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Vistara’s first wide-body joins fleet
March 6th 2020
India-based airline, Vistara, joined the wide-body club this week when the full-service carrier took delivery of its first 787-9. Read More »
The aircraft, registration VT-TSD, landed in India a little before 1500 local time on Saturday February 29, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24, following a 15 hour 30 minute flight from Boeing's Everett facility outside Seattle.
The airline, a joint venture between India's Tata Sons (51%) and Singapore Airlines (49%) commenced flying in 2015. It has six 787-9s on order with options for another four of the type. The order was placed at the 2018 Farnborough Airshow.
The 787s have been configured to carry 299 passengers in a three-class layout of 30 lie-flat business class seats with direct aisle access, 21 premium economy seats at seven abreast and 248 economy seats at 3-3-3.
The aircraft, equipped with inflight internet WiFi, will begin duty on domestic flights between Delhi and Mumbai before transferring to international services.
Vistara has not announced specific routes for its 787s, but media reports suggested London would be among the first destinations for the wide-body. Medium-haul routes to Asia, the Middle East and Australia are potential future destinations.
"With the unveiling of our new cabin products, today's milestone reflects Vistara's deep-rooted commitment to providing our customers with a premium travel experience like no other carrier in India," Vistara CEO, Leslie Thng, told Indian media after the arrival of the aircraft at the carrier.
"We are confident millions of our loyal customers will be delighted to have the choice of now flying their favourite Indian airline on long-haul international routes as well as domestic routes."
Vistara is the second airline in India to operate the 787 and the first to fly the 787-9. It also has A320 family and 737-800 narrow-bodies in its fleet. The 737-800s, operated by Jet Airways and transferred to Vistara when Jet collapsed in April 2019, are gradually being withdrawn from the joint venture carrier’s fleet.
Vistara has chosen Sabre’s intelligent planning and scheduling technology to support its fleet and network expansion.
