Social Icons

twitterfacebooklinkedin

Monday 19 January 2015

Cheers, lamps and Swiss chocolates mark Vistara’s first flight

New Delhi: For 12 street children Vistara’s inaugural flight from Delhi to Mumbai was a tad more special than the rest of the passengers on board the Airbus A-320 aircraft.

Adopted by the Salaam Balak Trust, they were among the 148 passengers on the flight that took off from Delhi at 12.52 pm and reached Mumbai about an hour and fifty minutes later.

The winds helped Vistara’s first flight reach Mumbai before time, but issues on the runway meant that the aircraft touched down late.

The inaugural flight had on board, among others, Prasad Menon, Chairman, Vistara, and NS Rao, Chairman, GMR Group.

Earlier, they were joined by Ajay Mehra, Senior Airbus official, at Delhi airport, where a ceremonial lamp was lit just before the check-in process.


Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma cut the ribbon at the gate before the passengers boarded the aircraft.

Sharma joked that in India there were hardly any divorces after couples married (hinting at the tie-up between Singapore Airlines and Tata Sons) to which Goh Choon Phong, the CEO of SIA, immediately quipped that “this marriage will not break.”

Speaking to newspersons before take-off, Menon said, “Being full service does not mean you are lavish, you are over the top. It means serving different customers’ needs differently.”
09/01/15 Ashwini Phadnis/Business Line

No comments:

Post a Comment