Vistara to Start Operation from India: Part of the Central government’s Vande Bharat Mission phase 5, India has established individual bilateral air bubbles with a number of countries including the US, UK, and UAE to repatriate stranded citizens from these countries. Based on the Individual bilateral air bubbles, private air carrier Vistara is planning to start flight operations from India to the UK, Germany, and France under the bilateral air bubble arrangements that have been signed with these countries, sources in the aviation industry said on Sunday. 

Earlier this month, India and the UK signed a bilateral air pact, under which the airlines of both countries can operate international flights with certain restrictions.

The development comes as India has established air bubbles with US, Canada, Qatar, Oman, UAE, Singapore, UK, Frankfurt, Paris, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, New Zealand, Philippines.

In July, India had also established air bubbles with Germany and France. The Central government earlier this month said that the country is planning to establish air bubbles with more countries in the days to come.

Last month SpieceJet got a slot at London’s Heathrow airport and now Vistara has got the slots at the Heathrow airport in London. The flights between Delhi and London are likely to be announced in the next few days. Notably, the Delhi-London flight is likely to operate thrice a week.

As per updates, Vistara got its second B787-9 wide-body aircraft on Saturday and had already received its first B787-9 aircraft in February.

A wide-body aircraft has a bigger fuel tank that allows it to operate long-haul flights. Vistara has 43 planes in its fleet, of which 41 are narrow-body aircraft like A320neo and B737-800NG.

The Civil Aviation Ministry said that the full-service carrier is also likely to operate flights between India and Germany and India and France. However, it is not clear which Indian cities will be connected to Frankfurt and Paris by Vistara.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the scheduled international passenger flights remain suspended in India since March 23.

India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 after a gap of two months. The airlines have been allowed to operate a maximum of 45 percent of their pre-COVID domestic flights.