Air India Vistara Merger: No one can stop the merger of this airline with Air India, now even DGCA has given the green signal.
New Delhi: Tata Group’s Air India finally got the green signal from DGCA. Now Vastara, the joint venture airline company of Tata and Singapore Airlines (SIA), will be merged into Air India. This merger has already received permission from the Competition Commission of India or CCI. Air India was earlier a Tata Group company. Later it was taken over by the Government of India. The Government of India had sold it a few years ago. Now it has come back to Tata again.
Permission received from DGCA
DGCA (Director General, Civil Aviation), the regulator of the aviation sector in the country, on Monday approved the merger of Vistara with Air India and the erstwhile Air Asia India with Air India Express. Now only approval is required for foreign investment in Air India by Singapore Airlines to meet the merger target by the end of the year. While currently SIA holds 49% stake in Vistara, after the merger it will have 25.1% stake in Air India.
Expressed Gratitude
Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said on the occasion: “This is an important milestone in the merger of the Tata group of airlines and we look forward to receiving timely approval from the Ministry of Civil Aviation for the merger process. Grateful for the support.” Wilson said DGCA had guided its teams with a safety-first change management approach in line with the safety-first priorities of the Tata Group.
Approval has already been received from CCI
The proposal regarding merger of Air India with Vistara got the approval of Competition Commission of India in September last year itself. Only, this was yet to get the green signal from DGCA. It is noteworthy that both Air India and Vistara are full service carriers. Whereas Air India and Air India Express are low fare airlines.
What will happen after the merger
After the merger, Air India (Vistara merged into it) will remain a full service carrier. Air India Express (which merged with Air Asia India) will be its low-fare arm. DGCA permission was mandatory for airlines before allowing pilots to undergo crossover training when changing companies or aircraft types.
