Air India will discontinue the Vistara brand after completing the merger formalities with Tata Sia Airlines, clarified Campbell Wilson, MD & CEO of Air India.
“Vistara clearly has a very strong recognition in the Indian market...but if you look outside the Indian market, clearly Air India is much more recognized and has a 90-year history. So, the future full-service carrier will be called Air India, but we would like to retain and celebrate some of the Vistara heritage in that new manifestation," Wilson told reporters during a virtual press conference.
Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines is set to infuse further $267 million into Air India. It will give SIA a 25.1% stake in the group following its takeover by Tata and merger with Vistara Airlines. Through this transaction, SIA will reinforce its partnership with Tata and immediately acquire a strategic stake in an entity that is four to five times larger in scale compared to Vistara, the airline said.
Last year, Tata and Singapore Airlines both agreed to inject fresh capital if needed to help lift Air India.
The airline had said that the new entity will be four to five times larger than Vistara and help strengthen its multi-hub strategy. Vistara, a full-service carrier, operates flights to 12 international destinations, including London, Frankfurt, Paris, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai.
In November 2022, Singapore Airlines and Tata Group announced a merger between Air India and Vistara, with Singapore Airlines holding 25.1% of the merged entity. The merger is expected to be completed by March 2024.
Vistara became the second-largest domestic airline in India in July 2022 and retained the title for six months. In January, Air India overtook Vistara with a market share of 9.2%.
“We expect many of the systems and practices will be those of Vistara...being a younger privatized airline that has been able to imbibe the learnings it brings from its other shareholders. A lot of transformation that we have been doing at Air India is with a view to putting us on a similar platform as Vistara," Wilson said.
The airline is also working with external parties to figure out opportunities in integration between the two full-service carriers, what should be the focus areas, and what will the end product look like once the regulatory and other approvals are received for the merger, he said.
Air India has also decided to retain the Maharajah brand and is working on developing it in line with the modern world. “We want an Air India brand that respects the past but looks at the future, too," said Wilson.