Vistara takes delivery of 5th aircraft

New Delhi: Newly-launched Vistara on Friday took the delivery of its fifth aircraft and completed its order of five leased planes almost two months ahead of the schedule.

With the addition of the fifth aircraft in the fleet, Vistara is poised to further expand operations to new destinations and extend its reach to a wider customer base, the airline said in a release.

All these planes are on lease from Bank of China Aviation (BOC Aviation).

As part of its plan submitted to the civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation for its flying licence in April last year, Vistara had said it would include five leased aircraft in its fleet by March this year.

"The early completion of our initial targeted fleet size in the first quarter has further bolstered our business plan and route expansion strategy. Having recently added Goa and Hyderabad to our network and increased frequencies from Delhi to Mumbai and Ahmedabad and from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, we are excited about our next phase of operations," Vistara chief executive Phee Teik Yeoh said.

Starting its operations initially with 68 frequencies per week early last month, Vistara is steadily scaling up its operations and plans to operate 164 frequencies a week by March 1.

The 148-seater Airbus 320-200, planes offer Vistara customers three cabin class -- 16 business, 36 Premium Economy and 96 Economy -- seats.