Vistara has currently shelved all its plans for ordering any new aircraft prior to its merger with Air India. Meanwhile, the airline will honour its existing aircraft orders, the majority of which will go towards international route expansion.
Vistara currently has 17 aircraft orders on its book: 12 of Airbus A320neo, one Airbus A321neo and four Boeing 787-9s. The delivery of these aircraft is expected towards the end of 2024, which will take the airline fleet to 70.
Confirming the news, Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara said: “We have not looked at any orders beyond that [2024]. There has been the announcement about the merger and integration with Air India. Once we have approval from the relevant authorities, we will sit down together with Air India as a joint entity to see what we do.”
Meanwhile, as per the latest Mint report, the merger process is currently on fast-track with consultations are taking place across departments focusing on optimising operations, employee salaries, merging two airline cultures into one and interviewing employees at various levels.
Both airlines have also already started the regulatory process required for the merger with approvals have been sought from key agencies like the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Reserve Bank of India, the entire process is expected to take another six months.
Interesting the airline reported a quarterly profit for Q4 of 2022 for the first time since its launch.
The Tata’s owned Air India is expected to announce a massive order of 495 aircraft sometime this week, which will strengthen its position in the India aviation market and will enable the airline to give a tough fight to IndiGo.
Vistara currently operates 12 international routes, including its newly launched Pune to Singapore and Mumbai to Muscat services, and international expansion will remain the airline’s focus in short to medium term, the airline confirmed.