Vistara receives first purchased A320neo aircraft from Airbus facility

New Delhi: Vistara on Saturday received its first purchased A320neo aircraft, powered by CFM International’s LEAP engines, in Delhi from Airbus’ production facility in Toulouse, France. This will be the 46th aircraft to be added to its fleet. Out of 46, 43 are on lease while the rest have been purchased.

“It (the aircraft delivered today) is one of the 13 Airbus A320neo that Vistara had purchased in 2018 as part of a larger order totalling 50 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family, including the Airbus A321neo aircraft as well,” the airline’s press release noted. Vistara has seven A320ceo, 29 A320neo, two Boeing B787-9 and six Boeing 737-800NG aircraft in its fleet. Out of these, two B787-9 and one A320neo aircraft have been purchased and the rest are on lease.

“The new set of A320neo aircraft that Vistara has been adding to its fleet come with higher range capability (77 tonnes of maximum take-off weight), enabling the airline to fly longer regional international routes without payload restrictions,” the statement noted. The delivery is happening at a time when India and its aviation sector has been badly hit by the second wave of coronavirus infection. The domestic air travel has drastically reduced in the country during the last couple of weeks. On February 28, around 3.13 lakh domestic air passengers travelled in India. On May 25, domestic flights operated in India with only 39,000 passengers approximately.