Singapore airlines in talks with Tatas for merger of Vistara

Wednesday 19th October 2022 06:05 EDT
 
 

Singapore Airlines (SIA) for the first time acknowledged that it is in “confidential discussions” with Tata Sons for a “potential integration” of Vistara in which it is a 49% shareholder with Air India (AI).
The Southeast Asian carrier said in a filing with the Singapore Stock Exchange that “The discussions seek to deepen the existing partnership between SIA and Tata, and may include a potential integration of Vistara and Air India.”

The statement comes two days after Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran said that he wants a single airline with two platforms - meaning full service by potentially merging Vistara into AI, and budget service by combining AirAsia India with Air India Express.

“We will have both - full service and a low-cost carrier - but we want to make it a world-leading airline of scale, where Indians are able to fly everywhere. That’s the goal, it’s a long journey,” Chandrasekaran had said. Though SIA was initially looking to partner Tata Sons to bid for AI, it eventually didn’t join hands as it wanted to focus on repairing its balance sheet that was impacted by the Covid pandemic. It has now “warmed up” to the merger of Vistara and Air India.


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