Covid-19: India told airlines to stop selling tickets, but they wouldn't

Four of the country's top six airlines, which together control 80 per cent of the local market, are selling domestic flight tickets for as soon as the third week of May.

India ordered airlines this week to stop selling tickets. Hardly any listened.
Four of the country’s top six airlines, which together control 80 per cent of the local market, are selling domestic flight tickets for as soon as the third week of May, searches on their websites showed. That’s despite the government saying no decision has been made on allowing flights after the end of the nationwide lockdown on May 3, which means airlines should refrain from selling tickets until authorities give them the go ahead.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reiterated that no commercial flights will be allowed to operate until the spread of the coronavirus has been controlled and that the lifting of restrictions will only be considered later.

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Market leader IndiGo is selling tickets from June 1, as is Vistara, the local affiliate of Singapore Airlines, searches showed. SpiceJet, the nation’s second-biggest airline, and Go Airlines India, which has furloughed 90 per cent of its staff, are selling tickets from May 16. Tickets weren’t available on the websites of state-run Air India and AirAsia India, the local partner of Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd.

“We are working on that. Hopefully will find ways to resolve soon,” Arun Kumar, the head of Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said in a text message when asked about the sales.

Vistara declined to comment. Representatives at IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.

InterGlobe’s shares slid 5 per cent on Wednesday and SpiceJet fell 3.5 per cent. The benchmark Sensex index advanced 2.4 per cent. InterGlobe is down 28 per cent this year and SpiceJet has slumped over 60 per cent.

Tatas likely to take call on cash-strapped Air India bid this week

JV with Singapore Airlines, Temasek may submit EoI.

Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines are actively weighing the option to bid for Air India and a decision to submit an expression of interest (EoI) could be taken soon.

Sources aware of the development said the board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the group, would meet later this week and possibly take up the Air India matter for approval.

Singapore government’s sovereign fund Temasek is also likely to be a part of the consortium being planned for the Air India bid, one of the sources said.

When asked about Tata group’s interest in Air India, Bhaskar Bhat, chairman of Vistara and a director in Tata Sons board, said the group was evaluating options.

"We are evaluating Air India. Which company would not be interested in evaluating a sovereign airline of the country?...Whether we bid or not comes later," he said. On whether Vistara or Tata Sons was evaluating Air India, Bhat said, "We (Vistara) are a joint venture".

The government has decided to sell 100 per cent stake in the airline and has invited bids for it. The last date to submit bids is March 17 but the deadline could be extended if there are requests from potential bidders.

Officials involved in Air India’s sale process said a big reason why the Tata group didn’t submit a bid last time was the government’s decision to hold on to 24 per cent stake. “They were interested last time too. But a big hurdle was that they wouldn’t have been able to merge Air India with Vistara unless they owned 100 per cent,” another source said.

After its unsuccessful bid to sell Air India in 2018, the central government this time has decided to off-load its entire stake.

Tatas, the salt-to-software conglomerate, and Singapore’s national airline operate Vistara, which inducted its first wide body aircraft Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on Monday.

The wide body aircraft is the centre piece of Vistara’s business plan. It’s expecting that supremacy in long-haul international routes will help it recoup losses due to the cut-throat domestic market dominated by low-cost airlines.

Vistara takes delivery of its first Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft

The new aircraft is the first of the six that Vistara has purchased from Boeing.

Vistara took the delivery of its first wide-body Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner plane on Friday, making it the first Indian airline to fly this aircraft.

The plane, which has the registration number VT-TSD, will depart from the Boeing facility here at 2 pm (local time) on Friday and land in Delhi at 2 pm (local time) on Saturday, Vistara officials said here.

The new aircraft is the first of the six that Vistara has purchased from Boeing.

The second Dreamliner aircraft is currently on the production line and will be delivered soon.

Vistara's Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft comes with 299 seats in a three-class cabin configuration, giving customers a choice of business, premium economy and economy cabins.

The aircraft features lie-flat business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration that gives a direct aisle access to each business class passenger and a separate premium economy cabin that offers seats in a 2-3-2 configuration.

The aircraft has in-seat televisions in all three cabins with a high-definition (HD) display, powered by Panasonic as well as in-flight WiFi internet connectivity onboard long-haul international flights, officials stated.

It would make Vistara the first airline to offer WiFi service in India.

India to Singapore: How airlines, passengers are responding to China virus

An explainer on the airline industry's response to the outbreak so far and its potential financial exposure compared to SARS in 2003.

Airlines and passengers are on guard against a new flu-like virus that originated in Wuhan, China.

Here's an explainer on the airline industry's response to the outbreak so far and its potential financial exposure compared to SARS in 2003, which killed nearly 800 people:

What is the expected financial impact on airlines?

The biggest concern is a sharp drop in travel demand if the virus becomes a pandemic.

During the height of the SARS outbreak in April 2003, passenger demand in Asia plunged 45%, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Cathay cut nearly 40% of its flights and reported a financial loss, as did Singapore Airlines Ltd, Japan Airlines Co Ltd and ANA Holdings Inc.

The industry is now more reliant on Chinese travellers.

For example, in Australia, Chinese travellers account for more than 15% of international arrivals, up from just 4% in 2003, according to Moody's ratings service.

Those travellers, who arrive mostly via mainland carriers, often take domestic flights once they arrive in Australia, pointing to the potential for knock on effects for the likes of local airline Qantas Airways Ltd if there is a fall in travel demand.

Since 2003, the number of annual air passengers has more than doubled, with China growing to become the world's largest outbound travel market.

In 2003, 6.8 million passengers from China travelled on international flights, and that number has grown by close to 10 times to 63.7 million in 2018, according to data from the country's aviation authority.

Global airline industry revenues more than doubled to $838 billion in 2019 from just $322 billion in 2003, according to IATA data.

"Whether only one secondary market, an entire country or the wider region is impacted is obviously unpredictable and outside of the industry's control," said Brendan Sobie, an independent aviation analyst in Singapore.

Business Standard

Vistara to launch international flights in the second half of 2019

A joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, Vistara might also look at starting medium and long-haul flights, depending on approvals, amid the grounding of Jet Airways.

Business Standard : Full service carrier Vistara, which has been serving the Indian skies for more than four years, plans to launch international services in the second half of this year.

A joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines, Vistara might also look at starting medium and long-haul flights, depending on approvals, amid the grounding of Jet Airways.

"We see India as a growing market. We are here for the long term," Vistara CEO Leslie Thng said on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of airlines' grouping IATA on Sunday.

Without providing specific details, he said the airline plans to start international operations in the second half of 2019.

It had planned to launch overseas flights in the first half of this year.

Currently, Vistara has more than 22 planes and operates around 850 flights every week.

Last month, the carrier announced it would take on lease four Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft and two A320 neo planes.

In 2018, Vistara placed its order for purchased and leased aircraft totalling 50 from the Airbus A320neo family, including A321neos.

These would be for domestic as well as short and medium-haul international operations, with deliveries scheduled between 2019 and 2023.

Further, the carrier has bought six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that are scheduled to be delivered between 2020 and 2021. These would operate long-haul international operations.

Thng said, Vistara can start short-haul flights but would need more time for long-haul ones.

"If we do get the necessary rights, we do have a plan in place on how do we plan to operationalise it but I will not be able to share too much detail...," he said.

According to him, the airline would look at options to deploy the right type of aircraft provided it gets the necessary flying rights.