Vistara to double fleet size by March 2020

NEW DELHI: Vistara today said that the airline is set to almost double its fleet size by the end of the current financial year ending March 2020, as compared to the start of the current fiscal.

The airline also said that it has expanded its fleet and network by close to 50% each and has flown around 4.5 million passengers in the last seven months.

“Vistara has taken the count of destinations in its network from 23 to 34, spread across India while also foraying in the international market, with plans to further add multiple destinations and beefing up frequencies on existing key routes in next few months. The expansion has led Vistara to operate nearly 1400 flights a week today, up more than 70% from 800 flights a week it operated by end of March 2019,” the airline said in a statement.

Last year, Vistara had ordered 50 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family, including the A321neo, to be delivered until 2023.

“The deliveries from the said order have begun already, as Vistara inducted three new Airbus A320neo aircraft. The airline will induct six more A320neo aircraft by December 2019,” said the airline.

“Vistara will also get two of the six wide-body aircraft it ordered last year, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, and one Airbus A321neo between January and March 2020. With this, from 22 aircraft in March 2019, the airline will take the fleet size to 42 by March 2020,” the airline said.

“With our fleet expansion, we will continue to grow our domestic and international network, including the commencement of medium and long haul international flights in 2020,” Leslie Thng, Vistara’s Chief Executive Officer, was quoted in the statement.

The airline will be the second after Air India to have wide-bodied aircraft in its fleet that will be used to connect medium- and long-haul destinations like London, Tokyo, New York or San Francisco.