Air India-Vistara merger expected to be completed by mid-2025, Vistara Chief

It is reported that by mid-2025, the proposed merger of Vistara with Air India is expected to be completed and all legal approvals for the transaction are anticipated by the middle of this year.

Stating that the amalgamation would be a 'merger for growth', Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan said, it would look to take the airline's consumer-focussed services, operational excellence and staff into the merged entity.

Tata Group announced the merger in November 2022 under a deal where Singapore Airlines will also hold a 25.1% stake in Air India.  

Vistara is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines. The venture has a fleet of 67 planes and operates around 320 flights daily. By April 2024, the airline expects to have three more planes, including a Boeing 787.  

Kannan also said that the airline is financially doing better than last year.

"We broke even in the last quarter of last year (2022-23). From October 2022 to July 2023, we were in the black but then like for most other airlines, July, August, September and October were the weakest months, and we had to take some losses there [but] December has been a very strong month," he said.

Kannan said the legal approvals for the merger are expected by the middle of 2024, and the operational merger is anticipated by early or middle of next year.

He also said that all competition approvals are expected in the current quarter ending March.

On September 1, 2023, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed merger.

Regarding the merger process, the Vistara chief said, "We want to make sure that everyone in Vistara does have a role [in the merged entity]. It is not a merger for cost-cutting or efficiencies, it is a merger for growth."