NEW DELHI, Sept 2 (NNN-Bernama) — India’s fair competition panel has approved the merger of Vistara airline with Air India.
The merger creates a larger Tata Group airline to take on domestic market leader IndiGo.
Vistara is the brand name of Tata SIA Airlines Limited, which is 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airlines.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said on Friday it has “approved merger of Tata SIA Airlines into Air India, and acquisition of certain shareholding by Singapore Airlines in Air India subject to compliance of voluntary commitments offered by the parties.”
Vistara airline began operations in January 2015 and at present, has a fleet of 60 aircraft, comprising 46 Airbus A320neo jets, 10 Airbus A321s and four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
Air India, the formerly state-owned airline acquired by the Tata Group in January 2022, has a fleet roughly twice that of Vistara.
Air India has signed agreements to buy 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing at US$70 billion based on list prices.
The airline unveiled its new brand identity and aircraft livery in August.
In the domestic market, Vistara and Air India together have a little less than one-fifth of passengers, while IndiGo has about 60 per cent share.
