Vistara Airlines says it has been awarded by a Swiss airline intelligence company for its young fleet for the second consecutive year.

Vistara Airlines, part of the Tata Group and a joint venture with Singapore Airlines, says it has been named the winner of the ch-aviation Asia’s 3^rd Youngest Aircraft Fleet Award 2023 for the second consecutive year.

In a press statement, Vistara says that each year, ch-aviation, a Switzerland-based airline intelligence provider and research company, recognises airlines globally that maintain young, modern and efficient aircraft fleet as this contributes significantly to reducing CO2 emissions.

“We are elated to win ch-aviation Asia’s 3^rd Youngest Aircraft Fleet Award, second time in a row. At Vistara, we take pride in maintaining a young and modern fleet of aircraft equipped with fuel-efficient engines that contribute significantly to lowering CO2 emissions. This award is a testament to our efforts in minimizing the environmental impact and we are grateful to ch-aviation for this recognition,” says Vinod Kannan, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara.

“ch-aviation’s Youngest Fleet Award recognises airlines dedicated to keeping their fleet young and using new generation aircraft. This subject is extremely important to all of us in the industry and the whole world because CO2 emissions are a global issue affecting us all. We, at ch-aviation, believe it is critical to recognise those airlines that truly work hard toward fixing this problem by keeping their fleets young because they’re the ones that make a difference. This award acknowledges their efforts and is an incentive to keep up the good work. It is essential to say that this Award is entirely based on non-manipulable fleet data. There is no jury or any other subjective parameter involved,” says Thomas Jaeger, CEO, ch-aviation.

The airline says in its statement that with an average aircraft age of 3.3 years, Vistara’s current fleet of A320NEO, A321NEO and B787-9 Dreamliner aircraft is powered by cutting-edge technologies and the most advanced systems that result in reduction in engine noise as well as nitrogen oxide and carbon dioxide emissions.

The statement adds that committed to adopting sustainable practices, Vistara aims to achieve carbon neutrality by reducing emissions through operational efficiencies and by investing in various emerging green technologies. For instance, the airline digitalised several processes to reduce the use of paper thereby managing the weight of an aircraft and saving fuel. The airline says that it also partnered with Ultramain ELB systems to introduce an E-tech logbook solution, currently in the airborne stage, in order to go paperless in its operations. Initiatives such as E-Tugs or Electric Power Tuggers for day-to-day maintenance tasks, using alternatives to APU (auxiliary power unit) at airports, among others, have enabled the airline’s operations to become more sustainable.

The airline has also collaborated with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research – Indian Institute of Petroleum to work on research, development and deployment of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to further reduce its carbon footprint.

“At Vistara, we are constantly looking at improved ways to do business and strive to keep sustainability at the heart of those innovations,” says Kannan.