Air India to operate as merged entity from 2025; no Vistara brand by year end
Mint on the sidelines of the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association, a global airline body. On receiving the nod from NCLT, the airline hopes to take another 4-5 months to merge the air operator certificate of AIX Connect with Air India Express. The Tatas acquired both Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express in January 2022.
In November 2022, it announced the merger of Air India with Vistara and AIX Connect with Air India Express. As a part of the transaction, AirAsia Bhd sold its 16.67% stake in the airline to Tatas for ₹155.65 crore. While Air India Express and AIX Connect already have a common branding in boarding passes and airport check-in, they will be able to fly under a single air operator certificate and the common International Air Transport Association code of IX once the air operator certificate is merged.
Currently, AIX Connect operates with the I5 code. "In context of parent company Air India, the route rationalisation has already been done massively," a second executive aware of the development said. “Air India has stepped in their presence on routes with more of corporate traffic such as Mumbai-Dubai, Delhi-Dubai while those routes with more of visiting friends and relatives, leisure, small and medium enterprises such as international and domestic connections from Tier-2,3 cities are now increasingly being served by Air India Express." The Tata Group-backed Air India group is witnessing an integration exercise whereby full-service carrier Vistara is being merged with Air India.
Vistara is currently a 51:49 joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines. After the merger, Singapore Airlines will hold a 25.1% stake in the merged entity. "The written order on the
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