Vistara Airline merger with Air India, Competition Commission gives conditional nod

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday approved the merger of Air India-Vistara with certain conditions. x (formerly known as Twitter) CCI said it has approved the merger. It said, “CCI has approved the merger of Tata SIA Airlines with Air India and acquisition of certain shareholding in Air India by Singapore Airlines, subject to compliance with the voluntary commitments proposed by the parties.” This is considered a big step towards increasing the airline business.

Air India- Vistara is part of Tata Group

It is to be noted here that Vistara and Air India are full-service carriers that are part of the Tata group, and Singapore Airlines holds a 49 per cent stake in Vistara. In November 2022, the Tata group announced the merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal in which Singapore Airlines would also acquire a 25.1 percent stake in Air India. The deal would mark a major consolidation in India’s fast-growing aviation sector. CCI’s approval was sought for the proposed combination in April this year. The parties to the combination are Tata Sons Private Limited (TSPL), Air India Limited, Tata SIA Airlines Limited (TSAL) and Singapore Airlines Limited.

Air India recruited 650 pilots

Air India Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson said that the Air India group airline has hired 650 pilots since April this year. He said Air India’s large Boeing 777 fleet would include two B777s by the first week of this month. One of these has already been inducted into the fleet. This will help the airline to increase services and capacity in the US. Air India Group comprises Air India and its two wholly owned subsidiaries – Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India).