SIA's India unit to take on Gulf carriers

New Delhi

WITHIN weeks of India easing aviation rules, Singapore Airlines Ltd's (SIA) local venture is charting a course to take on carriers from the Middle East. It is counting on a surge in international traffic from the world's fastest growing major air travel market.

Vistara, in which the city-state's flag carrier owns 49 per cent, is considering buying or leasing wide bodied aircraft for long-haul routes and will seek funds from its owners to finance the purchase, the company's chief executive officer Yeoh Phee Teik said in an interview on June 24.