MUMBAI: On this side of the planet, when a star kid makes a debut, the eventful Friday is generally preceded by a fair amount of hullabaloo. But despite its pedigree,

Vistara

, the

Tata-Singapore Airlines baby

, is scheduled to make a low-key takeoff into the commercial airline industry on Friday with an inaugural Delhi-Mumbai flight.

With 14 daily flights from Saturday, which translate into 2,450 seats, a fleet of three A320-200 aircraft and a route map including only three destinations, Vistara's entry is rather quiet. It will be noticed though, especially by those who were hit by Kingfisher Airlines' closure. For one, other than focusing on service, Vistara will bring back the popular premium economy class to the domestic airline market. Sharat Dhall, president and CEO of online travel portal yatra.com, said, “After Kingfisher closed down, the number of business class seats in the domestic market reduced dramatically. Consequently, business class fares went up. Typically, a business class seat would cost almost five times an economy one. So, there is a huge gap between economy and business class fare and that is a gap that can be plugged profitably.”Amber Dubey of KPMG said, “A random check of online ticket sites will highlight the irony that many a time fares offered by low cost carriers (LCCs) in India are higher than that of full service carriers (FSCs). If one adds revenue from preferential seating, extra luggage and onboard food sales, the revenue per seat of our leading LCC is even higher. FSCs sell last-minute tickets at high fares only once the leading LCC is sold out. Premium economy is a nice differentiator, especially once Vistara uses the same aircraft for its international flights. The question is that for short-haul domestic flights, is the price-conscious Indian passenger ready to pay a significant premium?”Vistara, being a full-service carrier, is not expected to launch any airfare wars. Even its launch fares are not the cheapest on offer in the domestic market. The airline has slotted itself as a carrier that will bring in new standards of service. One could expect express check-ins and value-added offers like Vistaprint, which clearly targets the entrepreneur.Dubey said, “Tata-SIA is the marriage of the decade in India's corporate sector. Indian consumers have high respect for both brands. Many feel that had Tata-SIA managed to enter India in the late 90s, Indian aviation would have been very different today. On both occasions they tried, vested interests ensured their entry was blocked.”