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Vistara has appointed Sharaf Travels as its general sales agent in the Gulf region thus increasing its overseas sales. The move would also help the airline in partially minimising the impact of currency rate fluctuation as tickets will be sold in foreign currency.
Vistara is keen to operate foreign flights but is disallowed to do so at present because of civil aviation ministry norms. At present it only flies on domestic routes.
While the general sale agent will only help to increase sales of Vistara's domestic flights, the move would also help in brand awareness and deeper engagement with local travel agents and tour operators in the region. These sales partnerships could prove useful when the airline gets permission to launch overseas flights.
Vistara operates 148 seater three class Airbus A320 planes which can be deployed on Gulf routes. The airline however has not disclosed potential overseas routes.
"Our core strategy will be to engage with leading travel agents/tour operators and passengers by providing valuable support and service on behalf of Vistara. We are confident that this association will help us enhance Vistara’s footprint in this market", said Ibrahim Sharaf, President - Sharaf Group.
“We recognize that the Gulf countries are among the fastest growing in the world today, and are delighted to have established a presence here in less than 8 months after we launched domestic services in India," said Phee Teik Yeoh, CEO, Vistara.
