th March 2023, Vistara will operate 5-flights-a-week between Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and Port Louis’ Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport. The service will run with the following timings:
- Mumbai-Port Louis
- Departure time: 07:30
- Arrival time: 12:00
- Flight time: 6 hours
- Flight number: UK241
- Frequency: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Port Louis-Mumbai
- Departure time: 13:30
- Arrival time: 21:00
- Flight time: 6 hours
- Flight number: UK242
- Frequency: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
Related: Vistara expands Middle Eastern presence with the addition of Dammam to its network
Flights will be operated by Vistara’s newly-inducted Airbus A321LR (Long Range) aircraft which also happens to be India’s first aircraft of this specific type.
Vistara’s A321LR features 12 lie-flat Business Class seats, 24 Premium Economy Class seats and 152 standard Economy Class seats.
Bookings are now available for flights through to 28th October 2023 across all bookings channels.
Vistara announces the addition of Mauritius to its constantly expanding global network. Besides being a popular tourist destination, Mauritius is an important business hub and home to many global financial institutions. This new route will further aid the growing traffic between the two countries
said Vinod Kannan, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara.
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I am a bit skeptical about this route
Mauritius was one of the rumoured destinations that Vistara was looking at with its A321LR aircraft. The aircraft features three additional fuel tanks, giving it a range of 4000 nautical miles, opening up the possibility of adding longer routes like Mumbai-Mauritius where demand is there but not enough to support a wide-body aircraft operation.
Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean known for its beaches, reefs and lagoons. The country includes several islands of volcanic origin. Most of the 1.37 million people that h the country is home to lives on the main island of Mauritius. The country has built a strong tourism industry with people from all over the world visiting the country for its laid back lifestyle and multiple ultra-luxury resorts.
With this new route, Vistara is ticking yet another country from where a foreign carrier has service to India but any Indian carrier doesn’t. Air Mauritius operates 6-weekly flights to Mumbai using its 288-seater Airbus A330neo aircraft.
The timings of Mumbai-Mauritius service indicate that Vistara is not just targeting O/D (Origin/Destination) traffic but connecting traffic from Indian cities as well as international destinations, particularly the Middle Eastern ones.
The India-Mauritius Bilateral Air Agreement allows 14-flights-a-week from each side. That is far from being fully utilised. The addition of Vistara service on this route adds nearly 8,300 monthly seats. The market will surely take time to absorb the capacity increase but the arrival of a premium airline, that too from India, is a welcome move.
Featured image by Twitter/Tobias_Gudat
What do you think of Vistara launching service to Mauritius? Let me know in the comments section below.
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