Vistara’s Chief Strategy and Commercial Officer Sanjiv Kapoor has confirmed that South Asian nations will be among the airline’s first international destinations.
"The first set of routes that we will launch internationally will be the routes that can be flown by our existing aircraft, the A320s, which will be routes within three, three-and-a-half hours of India," Kapoor said. "Regional routes and SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation], essentially," he said.
Under new rules, domestic airlines can fly overseas as long as they deploy 20 aircraft or 20 percent of capacity in India, whichever is higher. Airlines previously had to wait five years before they were permitted to fly international routes.
Vistara may consider purchasing long-haul aircraft to serve its new international routes.