United Airlines and Vistara Establish Codeshare Agreement

Agreement enables United customers to travel seamlessly to more than 20 destinations throughout India while earning MileagePlus frequent flyer miles

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United Airlines

Jun 18, 2019, 09:25 ET

CHICAGO, June 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announced it has entered into a new alliance agreement with New Delhi-based airline, Vistara. The agreement, effective in Fall 2019, further expands United's global route network to more than 20 destinations throughout India. United currently operates more nonstop service to India than any other U.S. carrier.

"United Airlines has served India from our New York/Newark hub for more than 14 years and in December of this year will begin operating new nonstop service between San Francisco and New Delhi," said John Gebo, United's senior vice president of Alliances. "We are pleased to enter into this new alliance agreement with Vistara to offer our customers traveling between the United States and India seamless access to more destinations throughout India."

United has served India since 2005, offering customers year-round daily nonstop flights between New York/Newark and Mumbai and New Delhi. Beginning Dec. 5, 2019, United's seasonal service between San Francisco and New Delhi will enable business and leisure travelers nonstop access from the U.S. West Coast. The new flight will connect customers from more than 80 U.S. cities to India with just one stop in San Francisco.

"We're very happy to take our partnership with United Airlines to the next level with this codeshare agreement. It helps us offer an extended global network to our customers and gives us the chance of welcoming travelers from across the world to experience Vistara's award-winning hospitality and service in India. With United Airlines, we share the passion for staying ahead of the curve to delight customers, and we're confident that our respective customers will truly enjoy the shared benefits of this collaboration," said Sanjiv Kapoor, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer, Vistara.

In addition to convenient, one-stop connections to more than 20 destinations from Mumbai and New Delhi, the new United/Vistara alliance agreement enables United customers traveling from the United States with a seamless travel experience including:

Connecting flight opportunities from Mumbai and New Delhi further enhances United's network offering from its U.S. hubs in New York/Newark and San Francisco.
Reciprocal frequent flyer benefits – United MileagePlus members earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all Vistara routes and Vistara's Club Vistara members earn and redeem frequent flyer miles on all Vistara and United routes.
United will place its UA* marketing code on more than 20 flights operated by Vistara (subject to government approval).
Coordinated United and Vistara customer service.
Single ticket booking and checked baggage to the customer's final destination.

Every customer. Every flight. Every day.

In 2019, United is focusing more than ever on its commitment to its customers, looking at every aspect of its business to ensure that the carrier keeps customers' best interests at the heart of its service. In addition to today's announcement, United recently announced that luxury skincare line Sunday Riley will make products exclusively for United customers to experience in amenity kits, released a re-imagined version of the most downloaded app in the airline industry and made DIRECTV free for every passenger on 211 aircraft, offering more than 100 channels on seat back monitors on more than 30,000 seats.

About United

United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,900 flights a day to 355 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 779 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 569 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

SOURCE United Airlines