Air India-Vistara merger: Singapore regulator's nod to further help optimise airlines' schedules, contracts

The final competition-related approval for Air India-Vistara merger coming in from the Singapore regulator will now allow both airlines to share detailed information to optimise their schedules and contracts, Air India chief Campbell Wilson said on Friday.

The merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal, wherein Singapore Airlines will acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, was announced in November 2022. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group.

On March 5, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) granted conditional approval for the deal after accepting certain commitments from Air India, Singapore Airlines and Vistara to address possible anti-competition concerns.

In a message to staff on Friday, Air India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said the CCCS nod complements the approval granted by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) six months ago for the proposed merger.

"... Being the final competition-related approval, permits Air India and Vistara to now share detailed information to optimise our schedules, contracts and accelerate the journey to merger," he said.

According to him, the project, involving more than 80 people over 8 months, to harmonise operating procedures and manuals across the four Tata airlines is now entering its final phase.

"Alignment of procedures will expedite the safe transfer of crew and aircraft from one AOC to another, so it a critical aspect of bringing our two LCCs, and our two FSCs, into the final state," he added.

As part of consolidating its airline business, Tata Group is merging Full Service Carriers (FSCs) -- Air India and Vistara -- and also bringing together the two Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) -- Air India Express and AIX Connect (earlier known as AirAsia India).