MUMBAI | NEW DELHI: Vistara Airlines , Tata group’s joint venture carrier with Singapore Airlines , took 148 passengers and six crew members from New Delhi to Mumbai in its maiden flight on Friday. Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry was waiting on the aerobridge to receive guests at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, after the Airbus A320 touched down and was welcomed with a water salute.Ratan Tata, the salt-to-software conglomerate’s chairman emeritus who wanted the group to make it big in the aviation sector, wasn’t present at the inaugural ceremony in Delhi or to receive the flight when it landed in Mumbai. Sources cited health issues for his absence. “It’s unfortunate Ratan Tata can’t be here. Vistara is his dream come true,” Mistry said.From Saturday, the airline will connect Ahmedabad from Delhi and Mumbai, apart from operating on the Delhi-Mumbai sector. Vistara is the third full-service carrier in India, after Jet Airways and state-run Air India. Apart from top executives from Vistara and Singapore Airlines, those on board the Delhi-Mumbai flight included GM Rao, chairman of GMR who was greeted by GV Sanjay Reddy of rival infrastructure company and airports operator GVK. The special guests on the inaugural flight and the return journey in the evening included a group of 12 children from the Salaam Baalak Trust, a not-for-profit organisation that supports street and working children in Delhi and Mumbai.The airline is entering a market facing some rough weather. Most of India’s airlines are making losses. A full-service carrier, Kingfisher Airlines , grounded flights in late 2012 after burning all the cash it had. SpiceJet, a low-cost carrier, is facing an acute cash crunch, while government support is propping up Air India. The market is dominated by budget airlines by 58% to 42%. Aware of the challenges, the airline management said it will offer a fullservice carrier, but won’t splurge.“Being full service … means serving different customers’ needs differently. We must do it right instead of making a big splash and getting into disappointment by serving different customers differently,” Prasad Menon , chairman of Vistara, said ahead of the first flight. On competition, Menon said the Indian aviation market has space for everyone. “You can’t start a business by being worried about competition but by believing you have a space,” he said. “Competition is good for customers.”Vistara is bringing in a three-class product on its Airbus A320 fleet, introducing the premium economy class for the first time in India. Response of customers on the first day was mixed. “The premium economy gives me more leg room. But being a frequent flyer with Jet Airways, I can get an emergency-door seat by checking in 48 hours prior to the flight and get the same amount of leg room,” said Sanjay Jobanputra, who paid Rs 14,500 to buy a last minute ticket from Mumbai to Delhi on the premium economy class.Earlier in the day, the Delhi-Mumbai flight was inaugurated by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Mahesh Sharma . “The government is committed towards the development of the aviation sector in the country,” he said. “We want the actor to grow, as it helps in providing connectivity for the growth of tourism in the country.”Tata-SIA Airlines, the joint venture between the Tata group and Singapore Airlines, was announced in September 2014. The brand name was later fixed as Vistara. Vistara’s flight launch comes less than a year of the Tata Group’s lowcost airline venture in association with AirAsia taking its first flight. For the group, the airline ventures are a return to a business it pioneered in India.JRD Tata, former head of Tata group and a legendary businessman, founded India’s first commercial airline in 1932. He piloted its first flight, in a singleengine Puss Moth from Karachi to Mumbai. The airline was renamed Air India in 1946 and nationalised in 1953. Vistara plans to increase its fleet size to five aircraft by the end of March. According to the plan, it will have 13 airbus 320 aircraft by 2016 and seven more Airbus 320 Neos during 2017-18. The airline is leasing all its planes from BOC Aviation