INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Vistara has so far received three of the 50 Airbus A320neo family aircraft it ordered last year.Tata-Singapore Airlines (SIA) joint venture
carrier Vistara will induct two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and one A321neo this fiscal to launch medium and long-haul international
flights.Seeking to scale up its overseas flights, the airline has already entered into strategic codeshare partnerships with global carriers
like United Airlines and Japan Airlines.Vistara CEO Leslie Thng told IANS that the airline has widened the scope of existing agreement with
Singapore Airlines and SilkAir to provide an extended international network to its customers.Expanding aggressively its operations, the
airline is expected to almost double its fleet size by the end of the current fiscal ending March 31, 2020
Its fast expansion has allowed the full-service carrier to increase its weekly flight count to 1,400, up 70 per cent compared to 800 flights
a week in March this year."Our fleet has increased by over 50 per cent so far and the size will have almost doubled by the end of this
All of it reflects our commitment to growing Vistara in scale and size, which is our top priority," Mr Thng said.The airline has so far
fleet, including 9 Boeing 737-800NG and four A320neo
We have already received three of the 50 aircraft from the Airbus A320neo family that we had ordered last year, and six more A320neo are
expected in the next two months," Mr Thng said.While he remains bullish on Indian aviation, Thng expressed concern over airport
infrastructure constraints."Infrastructural challenges such as runway shortage, slot constraints, capacity constraints, etc
need a great deal of attention
It is, perhaps, the biggest issue that impedes the growth of the Indian aviation ecosystem today," he said.Vistara Chief wants the
government to bring jet fuel under the GST regime as it will provide a level playing field for the industry that anyway has some of the
highest input costs."ATF is one of the biggest cost contributors for any airline, and different state taxes spike its price even higher," he
argued.Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on TheIndianSubcontinent.com
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