LONDON – Vistara has announced on the weekend that they will be flying daily from Mumbai to Muscat, the capital of Oman, using their A320neo aircraft.
This is the airlines fourth destination in the Middle East. Vistara will be operating the route alongside four other airlines offering direct services between the two airports.
Flights will commence on December 12th, departing Mumbai Airport at 20:00 and landing at 21:35 local time as UK233. The return flight leaves Muscat at 22:55 and lands home at 03:10 (+1), with a flight time of only 2 hours and 40 minutes.
The Indian carrier has also announced a special introductory return Muscat-Mumbai fare starting from ₹15,999 ($198) in economy, premium economy from ₹21,999 ($273), and business from ₹49,999 ($620).
Executive Statements
In a statement, Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said, “We are excited to expand our presence in the Middle East with the addition of Muscat as the fourth city in the region. Given the strong bilateral ties and the thriving trade and investment relations between India and Oman, this new route will further aid the growing traffic between the two countries.”
“The capital city of Muscat continues to attract a significant number of expats, traders, business travellers, and high-end leisure travellers from India who will now have the choice of flying business class and premium economy on India’s best airline complemented with Vistara’s signature hospitality.”
Kannan said the capital city of Muscat continued to “attract a significant number of expats, traders, business travellers, and high-end leisure travellers from India who will now have the choice of flying business class and premium economy on the airline, with its signature hospitality services.”
Vistara’s A320neo Aircraft
Vistara currently has 34 of the signature A320neo aircraft in service and 19 on order. The airline received their first NEO in May of 2021. Vistara’s A320neo aircraft comes with cabin features that include in-seat AC power outlet, USB charging ports and PED (Personal Electronic Device) holders.
It has a total of 164 seats in a three-class cabin configuration, including eight in business class, 24 in premium economy, and 132 in economy.
“The Airbus A320 is an integral part of our fleet and growth story, and this particular aircraft is, indeed, special. It mirrors the maturity that Vistara has achieved in the Indian aviation industry in a short span of time, continuing to steadily grow in scale, size and operational assets,” said Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara.
Vistara is the only airline to offer premium economy on this route on their A320neo’s, giving it an opening to attract some business traffic away from the competition.
Indigo Airlines operates their A321LR on the route in an all economy layout, along with Air India offering an all economy layout on their A321 aircraft.
The other two competitors that operate Mumbai-Muscat route are Oman Air and Go First. Oman Air is the only airline to offer Business class on this route, and Go First offering all economy.
Vistara are expected to fit into the market very easily especially while offering more than some of their competitors. It will, will attract more passengers that would like to fly with a little bit of extra comfort at a less expensive price.
