Vistara (UK, Delhi Int'l) is returning two of its leased B737-800s this month, which it had acquired following the demise of Jet Airways (9W, Mumbai Int'l) last April, as a result of a fresh batch of A320-200neo being delivered to the airline, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.
The remaining seven of the nine B737-800s it is leasing will remain with the Tata-Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) joint venture carrier until 2022-23. The aircraft were brought into the Vistara fleet when the Indian government temporarily reallocated hundreds of Jet Airways slots to Air India, IndiGo Airlines, SpiceJet, GoAir and AirAsia India, as well as Vistara, in order to fill the capacity void.
The airline already has 19 A320neo in its fleet, with further units expected to enter service with the carrier in the coming weeks, and replacing the returning B737-800s. Vistara is part-way through it order for 50 A320neo and A321neo, with deliveries to be complete by 2023. The carrier has also ordered eight B787-9s for its planned long-haul operations.
On January 9, Vistara celebrated completing five years of flights. Its biggest operating bases are at Delhi Int'l (35% of weekly capacity) and Mumbai Int'l (19%), according to the ch-aviation capacities module. Its international services are currently limited to Singapore Changi, Dubai Int'l, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, and Colombo Int'l.