VISTARA
BASE Delhi
START DATE Originally slated for an October 2014 launch, the Tata Sons and Singapore Airline-owned carrier has just announced that this has now been delayed by a few months due to regulatory approval complications.
FLEET The airline will start operations with a single Airbus A320-200, but plans to increase its fleet to 20 aircraft, including A320neos, by the end of the fifth year of operation.
DESTINATIONS TBD, but Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Srinagar, Patna and Chandigarh are touted as the first destinations.
V AIR
BASE Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
START DATE Q4 2014
FLEET One A320-200 leased by Bank of China, and one A321-200 with the option for one more. The Transasia Airways owned low-cost carrier intends to order a further three aircraft during 2016-17.
DESTINATIONS The first destinations will be Bangkok (Don Mueang International Airport) and Tokyo (Narita International Airport). Hong Kong is also planned as a future destination.
INDONESIA AIRASIA X
BASE Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport and Bali Denpasar Ngurah Rai Airport
START DATE Q4 2014
FLEET The carrier will operate a fleet of Airbus A330-300 aircraft that feature a two-class configuration, with 12 in business and 365 in economy.
DESTINATIONS Planned destinations will initially include the Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney, as the new carrier attempts to leverage feeder traffic from its other AirAsia regional airlines.
TIGERAIR TAIWAN
BASE Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
START DATE September 26, 2014
FLEET The Tigerair and China Airlines joint-venture carrier has just taken deliver of the first of three A320-200s that it currently has on order, and is aiming to have a fleet of 12 planes by 2016 or 2017.
DESTINATIONS Tigerair Taiwan will take off later this week for its maiden flight from Taipei to Singapore. According to a spokesperson, the low-cost carrier plans to launch new routes towards the end of the year, and will be looking to begin flights to both South Korea and Japan in early 2015.
tigerair.com and china-airlines.com
QINGDAO AIRLINES
BASE Qingdao Liuting International Airport
START DATE April 26
FLEET One A320-200 but plans to expand this to five by the end of the year. It has an existing order for five A320s and 18 A320neos currently, and is aiming to have a fleet of 100 aircraft by 2025.
DESTINATIONS The carrier launched its inaugural service to Chengdu in April, and has since expanded this to Changsha. As a purely domestic carrier, it intends to launch services to Shenzhen and Shenyang soon, and eventually fly to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, subject to regulatory approval.
Clement Huang
