New Delhi/Mumbai: In quick succession, Tata- SIA joint venture Vistara, which is awaiting a flying permit from aviation regulator DGCA, has taken the delivery of the second Airbus A-320 aircraft, barely a week after it received the first.
The aircraft landed at New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport yesterday, sources said.
Vistara had taken delivery of the first aircraft on September 24 and it plans to have a fleet of five Airbus 320s by March next year.
The airline, which had indicated launching its flight services by mid-October, has deferred the launch by few weeks to undertake flight tests or these planes and non-completion of some technical documents, which are required before granting the Air Operator Permit (AOP).
Airline officials expect the launch of services either later part of this month or early November.
Vistara plans to increase its fleet to 20 planes, including the latest A-320 neos, by the end of the fourth year of its operation.
The full-service carrier has also signed a comprehensive maintenance agreement 'Flight Hour Services Tailored Support Package' with European aircraft manufacturer Airbus on services like airframe maintenance, engineering, reliability and components supply chain management, which is a first of its kind for any airline in India.
With Delhi as its hub, Vistara, the 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, plans to operate first to five cities and go up to 11 within a year with 87 weekly flights.
The airline's plans are to link Delhi with Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jammu, Srinagar, Patna and Chandigarh within the first year of operations.
Initially, the airline is likely to have two flights a day to Mumbai, with one of them going onwards to Goa. It may also start two flights a day each to Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
Under its aggressive expansion plans, Vistara is likely to gradually add destinations like Chennai, Pune, Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Indore and Kochi within the first four years of its operations.
