Full-service carrier Vistara on Monday signed a codeshare pact with Lufthansa to strengthen its already existing partnership with the German carrier. The two airlines will soon expand the scope of the agreement, enabling frequent fliers of both airlines to earn miles/points when travelling on each other’s networks and avail other benefits.
Senior Director Sales for Lufthansa Grup Airlines in South Asia, George Ettiyil said, “this marks Lufthansa’s commitment to offering its Indian customers world-class international travel experiences and enabling them to use their preferred mileage program on codeshare routes. By teaming up with Vistara we will strengthen and expand our position as the leading and most popular European airline in India- a country all set to become the third-largest aviation market in just a few year’s time”.
Lufthansa and Vistara sign code share agreement. 18 Vistara operated flights to 10 cities in India to have LH code. Sales under the codeshare pact opened on all channels for flights starting December 16. #AvGeek #AviationDaily pic.twitter.com/vZKUnXkXmL
— Aero News (@teamaeronews) December 9, 2019
The two airlines are planning to soon expand the scope of the agreement, with codesharing allowing an airline to book it, passengers, on its partner carrier- Vistara– and provide seamless travel to destinations where Lufthansa has no presence. And the interline arrangement refers to a pact to issue and accept tickets for flights that are operated by the partner airline- Lufthansa. Further, “sales under the codeshare agreement progressively open today on all channels and major GDS systems for flights starting December 16, 2019”, said the release.
The codeshare will now help Vistara extend its international network and customer base.
Vinod Kannan, Vistara’s Chief Strategy officer was quoted “as a growing global carrier, one of our key goals is to offer an extended international network to our customers through such strategic association. Our codeshare with Lufthansa is another important step in this direction and will help us widen our customer base outside of India”.
Enjoy improved connectivity with our new codeshare partner @lufthansa. Here's to bringing #VistaraDestinations closer to the world! Click https://t.co/Y0iWe8RN7G to know more. pic.twitter.com/Ijov39YEVO
— Vistara (@airvistara) December 9, 2019
A part of the agreement, Lufthansa will add its ‘LH’designator code to nearly 18 Vistara operated flights, starting December 16th 2019, covering almost 10 cities every day, including metro cities like Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad, Kochi and Pune. Vitara, a joint venture between Tata Sons Ltd. and Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), operates over 200 flights a day with a fleet of 27 Airbus A320 and 9 Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, connecting 34 destinations, having flown more than 19 million customers since operations.
