India’s full-service airline, Vistara, continues its international expansion, adding Dammam in Saudi Arabia to its network. The airline has introduced many new connections in the Middle East lately, accounting for a significant increase in its overall international operations last year.

Mumbai-Dammam route

Vistara has announced the addition of Dammam to its international network and will start daily non-stop flights between Mumbai and Dammam beginning March 1st. The airline will deploy one of its Airbus A320neo aircraft on the route and is progressively allowing bookings for the flights across various channels.

Flight UK 0237 from Mumbai to Dammam has a departure time of 21:20 and an arrival time of 23:10. The return flight from Dammam, UK 0238, will depart at 23:55 and arrive in Mumbai at 06:15.

Vinod Kannan, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, commented,

“We are excited to expand our presence in Saudi Arabia with the addition of Dammam as the second city in the Kingdom, after Jeddah. Integral to the Saudi Vision 2030, Dammam is a key administrative destination that is home to the largest port in the Gulf and some of the major business headquarters. We are confident that customers from India and Saudi Arabia will appreciate experiencing our award winning product and services on the route as they fly India’s most loved airline.”

Vistara has added many new routes to the Middle East from Mumbai recently. Its international network expanded by more than 180% in 2022 due to its seven new routes to Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, and Muscat.

Vistara Airbus A320
Photo: Airbus

Looking ahead

Vistara is heading for a merger with another one of Tata Group’s airlines, Air India. It recently announced that it would not be ordering any new aircraft ahead of the merger but will honor its existing aircraft orders, the bulk of which will be put towards further international expansion.

It also announced a profitable October-December quarter in 2022, its first since it began operations in 2015. While it did not reveal bottom line numbers, the airline said that it has already crossed $1 billion in revenue this financial year.

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Fight for the international market

While the domestic market remains a perpetual battlefield for Indian carriers, most are also focusing on increasing their reach in the international segment. Air India, the Indian airline with the biggest offshore network, recently announced additional flights to London.

Even the new low-cost carrier Akasa Air plans to start flights to foreign destinations by the end of this year once it has enough aircraft to meet regulatory conditions.

IndiGo Airbus A320neo
Photo: Wirestock Creators | Shutterstock

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has also announced the “Super 6E” fare for several international routes, including Colombo, Kuala Lumpur, Dammam, Jeddah, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuwait, and Doha, among others.

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Through this fare, IndiGo will offer an extra 10kg baggage allowance, free seat selection including XL seat, meal/snack combo, priority check-in and luggage collection on arrival, anytime boarding, delayed and lost baggage protection service, reduced change fee, and reduced cancellation fee, as well as no convenience fee.

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