Vistara, a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines and India’s finest full-service carrier, today announced to have leased an additional six aircraft from BOC Aviation to accelerate its growth in the domestic market. As part of the agreement, Vistara has leased four Boeing 737-800 NG aircraft to be delivered in May 2019 and two Airbus A320neo powered by CFM LEAP 1A engines, scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2019.
In order to support the next phase of expansion of its domestic operations, Vistara has recruited nearly 500 former employees of Jet Airways, including pilots, cabin crew, engineers and other staff.
Leslie Thng, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said, “Our focus on serving the domestic market has remained unwavered even as we prepare to become an international airline. These leased aircraft will be deployed to meet the sudden drop in capacity in the market and to aid convenience of travellers. Our decision to induct a different aircraft type in our fleet is a carefully evaluated one, which is both, economically and commercially viable, and will eventually help us take the Vistara experience wider and deeper across markets in India.”
“We’re glad to also make the Vistara family stronger by the addition of close to 500 members, who are determined to deliver the Vistara brand promise of consistently delivering operational and service excellence across all touchpoints,” Mr Thng added.
Vistara’s relationship with BOC Aviation dates back to 2014, when the airline announced to lease its first 20 Airbus A320 family aircraft. Last year, Vistara placed its aircraft order of a combination of purchased and leased aircraft totalling 50 from the Airbus A320neo family (including the A321neo) for domestic India as well as short and medium-haul international operations, with deliveries scheduled between 2019 and 2023. Additionally, the airline has purchased six Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that are scheduled to be delivered between 2020 and 2021, and will be used for long-haul international operations.
As the highest-rated Indian airline on Skytrax and TripAdvisor, and winner of several ‘Best Airline’ awards, Vistara has consistently raised the bar for operations and service delivery in the Indian aviation industry in a short span of time. At present, the airline connects 24 destinations, operates over 850 flights a week served by a fleet of 22 Airbus A320 aircraft, and has flown more than 15 million customers since starting operations in 2015.
