Delayed Boeing 787: Vistara cancels flights to Frankfurt
Due to a delay in delivery by Boeing for the planned Boeing 787 aircraft, Vistara has had to cancel some flights to Frankfurt at short notice.
Vistara is eagerly awaiting the delivery of a Boeing 787, which is scheduled for October. This has been delayed for some time, which is why a Dreamliner is the least likely. Still, some customers will be affected by flight cancellations, like easyfly reported.
Effects of the delayed delivery of the Boeing 787
Vistara, since last year Miles & More partners, has to cancel the additional flights to Frankfurt and Paris for this week. The reason for this is the delayed delivery of a Boeing 787. What is annoying is that these flights have been on sale for some time and, accordingly, many travelers had bought a ticket from India to Europe (or in the other direction).
A total of 14 flights between New Delhi and Frankfurt and Paris are affected by a cancellation. A spokesman for the airline confirmed this.
We confirm that there has been a slight, unavoidable delay in the delivery of our third (leased) Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, affecting select bookings of a few days on Vistara flights to/from Paris and Frankfurt.
Vistara speaker
The flights in this calendar week, i.e. from October 31st to November 6th, are mainly affected. The new delivery date of the Dreamliner is not yet known, it should at best be this November. The reasons for the delay are presumably Boeing’s overhaul and maintenance processes that still have to be completed and could not be completed in a timely manner.
Vistara is waiting for four Dreamliners
Vistara placed an order for six Boeing 787 aircraft right at the start of the first flights. Two of them were already received in 2020, the other four are still outstanding and mainly because Vistara’s long-haul destinations are currently still quite clear. There would definitely be a demand for this, i.e. Vistara. The current two Dreamliners that Vistara currently owns can be found mostly on the routes from Delhi to Frankfurt, Paris and London. For a short period of time, however, the type was also used on flights to Tokyo.
Conclusion on the delayed delivery of the Dreamliner
It is of course very annoying for an airline to cancel planned flights at short notice. In this case, Vistara is only indirectly to blame, since the delays were caused by Boeing. If you are booked on one of the affected flights, it is best to proactively contact the airline in advance for refunds or rebookings. I think it’s remarkable that Vistara is so flexible and can lease another Dreamliner in a very short time. It remains to be hoped that the desired and ordered model will arrive in New Delhi in November.