Vistara is expanding European connectivity from Mumbai with the launch of a new long-haul route from the city, adding to its existing flights to Frankfurt and London.

The carrier, a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, plans to commence service between Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport from March 28. Frequencies will be five times per week using Boeing 787-9 aircraft in a three-class configuration.

“The addition of this much-awaited connection is in line with our strategy to position Mumbai as a vital hub for international travel,” Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan says.

Vistara commenced regular long-haul service from Mumbai in June 2023 with a route to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). This was followed by flights to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) in November. The airline currently offers four roundtrips per week to LHR and five per week to FRA, marking a total of 5,382 two-way weekly seats between Mumbai and Europe. Frequencies to LHR are set to rise to daily from the beginning of March.

In the Mumbai-Paris market, the carrier will compete directly with Air France, which provides 10 flights per week on the 4,333-mi. (3,775-nm) sector using a mix of 777-300ER and Airbus A350-900 equipment. The SkyTeam member has served the cities for more than 50 years.

Preliminary data provided by Sabre Market Intelligence shows that about 94,000 one-way passengers traveled from Paris to Mumbai during the first 11 months of 2023. Of this, 71% of passengers started their journey from behind the French capital.

Vistara, which is in the process of being merged with Tata-owned Air India, currently serves 18 domestic points and 14 international destinations from Mumbai. The airline’s most recent new route from the city began in December with a daily nonstop connection to Dubai using A321s.