Vistara-Air India merger to be completed by next year: CEO Vinod Kannan

Vistara chief executive officer Vinod Kannan has said that the airline will merge with Air India by next year. He mentioned that the legal approvals for the Vistara- Air India merger will be completed by the first half of this year and the operational merger would be completed by next year.

“We believe all the approvals from a legal perspective should come through sometime in the first half of this year, between March to October of 2024... we are looking towards this year or early next year as the operational merger, or it could stretch to the middle of next year or 2025, subject to relevant approvals, subject to approvals from authorities, the legal merger, or the legal approval should come through soon and then we operationalise it,” he said

Vistara-Air India merger

Vistara is a joint venture of Tata Sons Private Limited and Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA), wherein Tata Sons holds 51% stake in partnership and Singapore Airlines owns 49% stake. The company is registered as TATA SIA Airlines Limited.

Also Read: Merger of Air India and Vistara won't have a negative effect on competition: Tata group

The competition committee of India approved the merger of Tata Singapore Airlines Limited with Air India on September 1. As part of the merger, Singapore Airlines will invest Rs 2,059 crore in Air India. Post the consolidation, SIA will hold 25.1% shareholding in Air India.

Currently Vistara operates around 325 flights and carries around 1.5 million passengers every month. Vistara CEO Kannan also mentioned that all the airline employees will continue with their job post the merger. He also said that the airline is currently in discussion with their employees over their roles after Vistara merges into Air India.