Vistara – TATA SIA Airlines Ltd.
Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), wherein Tata Sons holds 51% stake in partnership and Singapore Airlines owns 49% stake. The company is registered as TATA SIA Airlines Limited.
In 2013, two legendary brands, Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, decided to fulfil a long-cherished shared dream to bring forth a distinguished flying experience to air travellers in India. With its strong historical ties with aviation, the Tata group had long wished to re-enter the aviation sector, after Tata Airlines was renamed Air India and eventually, nationalised. Both, the Tata group and Singapore Airlines were also firm believers in the growth potential of the Indian aviation sector and hence tried to enter the market in the past; first, in 1994 by setting up a joint venture to start an airline in India and then in 2000, teaming up to purchase stakes in Air India. However, after the lifting of foreign investment restrictions in 2012, the partners once again sought approval for a tie-up, which it obtained in October 2013. On November 5, 2013, Vistara’s holding company, TATA SIA Airlines Limited, was incorporated.
The common goal of the joint venture is to redefine air travel in India to provide Indian travellers a seamless and personalized flying experience that blends Tata’s and SIA’s service excellence and legendary hospitality. The brand name ‘Vistara’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Vistaar’ that means ‘a limitless expanse’. The name Vistara draws inspiration from the world that Vistara inhabits, viz. the ‘limitless’ sky. The brand also draws stimulus from the image that passengers most associate with a smooth and enjoyable flight – the endless, blue horizon they see through the windows of an aircraft. As it aims to transform the flying experience of travellers in India, Vistara christens its brand tagline as ‘fly the new feeling’.
On January 9, 2015, Vistara started its operations with a maiden flight from Delhi to Mumbai. In a short span of time, Vistara has rapidly expanded its footprint, both in terms of network and service proposition. Vistara now serves 40 destinations with over 200 flights daily operated by a fleet of 45 aircraft including 35 Airbus A320, 2 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner™, 2 Airbus A321neo and 6 Boeing 737-800NG aircraft. Vistara has already flown more than 20 million happy customers since starting operations.
Vistara strives to leverage the robust heritage of social service of its parent brands, Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), to make a positive impact on the community in which the company operates.
Vistara’s CSR vision is to operate in a prudent manner so as to minimize negative impact to our environment, and, to proactively use our expertise for the benefit of the community through consistent and targeted actions.
As a responsible corporate citizen, we deeply care about economic development, social development and environmental protection. Sustainability is key to our business strategy and part of the ongoing innovation process. We endeavour to create value for all our stakeholders i.e. employees, customers, shareholders business partners and communities around us. In this quest we are constantly exploring ways to embed sustainable practises across all aspects of our operations.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is rooted in Vistara’s culture. In our CSR strategy, we have identified the following key focus areas:
- Children & Education – Promoting secondary level education and a healthy lifestyle in underprivileged children to help achieve their dreams
- Employability skills – Equipping underprivileged children and young women with useful vocational skills and encourage them to consider career in aviation or related sectors
- Environment & Sustainability – Ensuring sustainability, ecological balance and conservation of natural resources in the environment
The primary modes of community outreach are:
- Donation and grant-giving
- Employee volunteering and payroll donation
- Providing access to air travel and cargo space
Our primary NGO partners are identified as the Salaam Baalak Trust, Goonj, Akshaya Patra Foundation, and Give India with whom we have carried out multiple CSR projects. Besides carrying out regular CSR activities in the areas of education and empowerment, we have supported relief and rehabilitation initiatives in the aftermath of several natural disasters like earthquake, droughts and cyclones across the country Being a part of the aviation industry, we are constantly looking at newer ways to reduce carbon footprint and preserve the environment.
Our current fleet of A320neo aircraft are powered by the most advanced technologies and systems, resulting in 50 per cent reduction in engine noise, NOx and CO2 emissions. A320neo is fuel efficient and helps in reducing the fuel consumption, thereby resulting in substantial savings in fuel burn. Furthermore, a key contributor to neos’ performance is Sharklets, which are part of our existing fleet. These 2.4-metre-tall wingtip devices are standard on neo aircraft, and result in up to four per cent reduced fuel burn over longer sectors, corresponding to an annual reduction in CO2 emissions of around 900 tonnes per aircraft.
We have also deepened our commitment to sustainable aviation by pledging to reduce consumption of plastic by over 50 per cent and shifting to eco-friendly utensils and stainless-steel cutlery for our inflight catering. Our employees, across the network in which we operate, reaffirm their commitment to a cleaner and greener planet by planting trees on World Environment Day. We also engage in other activities such as observing Earth Hour, World Hunger Day and organizing Blood donation camps.
Vistara’s CSR Policy can be accessed here
For more details write to corpcomm@airvistara.com.