DALLAS — Air India (AI) and Vistara (UK) have announced that they have entered an interline partnership, which will bring the two Tata Group-owned carriers closer together ahead of their planned merger.

The new interline agreement will allow passengers to travel on both airlines' networks. AI and UK passengers will be able to receive boarding passes for connections at the first point of departure, in addition to all bags being able to be checked to the final destination.

Furthermore, the agreement will include disruption transfer capability, which will allow passengers to change to different flights on the other airline in the event of disruptions.

The partnership offers AI customers a smooth experience across UK's network to and from AI's 80 domestic and international destinations. Before the interline partnership, AI and AirAsia India (I5) had a similar agreement for two years.

Comments from Air India, Vistara CEOs

Campbell Wilson, the CEO of Air India, commented, "We are pleased with our interline partnership with Vistara, which will provide greater connectivity and convenience to our joint customers traveling within and outside of India on both our expanding route networks."

Adding, "Our common commitment to excellence in safety and customer service lies at the forefront of this partnership. We look forward to serving Vistara's customers with additional travel choices to Air India destinations across the Americas, Europe, Far East, Australia, and the Middle East."

Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan commented, "This partnership is reflective of our deep-rooted commitment to offering our customers the finest and the most convenient way to fly across the world. We are delighted to further strengthen our relationship with Air India and connect our customers to new destinations in their wide network."

Previously, the airlines already had interline cooperation for irregular operations allowing both airlines to offer travelers alternative options on each other's flights to minimize inconvenience in the event of disruptions. UK has interline check-in agreements with 43 other carriers and codeshares with carriers including Air Canada (AC), British Airways (BA), Lufthansa (LH), Japan Airlines (JL), Swiss (LX), United Airlines (UA), and Singapore Airlines (SQ). 

The news comes as AI recently announced its five-year transformation plan, which focuses on developing all aspects of the carrier's performance.

Featured image: VT-EXN, Air India, Airbus, A320Neo, A32N, WSSS, SIN, Singapore, Changi International Airport. Photo: Jden Lee/Airways

https://airwaysmag.com/air-india-transformation-program/