Air India Group completed the operational integration and legal merger between Air India and Vistara, on November 12. Now, the unified Air India Group operates over 8,300 weekly flights on 312 routes, connecting more than 100 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 300 aircraft. The collective staff strength stands at over 30,000. The Vistara merger follows the merger of the Group’s low-cost airlines Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly Air Asia India) on October 1.

The unified full-service carrier will operate flights as ‘Air India’ with the airline code ‘AI’. Vistara aircraft will be operated by Air India, with the Vistara crew and service proposition, and can be identified by a four-digit flight number beginning with the digit “2” (e.g. UK 955 will become AI 2955). 

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.

In addition, the existing members of Vistara’s loyalty program Club Vistara have been transferred to Air India’s Flying Returns program, now renamed ‘Maharaja Club’.

Consequent to the merger of Vistara and Air India, Singapore Airlines, which held a 49% share in Vistara, became a 25.1% shareholder in the resultant Air India group.

Campbell Wilson, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Air India, said, “The merger of Air India and Vistara completes the consolidation and restructuring phase of the Air India Group’s post-privatisation transformation journey, and is thus a significant milestone. Over the past two years, teams across the four airlines have worked closely together and with other stakeholders to ensure that the transition of people, assets, operations and, most importantly, customers, was as seamless as possible.” He thanked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and others for making this merger possible.