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Air India-Vistara merger: The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has approved the proposed merger of Air India and Vistara. CCCS has given this approval 15 months after the announcement of the merger deal between the two airlines. The companies had signed the merger agreement in November-2022. At the same time, this merger has been approved by the Indian regulator CCI in September-2023.
After this merger, Air India has now become the country's second largest domestic airline and the largest international airline. Singapore Competition said it has approved the merger of Tata Group-owned Air India and Tata-Singapore Airlines joint venture airline Vistara. However, this approval has been given with some conditions.
Air India has 74.9% stake in the new company.
Tata Sons holds 51% stake in Vistara and Singapore Airlines holds 49%. Under the deal, Tata will hold 74.9% stake and Singapore Airlines (SIA) will hold 25.1% stake in the new firm. The name of the new firm will be AI-Vistara-AI Express-Air Asia India Private Limited (AAIPL).
Flights will operate as per pre-Covid levels
According to Reuters report, CCCS said that these airlines have a high market share in the most direct flights between Singapore and India's big cities New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Tiruchirapalli, which is a cause for concern.
On this, both the airlines said that they will operate flights as per pre-Covid levels. They will also appoint independent directors to monitor compliance and submit capacity commitments, annual reports and interim reports. After this the Singapore Commission approved this deal.
Regulatory and FDI approvals pending
The merger of Air India is yet to get other regulatory and foreign direct investment approvals. Singapore Airlines will work with its partner Tata Sons to obtain the remaining approvals to complete the merger process, a Singapore Airlines spokesperson said. However, no statement has come from Air India.
The first full-service and low-cost airline
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 is a 51:49 joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines Limited.
It was founded in 2013 and is India's leading full-service carrier with international operations in the Middle East, Asia and Europe. After the merger, Air India will be the only Indian airline group to operate full-service and low-cost passenger services. India's aviation market is currently the third largest in the world. It is expected to double in the next 10 years.
Boarding passes for the entire journey will be available at the first point of departure.
Under this partnership, boarding passes for the entire journey will be available for both the airlines at the first point of departure. You will also be able to check-in your luggage at your first destination.
Apart from this, in case of flight delay, cancellation and diversion, both the airlines will be able to use each other's flights. This means Air India passengers can be transferred to Vistara and Vistara passengers can be transferred to Air India flights.