Vistara, India’s third largest airline, will operate its last flight today i.e. November 11. Air India will operate all Vistara flights from November 12. Ticket booking for this will also be done through the Air India website.
The merger agreement of Air India and Vistara was signed in November 2022. It was approved by the Indian regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) in September 2023.
After this merger, Air India Group became the second largest domestic airline in the country and the largest international airline after IndiGo in terms of market share.
The first full-service, low-cost airline
Post-merger, Air India will become the only Indian airline group to operate both comprehensive and low-cost passenger services.
Air India (including Air India Express and Air Asia India) and Vistara have a total of 218 wide-body and narrow-body aircraft, serving 38 international and 52 domestic destinations.
Vistara was launched in 2013. It is India’s first full-service carrier, with international operations in Central and East Asia and Europe.
Singapore Airlines to invest additional Rs 3,194.5 crore
After this merger, Singapore Airlines will also make an additional investment of Rs 3,194.5 crore in Air India. The company gave this information in its exchange filing.
Tata holds 74.9% of the capital and SIA 25.1%.
After the merger of the two airlines, Singapore Airlines’ stake in Air India will rise to 25.1%. For this, the company has a direct investment of $250 million (around Rs 2,096 crore). At the same time, the Tata group will hold 74.9% stake in the new company.
Prior to the deal, Tata Sons held 51% stake in Vistara and Singapore Airlines 49%. The name of the new company will be AI-Vistara-AI Express-Air Asia India Private Limited (AAIPL).