Air India, one of India’s leading airlines and a Star Alliance member, has entered an interline partnership with the full-service carrier, Vistara (a joint venture of Tata and Singapore Airlines).
The partnership enables Air India’s guests to travel seamlessly on Vistara’s route network to and from over 80 points across Air India’s extensive domestic and global network.
The scope of the agreement between the two airlines includes Inter Airline Through Check-in (IATCI) implementation, which enables guests to receive their boarding passes at the first point of departure for all the travel sectors on a single ticket and have their baggage checked in through to their final destinations. Air India and Vistara operate at the same terminals at most major airports in India, adding to the ease of the on-ground travel experience for guests with interline itineraries.
Air India and Vistara have also implemented ‘Interline Considerations on Irregular Operations (IROPs)’ or the ‘disruption transfer’ functionality. This enables the two airlines to seamlessly transfer passengers to one another’s first available alternative flights in case of operational disruptions such as delays, cancellations, diversions, etc. and minimise any inconvenience to their guests.
Campbell Wilson, CEO & MD, Air India, said: “We are pleased with our interline partnership with Vistara, which will provide greater connectivity and convenience to our joint customers travelling within and outside of India on both our expanding route networks. Our common commitment to excellence in safety and customer service lies at the forefront of this partnership. We look forward to serving Vistara’s customers with additional travel choices to Air India destinations across the Americas, Europe, Far East, Australia, and the Middle East.”
Vinod Kannan, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said, “This partnership brings together two leading airlines in India to offer greater convenience and enhanced connectivity to customers travelling across our joint network. This is reflective of our deep-rooted commitment to offering our customers the finest and the most convenient way to fly across the world. We are delighted to further strengthen our relationship with Air India and connect our customers to new destinations in their wide network.”
Air India’s interline partnership with Vistara comes in addition to over 100 interline agreements and close to 50 through check-in agreements it has with partner airlines globally, such as Lufthansa, United Airlines, Air Canada, and Singapore Airlines, among others.
Recently, Air India announced having entered the ‘take off’ phase in ‘Vihaan.AI’ (Air India’s 5-year transformation plan), which is focused on developing the platforms, processes, and systems needed to build toward excellence.