In a major move to make Air India the second largest airline in the country, Tata Sons have reportedly started the process to bring all its airlines under one umbrella of Air India.
With this consolidation process, all its airline entities – Vistara, AirAsia India and Air India Express will reportedly come under Air India.
According to a report in the Economic Times, Tata Sons has started this process after holding several rounds of discussions with Singapore Airlines (SIA). If the process gets executed as planned, Air India could become the second largest airline in the country, especially in terms of fleet and market share, as per the report.
Tata Sons will have a low-cost carrier and a full-service airline under Air India post this merger, which may take more than a year to start properly functioning under the umbrella firm.
The Tatas took over Air India and Air India Express in January. In October 2021, Tatas emerged as the winning bidder for loss-making Air India. It offered a bid of Rs 18,000 crore, comprising a cash payment of Rs 2,700 crore and taking over the carrier's debt worth Rs 15,300 crore.