Vistara Launches Bangkok Flights; Exclusive HD Video Interview with CEO, Leslie Thng

To say that India's Vistara airline has had a busy month would be somewhat of an understatement.

The airline, a joint venture between TATA Sons and Singapore Airlines, launched flights from both Mumbai and Delhi to Singapore at the beginning of August, flights between Mumbai and Dubai last week, and on Tuesday the airline launched flights from Delhi to Bangkok, Thailand. All of them daily services.

Vistara's CEO, Mr. Leslie Thng, was joined on the inaugural flight from Delhi to Bangkok with select journalists from India and held a media roundtable at the Centre Point Chidlom Hotel the following day.

Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com used this opportunity to sit down with Mr. Thng and ask him why the airline has chosen to launch flights to Dubai and Bangkok as the first international destinations after Singapore, and how many more routes the airline will launch this year, and where to.

Mr. Thng tells us what potential the Bangkok route has and whether they may operate more than just one flight per day. We also discuss the important of secondary destinations in the region such as Chiang Mai and Phuket in Thailand, or Penang and Langkawi in Malaysia, to Vistara's expansion plans.

Long haul international expansion has always been part of Vistara's plans and with the airline scheduled to receive its first Boeing 787-9 in February 2020, the second in March 2020 and another 4 by the end of 2020, we discuss which short haul routes these aircraft will operate on before they commence long haul service and where those long haul flights will be to.

We discuss the pros and cons of Gatwick and Manchester vs Heathrow, Haneda vs Tokyo, and whether Vistara will be flying to Japan before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games gets underway.

Mr. Thng tells us how the Boeing 787-9s will be configured, which IFE system they have chosen, and whether they will offer free WiFi on board, or not.

We talk about dedicated cargo services, ancillary revenue, seat selection, inflight cuisine, the Airbus A220, and how important the transit market will be once they do launch long haul flights. We also discuss, cabin crew, pilots, technology and much, much more in the video and podcast below.

Interview with CEO of Vistara TATA SIA Airlines, Mr. Leslie Thng

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