Airbus to maintain Vistara fleet; AirWorks may bag MRO deal

Mumbai: The Tata-Singapore Airlines venture, Vistara has outsourced its engineering support services to original equipment maker Airbus and is also negotiating with home grown AirWorks for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of its fleet, sources close to the development said today.

The full service carrier, which was earlier expected to take wings by the middle of next month, may now take a couple of months to launch its operations due to pending technical regulatory approvals. "Vistara, which will have an all-Airbus fleet to begin with, has outsourced day-to-day maintenance of its fleet tthe European aviation major Airbus," said sources. However, when contacted, both Vistara and AirWorks spokespersons declined to comment on the development.

An announcement to this effect is likely to be announced soon, sources said. Last month, Vistara Chief Executive Phee Teik Yeoh had said that he plans to have a fleet of five aircraft by the end of the year. The Delhi-based airline has already decided to lease 20Airbus A320s, including seven A320 Neos which have the latest technology. The airline is also in discussions with AirWorks for awarding the contract for maintenance, repair and overhaul of its aircraft.

Vistara, which is the third full service carrier in the country after national carrier Air India and Jet Airways, would operate from its base Delhi and connect Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Jammu and Patna in the first year, as per the plan submitted to theregulator DGCA while applying for the air operator's permit in April this year. It plans to operate 87 flights in the first year, with five leased Airbus A320s, and then scale it up to 301 flights by the fourth year.