India's third largest airline Vistara will operate its last flight tomorrow i.e. on 11th November. Air India will operate all Vistara flights from November 12. Ticket booking for this will also be done through Air India website.
The merger deal 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 has become the country's second largest domestic airline and the largest international airline after IndiGo in terms of market share.
The first full-service and low-cost airline
Following the merger, Air India will be the only Indian airline group to operate both full-service and low-cost passenger services.
Air India (including Air India Express and Air Asia India) and Vistara have a total of 218 widebody and narrowbody aircraft, serving 38 international and 52 domestic destinations.
Vistara was started in 2013. It is India's leading full service carrier with international operations in East-Central Asia and Europe.
Singapore Airlines will invest additional Rs 3,194.5 crore
After this merger, Singapore Airlines will also make additional investment of Rs 3,194.5 crore in Air India. The company gave this information in its exchange filing.
Tata has 74.9% stake and SIA has 25.1% stake.
After the merger of both the airlines, Singapore Airlines' stake in Air India will be 25.1%. For this, the company has a direct investment of $ 250 million (about Rs 2,096 crore). At the same time, Tata Group will have 74.9% stake in the new venture.
Before the deal, Tata Sons had 51% stake in Vistara and Singapore Airlines had 49% stake. The name of the new firm will be AI-Vistara-AI Express-Air Asia India Private Limited (AAIPL).
Graphics Source: VaskarAssets