Airline Vistara to stop using Boeing 737 aeroplanes

Tata and Singapore Airlines’ joint venture airline Vistara is reportedly set to gradually stop using nine Boeing 737-800NG aircraft.

Following the grounding of Jet Airways, Vistara opted to induct nine ex-Jet Airways Boeing 737-800s last year. The induction was in line with the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation’s new requirement to add a separate subfleet.

Jet Airways entered administration and ceased operations from mid-April last year. Around 488 of its slots were then reallocated by the government to Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Vistara, GoAir and AirAsia India.

Vistara secured as many as 110 additional slots of the total.

Out of the nine 737s, Vistara is returning two this month, reported the Press Trust of India (PTI).

The remaining seven aircraft have long-term lease agreements in place and will be removed from the fleet between 2022 and 2023.

A Vistara spokesperson was quoted by PTI as saying that: “Two of our Boeing 737-800NG aircraft are exiting the fleet this month as their lease tenure ends. The remaining seven have longer lease duration and most of them will exit fleet between 2022 and 2023.”

Vistara will take delivery of 50 aircraft, which consists of A320 Neos and A321 Neos. These aircraft will be delivered up to 2023.

The airline started receiving A320 Neos in November last year.

Furthermore, the carrier will also deploy its new Boeing Dreamliners for medium-haul and long-haul international flights.

In a separate development, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) proposed a $5.4m fine against Boeing for installing faulty slat tracks on around 178 737 MAX aircraft.