Vistara becomes eligible for international ops; receives 21st aircraft

Full service air carrier Vistara on Thursday said that it has becomes eligible to start international operations with the addition of its 21st aircraft.

The airline has received its new aircraft an Airbus A320neo powered by CFM engines. Present regulations mandate a domestic airline to have a minimum of 20 aircraft to apply for international flight rights.

According to the company, the new aircraft will be deployed to further strengthen its domestic network.

"There`s great excitement amongst all of us at Vistara, as we prepare ourselves for taking the next leap in our journey to fly international," Vistara CEO Leslie Thng was quoted as saying in a statement.

"The arrival of our 21st aircraft makes this phase even more special. It enables us to strengthen our network further, which gives us the opportunity to offer more choices in terms of frequencies to our ever-growing base of loyal customers."

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Vistara commenced its commercial operations on January 9, 2015. Till date it has flown over 9 million passengers, and currently serves 22 destinations with over 800 flights a week.

The company -- TATA SIA Airlines -- known by its brand name Vistara, is a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA) with Tata Sons holding the majority stake of 51 per cent in the company and SIA holding the remaining 49 per cent.