India’s Vistara has taken delivery of its first Airbus A321LR, the long range variant of the A321neo. The delivery is part of a combined order for various A320 products including the A320neo, A321neo and A321LR.
Vistara’s LEAP-1A powered A321LRs are outfitted with three auxiliary fuel tanks, and can carry 188 passengers split across 12 in lie flat business class, 24 in premium economy, and 152 in economy class. Like most modern planes, passengers can expect features like USB charging ports, an in-flight entertainment system, 4-way adjustable headrests and Wi-Fi.
Mr. Vinod Kannan, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara, said, “We are excited to welcome our first A321LR to our growing fleet. This addition reiterates our stronger focus on international expansion, and enables us to offer longer range connectivity to our customers while also maintaining greater fuel efficiency.”
Standing as the only full-service carrier besides Air India, Vistara most likely will deploy this new bird to Hong Kong (HKG) out of Delhi (DEL), as well as to Mauritius (MRU) from Mumbai (BOM), according to a report from the Business Standard.
Vistara will already be going up against competition on these routes, including Air India and Singapore Airlines which operate flights between Delhi and Hong Kong, and Air Mauritius which operates the Mumbai to Mauritius route. This should not be a problem in the long run as Tata Group and Singapore Airlines (joint owners of Vistara) have confirmed that the airline will be merged with Air India (also owned by Tata Group).
The merger is expected to be completed by March 2024, giving Singapore Airlines a 25.1% cut in the airline, with the majority remainder going to Tata Group. In the mean time, Vistara will continue taking deliveries of new aircraft in accordance to already established contracts. Based on its order sheet, they will take on three additional A321LRs, a further combo of Airbus A320neos and A321neos from lessors, as well as four Boeing 787-9s and nine Airbus A320neo direct from the respective aerospace manufacturers.
[Featured Photo: Vistara/Twitter]
