Making Travel Easier - United Airlines and Vistara Launch Codeshare Agreement

CHICAGO, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines and Vistara announced the start of a new codeshare agreement allowing United customers to book travel on 68 Vistara-operated flights to 26 destinations throughout India for travel beginning February 28. The codeshare builds on the agreement between the airlines in which MileagePlus and Vistara's loyalty program members earn and redeem miles when flying on either of the airline's route network. 

The United and Vistara agreement offers customers a simplified experience when planning travel between dozens of destinations throughout India including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Goa, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Srinagar, Thiruvananthapuram, Udaipur, Varanasi and more.

"We are excited to offer our shared customers the option of building a seamless itinerary when planning travel to cities beyond New Delhi and Mumbai," said John Gebo, United's senior vice president of Alliances. "United has connected customers to India for more than 15 years with daily flights between New York/Newark and Delhi and Mumbai and our new service between San Francisco and New Delhi. Our relationship with Vistara opens up even more options for customers to travel between our East and West Coast hubs and multiple destinations throughout India."

Vistara's Chief Commercial Officer, Vinod Kannan said, "Vistara today connects the length and breadth of India, and we are delighted to offer the country's only five-star flying experience to customers of United on their Indian domestic flights. The U.S. continues to be one of the biggest source markets for foreign travelers into India and the region, and this partnership allows us to provide a seamless travel offering for customers to and from the U.S."

As India's highest-rated airline on Skytrax and TripAdvisor, winner of several 'Best Airline' awards, and the only 5-star rated airline in India (Apex 2020), Vistara has consistently raised the bar for operations and service delivery in the Indian aviation industry in a short span of five years. The airline is poised to grow its fleet by adding more than 50 narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, including Airbus A321neo and Boeing B787-9, in the next three years.

Every customer. Every flight. Every day.

United continues to strengthen its commitment to its customers, looking at every aspect of its business to ensure that the carrier keeps customers' best interests at the heart of its service. In addition to today's announcement, United recently:

• Announced that MileagePlus award miles will never expire
• Committed $40 million toward a new investment initiative focused on accelerating the development of sustainable aviation fuels and other decarbonization technologies
• Established Miles on a Mission, a first-of-its-kind crowdsourcing platform which gives customers a simple way to donate miles to non-profit organizations and charities in need of air travel
• Launched ConnectionSaver, a digital tool dedicated to improving the experience for customers with connecting flights
• Instituted PlusPoints, new upgrade benefits for MileagePlus Premier members
• Gave Economy customers a choice of complimentary snacks on domestic flights
• Made DIRECTV free for every customer on more than 200 aircraft

About United

United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United and United Express operate approximately 4,900 flights a day to 362 airports across six continents. In 2019, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 791 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express partners operate 581 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 195 countries via 26 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

About Vistara (TATA SIA Airlines Limited)

TATA SIA Airlines Limited, known by the brand name Vistara, is a joint venture between Tata Sons Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) with Tata Sons holding the majority stake of 51% in the company and SIA holding the remaining 49%. Vistara brings together Tata's and SIA's legendary hospitality and renowned service excellence to offer the finest full-service flying experience in India. Vistara commenced its commercial operations on January 9, 2015 with an aim to set new standards in the aviation industry in India and it today connects destinations across India and abroad. The airline now connects 35 destinations, operates over 200 flights a day with a fleet of 32 Airbus A320 and 7 Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, and has flown more than 20 million customers since starting operations.

SOURCE United Airlines