Indore: It was a historic moment when Tata owned Vistara airlines started its flight operations from the Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport in the Indore-Delhi sector on Saturday.
It was Tata Airlines flight that was the first one to land in the city airport in 1937, and now the Tatas have returned to the city 82 years later, albeit in a different avatar. Tata Airlines was later turned into Air India.
Vistara flight was given water cannon salute on landing at the city airport.
While Tata Airlines offered only parcel transportation service, Vistara which is jointly owned by the Tatas and SIA Airlines of Singapore, is a commercial passenger flight.
The first Vistara flight carried 136 passengers from New Delhi at 6.55 am and landed here at 8.20 am. On this occasion Tata SIA Airlines’ senior vice president Nam Kung, local MP Shankar Lalwani and airport director Aryama Sanyal were present. The return flight Indore-New Delhi departed carrying 112 passengers at 8.55 am and reached New Delhi at 10.25 am.
Earlier, MP Lalwani along with Nam Kung and Sanyal inaugurated the boarding gate counter at the airport by lighting the lamp. The first passenger of the flight Kanchan received a surprised gift from Vistara and she was upgraded to business class from economy class.
Vistara believes that Indore is a key manufacturing centre that's now also emerging as a major SME hub. The city has seen a significant spike in demand for greater air connectivity to the rest of the country.
The airline is also going to start another flight for New Delhi from November 5. This will be operated in evening.
