Vistara Bids Adieu: Tata Group Airline To Merge With Air India After Last Flight Today

Full-service carrier Vistara is set to fly its final flight on Monday, Nov. 11. The airline, launched over nine years back in January 2015, was started as a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines. From Nov. 12, Vistara's operations will be integrated with Air India, forming a unified service under the Air India brand. This transition follows the acquisition of Air India by the Tata Group in 2022.  

The merger of Vistara with Air India is part of the Tata Group’s strategic plan to consolidate its airline operations under the unified Air India brand. In Aug., the Indian government approved Singapore Airlines' foreign direct investment as part of the Vistara-Air India merger, enabling the Tata Group to proceed with the integration.

Following the Vistara-Air India merger, Singapore Airlines will hold a 25.1% stake in Air India. This contrasts with the airline company’s 49% stake in Vistara when it was started in 2015 as a joint venture.

Vistara had stopped booking any new flights under its name from Sept. 3. Passengers were allowed to book tickets for journeys till Nov. 11. Tickets of passengers who had booked flights for travel beyond Nov. 12 will be transferred to Air India flights.

Vistara was established following the Indian government's 2012 decision to allow foreign airlines to acquire up to 49% stakes in domestic carriers. This policy led to the formation of airlines such as AirAsia India and Vistara.
Vistara was the only full-service carrier that started its operations in the Indian skies over the past decade.

With this merger, the number of full-service carriers comes down to one from five in the past 17 years. Over the past years airlines such as Kingfisher, Air Sahara, rebranded as JetLite and Jet Airways have been grounded due to financial trouble and various other reasons.