India’s Vistara prepares for international services

Indian full-service domestic airline Vistara has taken delivery of its 20th aircraft, passing the Indian government’s threshold for an airline to operate internationally, which is planned for later this year. The airline’s latest A320neo landed at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport April 4, joining six other A320neo and 13 A320ceo models and completing the carrier’s initial aircraft order. Vistara used the occasion to announce orders for a further two A320neos, which are expected to be delivered by June 2018 and indicated it was seeking larger models to undertake medium-haul services. A Vistara spokesman told ATW April 6 that the intention was to start regional international services with the A320s in the second half of this year. It was not yet in a position to name destinations. “At the same time, we are reviewing the type of aircraft we’ll need to support our future plans of international expansion so that we can commence medium-haul routes (between 5-9 hours) after launching the regional/short-haul international routes.”<br/>