India's full-service carrier Vistara turned 8 this month and has been celebrating the occasion in style. It first offered a network-wide anniversary sale across all three travel classes and then organized a special flight drawing the figure "8" to mark the number of years it has been operating for.

Special flight
On January 9th, Vistara operated a special flight to celebrate its 8th anniversary. One of its Airbus A321 aircraft (registered VT-TVE) took off from the South Indian coastal city of Thiruvananthapuram and drew the number '8' in the skies over the Arabian Sea.

According to FlightRadar24.com, the flight took off at 14:33 local time and came back at 16:40 in Thiruvananthapuram, lasting a little over two hours.

Vistara drew the figure at 20,000 ft at a speed of 300 KIAS over 450 NM in oceanic airspace. Passengers onboard could track the flight path in real-time on the seat-back screens. About an hour later, the aircraft performed its regular commercial service to Delhi, departing at 18:04.

Celebrating 8 years
This wasn't the only thing Vistara has done to celebrate its 8th anniversary. A few days ago, the airline offered a network-wide anniversary sale across all three travel classes – economy, premium economy, and business class.

Since January 8th, tickets for flights under sale are available for four days ending on January 12th. Discounted tickets will be valid for travel between January 23rd and September 30th, 2023.

Vistara's one-way discounted fares for its domestic network start from $23 for economy class, $32 for premium economy, and $85 for business class, the airline outlined in its statement. Meanwhile, return fares for Vistara's international services start at $161 for economy class, $204 for premium economy, and $531 for business class.

About Vistara
Vistara is a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines. SIA partnered with the Tata Group to tap the promising domestic market in India and owns 49% of the carrier.

The airline is in the process of merging with Air India (another Tata Group carrier), and both airlines have begun applying for permissions from the competition authorities from several countries as part of their merger process.

Vistara Airbus A321

It officially began operations on January 9th, 2015, and presently connects 43 destinations across 13 countries and operates over 260 flights a day. Vistara has received praise for its onboard product and customer service but has not been able to generate profit all these years.

It will continue to operate as a separate airline until the merger and received close to $80 million as working capital ahead of its merger announcement with Air India.

-B