Air India completes merger with Vistara

The merged entity is poised to offer enhanced customer experience, expanded route network, and increased efficiency. This strategic move sets the stage for Air India Group's emergence as a leading global airline.

Earlier, on October 1 Tata Group's low-cost airlines Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly Air Asia India) were merged.

In a statement, the group informed that the consolidation of the four Tata-owned airlines into one Group operating one full-service and one low-cost airline is part of the ongoing, five-year transformation program, Vihaan.AI, which is focussed on establishing Air India Group as a world-class global aviation company with an Indian heart.

The unified Air India Group now operates over 8,300 weekly flights on 312 routes, connecting more than 100 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 300 aircraft.

The new full-service entity Air India operates over 5,600 weekly flights and connects more than 90 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 208 aircraft. The airline will now be flying over 120,000 passengers every day and offers extended worldwide connectivity to over 800 destinations through more than 75 codeshare and interline partners.

Preparation for the full-service merger commenced in earnest more than two years ago and has seen the induction of more than 6,000 staff from Vistara into a new organisation structure, harmonisation of operating procedures across the four airlines, and alignment of over 140 IT systems.

Amongst many other aspects, more than 4,000 vendor contracts have been consolidated, 270,000 customer bookings migrated and 4.5 million Club Vistara frequent flyer accounts inducted to Air India's recently-redesigned frequent flyer program, Maharaja Club.

Given the unprecedented nature and complexity of the parallel mergers, which coincide with the Group's significant expansion and transformation programs, close contact was maintained with India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) which supported and monitored the process throughout. The merger also received support from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and other key stakeholders, including multiple international regulators.

Besides the consolidation of the four Tata-owned airlines, the Vihaan.AI transformation program has seen the commitment to more than 500 new aircraft, delivery of which is well underway, and the commencement of a USD 400 million interior retrofit program for legacy aircraft.

A new 600,000-square-foot training facility with the capacity to train 2,000 employees per day has been opened, and ground has been broken on a 12-bay maintenance base that will be operational in early 2026. More than 9,000 new employees have been inducted and trained, and the airlines' IT platform has been entirely modernised, amongst much else. (ANI)