Vistara – the Tata SIA JV which is all set to merge with Air India in the months to come is making a change to its route to Bali from Delhi. The airline will upgrade the current A321LR on the route and deploy the 787-9 Dreamliner from March 31, 2024.
The upgrade in equipment comes with a change in timing as well, with the revised timings being
UK145 DEL2240 – 0840DPS
UK146 DPS1035 – 1535DEL
Vistara will be utilising the Dreamliner from its own order for this route while continuing to offer the ex-Hainan 787 on route to Frankfurt from Delhi. I personally expected the ex-Hainan dreamliner to be deployed to Bali, since the route works in isolation unlike Frankfurt which sees service from Mumbai and Delhi, with ability to swap planes of they are same.
Vistara started flights on Bali on December 01, 2023. I had proudly called it the “Route of the Year” anticipating success based on various factors which I had considered and going by upguage, it seems the flight is doing very well. The is what the airline had to say
“This strategic decision to increase capacity underscores Vistara’s commitment to optimizing operations in response to the remarkable performance of the Delhi-Bali route and the constant surge in demand for direct connectivity between India and Indonesia.”
The deployment will see the 188 seat A321LR (12 Business, 24 Premium Eco, 152 Economy) being replaced with 299 seat 787-9 Dreamliner (30 Business, 21 Premium Eco, 248 Economy). This is a jump of 59% in total seats, with a 2.5% increase in business class seats and a 63% increase in economy class seats and a 12.5% reduction in Premium Economy.
The airline currently has a spare dreamliner which has been spotted doing runs to Chennai, ex-Bengaluru for training flights. This will be deployed to Paris from Mumbai starting the summer schedule. The airline is not extending its Mumbai – London Heathrow flight, presumably due to lack of slots at London Heathrow. The airline will continue operating flights to London Heathrow from Delhi. The airline will receive one more 787-9 very soon, the last of the lot. It remains to be seen on where the airline will deploy the aircraft, especially when the merger proceedings would start soon and starting a new station or route may be detrimental to the interests. My guess would be to Hong Kong from Delhi, replacing another A321LR route. Currently, two out of four A321LRs will be deployed on routes which do not need the “LR”.
The announcement is probably too late for the change which is happening within days. While it may bode well for flights in the peak month of May, filling up the additional seats at such a short notice of four days is nearly impossible. This could possibly make the route available for reduced fare over the next couple of days, if the airline decides to drop its fare to fill up the new capacity.
The 320 vs 787-9 battle
IndiGo starts operations to Bali from Bengaluru tomorrow (March 29). This will be the longest A320 route in the IndiGo network and with its aggressive pricing will attract passengers connecting from various parts of the country. The timings (overnight outbound) have similar benefits like those of Vistara.
With the 787-9, the airline can take IndiGo head-on if it wants, while still maintaining its premium positioning as the seats fill up in economy class.
Network Thoughts
As per the DGCA release, an average of 177 passengers flew to Bali from Delhi in the very first month of operations. The A321LR is configured with 188 seats. WHat factors could have led to this decision? While the A321LR can be deployed on domestic routes, it is too expensive to do the same with the Dreamliner. When there is spare capacity available, it made sense to utilise the Dreamliner on a longer route. With an uptick in demand, the potential to add revenue (and possibly profits) on route to Bali were obviously higher.
While the Indonesian carriers have tried Bali – Mumbai in the past, no one attempted Delhi (the largest market) and Vistara did a marvellous job by providing that differentiation. With the travel undertaken primarily by Indians and not Indonesians on this route, an Indian brand also made a difference. Additionally, the improved economy, better travel propensity and looking for new destinations by Indians makes the difference in 2023 and 2024 than pre-COVID when the last of India – Indonesia connectivity existed.
What next for India – Indonesia connectivity? With 21 weekly flights, there is room for seven more per week. Will the next government negotiate for more rights with Indonesia?
You can now order Network Thoughts baggage tags and/or book marks!
Follow NetworkThoughts on Twitter, Facebook, Telegram and YouTube.