Indian carrier Vistara has successfully inaugurated a new long-haul route, having operated its first commercial service to Paris over the weekend. It will now fly from Delhi to Charles de Gaulle Airport in the French capital twice a week, using the Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner.'

Another new long-haul route

Vistara has grown quickly in the eight years since its foundation, particularly since it began flying the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. The full-service carrier has used the 787 to unlock long-haul routes from its Delhi Indira Gandhi International hub. One of these serves London Heathrow, which Simple Flying recently had the chance to sample.

Having also received the all-clear to fly to the US, Vistara reached another key milestone in its intercontinental expansion yesterday. November 7th marked its inaugural commercial service on another European route, this time connecting Delhi with Paris CDG. According to Mint, this service will operate on Wednesdays and Sundays. CEO Leslie Thng stated:

"We are delighted to expand our global footprint as we bring India's finest airline to Paris. Given the strong economic and cultural ties there is a high demand for direct connectivity between India and France, and therefore Paris fits our network very well."

Vistara Map
The inaugural Vistara flight from Delhi to Paris took nine hours. Image: RadarBox.com

The inaugural service

Simple Flying first reported on Vistara's plans to serve the French capital in September 2021. Now, less than two months later, the fast-growing Indian airline has made this a reality. According to data from RadarBox.com, yesterday's inaugural flight departed Delhi at 14:08 local time. This represented a 23-minute delay, but flight UK21 was soon back on track.

Indeed, by the time the history-marking service touched down in Paris, it had even managed to get slightly ahead of its schedule. Indeed, the 787 that operated the flight (VT-TSD) landed a minute early at 18:39 local time, after nine hours and one minute in the air.

As Simple Flying explored at the time of Vistara's announcement, the aircraft and crew will wait a day before returning to Delhi. As such, flight UK22 will operate on Mondays and Thursdays. It leaves CDG at 21:45, arriving in Delhi at 10:30 the next morning.

Vistara Boeing 787
The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is the pride of Vistara's fleet. Photo: Vistara

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A nice way to travel

While Vistara is a relatively new airline, its 787s' onboard product is still competitive compared to established Asian and European flag carriers on its long-haul routes. The Dreamliner is the pride of Vistara's fleet, and it seats 299 passengers. Of these, ch-aviation.com shows that 248 are in a 3-3-3 economy cabin, with 31 inches of pitch.

Vistara's 787s also offer a 21-seat premium economy cabin. Laid out in a seven abreast (2-3-2) configuration, these reclining seats provide passengers with 38 inches of pitch and a larger personal entertainment screen. Meanwhile, the 787's 30 business class flatbeds are laid out in an attractive 1-2-1 'reverse herringbone' configuration. This gives each guest direct aisle access, making Vistara a very tempting option on its expanding long-haul network.

What do you make of this new route? Do you want to fly from Delhi to Paris CDG with Vistara? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!