NEW DELHI, Nov 12: Marking a major consolidating in the Indian aviation space, the full service carrier Vistara on Tuesday completely merged with Air India and the integrated entity will be operating over 5,600 weekly flights connecting more than 90 destinations.
With the merger, Singapore Airlines, the co-owner of Vistara along with Tata Sons, will have a 25.1% stake in the enlarged Air India.
“Air India Group has completed the operational integration and legal merger between Air India and Vistara, creating a full-service carrier of scale and marking a significant milestone in the post-privatisation transformation journey. This follows the merger of the Group’s low-cost airlines Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly Air Asia India) on 1 October 2024,” a statement said. Vistara was a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines.
Air India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson said the merger completes the consolidation and restructuring phase of the Air India Group’s post-privatisation transformation journey, and is thus a significant milestone.
“Over the past two years, teams across the four airlines have worked closely together and with other stakeholders to ensure that the transition of people, assets, operations and, most importantly, customers, was as seamless as possible,” he said. Tata Group acquired loss-making but prestigious Air India from the government in January 2022.
(Manas Dasgupta)