Folding four airlines into two is a tough task even for Tatas
₹155.65 crore. 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.
"We have been very clear that Vistara, in the long term will become Air India. The Air India brand is 92 years old. It is recognized around the world.
Now, Vistara has a very, very strong reputation and awareness in India. But, no so much globally," Wilson said at an inndustry event. "A lot of the things that we are doing are modelled on what Vistara does, but we will eventually be collapsing the two, as I say, we won't be rushing.
It will probably be sometime next year," he added. Meanwhile, the merger of Air India Express with AIX Connect may miss the original deadline of FY24 by four to five months, three people aware of the matter said. The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is is expected to take up the merger application in a week, one of them said.
"We are expecting it (NCLT approval) come in by August ," the person said on condition of anonymity. Air India Express and AIX Connect already have a common branding in boarding passes and airport check-in. The combination is also rationalizing networks.
Air India Express has a wider international network from Kerala to feed traffic into each other's network. After their merger, both airlines will fly under a single air operator certificate and the common International Air Transport Association code of IX. Currently, AIX Connect operates with the I5 code.
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