Vistara merger done, Singapore Airlines now 25.1% stakeholder in Tata's Air India

NEW DELHI: Singapore Airlines (SIA) is finally onboard as a stakeholder in a Tata Group-owned Air India following the merger of Vistara into AI on Tuesday. Led by the late Ratan Tata, the Tata Group had multiple times in the past 25 years shown interest in acquiring erstwhile AI, when Indian Airlines used to be a seperate entity essentially focussed on domestic and nearby international routes. However that could not happen then due to various reasons.

The Tatas did not shelve their plan and in 2015 launched full service Vistara with SIA as 49% stakeholder, a year after starting erstwhile AirAsia India in partnership with the Malaysian budget carrier. In 2022, Tatas acquired AI and AI Express following a successful airline divestment programme by the Modi Govt. And now Tatas have consolidated their airlines by merging Vistara into AI and erstwhile AirAsia India into AI Express.

"Singapore Airlines (SIA) confirms the completion of the merger of Air India and Vistara. With this, SIA now holds a 25.1% stake in Air India. SIA and its partner Tata Sons are firmly committed to supporting the growth and success of the Air India Group, which has a significant presence in all key Indian airline market segments (full service, low-cost, international, and domestic). The merger reinforces SIA’s multi-hub strategy, and underscores its long-standing commitment to India through a direct stake in this large and rapidly growing aviation market," SIA said in a statement Tuesday.

In a statement, AI said Tuesday: "Merger of full-service airlines Air India and Vistara successfully completed on Nov 12, 2024, following the merger of the low-cost airlines Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly Air Asia India) on Oct 1, 2024."

Post merger, Air India Group operates a combined fleet of 300 aircraft covering 55 domestic and 48 international destinations, with 312 routes and 8,300 flights per week. The collective staff strength stands at over 30,000

The new full-service entity Air India operates over 5,600 weekly flights and connects more than 90 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 208 aircraft. Low-cost entity Air India Express operates 2,700 weekly flights and connects more than 45 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 90 aircraft
Post merger, the experience offered by Vistara will continue for customers who may identify Vistara aircraft by a special four-digit Air India code beginning with the digit “2”, AI said.

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