Vistara has received its first Airbus A321neo, as part of strengthening its expansion of international operations. The aircraft arrived in Delhi from its production facility in Hamburg, Germany last week. It is the first of the 50 Airbus A320 and A321neos ordered by Vistara in 2018. The Airbus comes with lie-flat beds, making the airline the first in South Asia, and one of the few airlines across the world, to offer the feature.
In a statement, Leslie Thng, chief executive officer of Vistara said &ldquoThis new addition to our fleet reinforces our long-term commitment to international expansion plans, despite the challenges of the current times. The new cabin products on our A321neo aircraft truly complement our promise of providing a premium and world-class flying experience to travellers from and to India.&rdquo
The A321neo aircraft has latest technological features offering reduced carbon footprint while ensuring operational enhancement and cost effectiveness. The airbus offers extra payload capacity, greater fuel efficiency and higher range than any aircraft in the airline&rsquos fleet. The owners believe that these aspects perfectly align with the carrier&rsquos international growth strategy.
The aircraft has a total of 188 seats. Featuring Vistara&rsquos three-class cabin configuration, it is divided into 12 in business class, 24 in premium economy and 152 in economy. The A321neo aircraft are powered by next generation CFM LEAP-1A engines known for reducing noise footprint by nearly 50 percent. The new technology engines and aerodynamics of the wings (sharklets) makes it at least 20 percent more fuel efficient per seat than the previous generation aircraft.
Vistara, popular for keeping its aircrafts economy-friendly, is believed to be adding extra row of seats to the single-aisle A320s. The airline had changed its fleet&rsquos cabin by increasing economy space and cutting business class seats in the past.