Singapore Airlines, Tata Sons to form full-service airline in India

[inix]

From ST - http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking...india-20130919

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's Tata Sons conglomerate and Singapore Airlines will form a full-service airline based in New Delhi, the Indian group said on Thursday.

Tata Sons will own 51 per cent and Singapore Airlines will own the remainder, Tata said.

Tata is a partner in a separate joint venture with Malaysia's AirAsia that plans to launch a low-cost airline in India.

[milehighj]

:facepalm:

India?

:facepalm:

[Airbus SAS A340-500]

I have a feeling Tata Sons is double-playing both SIA and the AirAsia groups.

While the SIA joint venture is undeniably full-service and the AirAsia is a budget one, it remains to be seen if the two joint ventures would work out together in one country.

Then again, Tata Sons had a past relationship with SIA. Long, long ago.

[Kyo]

And it will be called 'Toot'

[mr_botak]

Well I thought I'd heard it all, but crikey. Good luck, won't be holding my breath.

[259850]

The middle-class growth in India - which will last for years to come - makes it one of the highest growth markets for air traffic (along with China and Indonesia). So the AirAsia-Tata JV makes very good sense. Not too sure about a full-service carrier though. Let's see is SQ-Tata can mount a serious challenge to 9W.

I wish though that SQ will form a partnership with one of the Chinese carriers, preferably CZ, and in the process secure a transit hub in PEK, PVG or CAN.

[UMD]

This is interesting. I am not sure whether another full carrier in India will work out. Tata and SQ had or still have a JV in SATS but that's different from forming a JV in full service airlines.

[ek&sq]

I don't know how much financial potential there is in this deal, but from a passenger's perspective, I think India could do with another reliable full service carrier now that Kingfisher's gone. Most people I know would never fly Air India because of their poor service standards and safety lapses, which leaves Jet Airways as their only other option.

[SQ228]

It's clearly Jet Airways they have to take on and it might not be as easy as you'd imagine if you haven't flown with them. I took a domestic flight in India earlier this year with 9W and they were quite impressive - far more professional than I was expecting. (I'm sure there are plenty of stories out there of less than perfect flights though.)

[Airtropolis]

I reckon they should use this as an opportunity to start franchising the silk air brand with subsidiaries round the world for growth.... say a silkair india, in line with the jetstar/air asia/tigerair concept, but full service. This would facilitate many things including efficiency in - 1. fleet flexibility with planes easily switched from subsidiary to subsidiary depending on seasonal load; 2. efficiency in bulk purchase of equipment such as seating/crockery/cutlery/inflight entertainment and publishing of inflight mags.
Certainly the silkair branding which is now fairly mature in its own right will be more portable than a SQ branding which is tied down to its national/geographical heritage.

[9V-JKL]

51/49. Didn't they learn from their VS time?

[viraj735]

It's clearly Jet Airways they have to take on and it might not be as easy as you'd imagine if you haven't flown with them. I took a domestic flight in India earlier this year with 9W and they were quite impressive - far more professional than I was expecting. (I'm sure there are plenty of stories out there of less than perfect flights though.)

When Kingfisher was around 9W was a far better carrier than it is today. Some of the older cabins are in truly appalling condition. I flew BOM-DEL-BOM on 9W recently and their standards have really dropped. Aircrafts were PTV equipped both ways but wasn't switched on, no menus handed out in Premiere. When Kingfisher was flying, 9W were losing market share and really tried to impress. Nowadays they're the sole credible full service carrier in the country.

[lfc]

The indian authority has been very strict in allowing foreign investor in the past, only recently they open up a bit. With the market potential in that country it is only natural SQ moves shiftly to plant a foot in. This is the 3rd time they tried getting into that market

[eminere™]

'Vistara' is India's new Singapore Airlines/Tata airline

• Vistara will be full-service airline for India
• Joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group
• Based in Delhi, with Inaugural flights in October
• Aircraft to have business and economy class, possibly also premium economy

[Nick C]

Sounds like a new condominium project