Tata group, which owns Air India will discontinue brand Vistara after completion of its merger with Tata SIA Airlines is done. Air India chief executive and managing director Campbell Wilson stated in a series of interviews to various media organizations. Wilson reassured that the airline will make efforts to preserve "Vistara heritage in that new manifestation".Tata Group has been working on revamping Air India and announced that Vistara will be merged with itself. Meanwhile AIX Connect, earlier known as AirAsia India, will be integrated with Air India Express. "The intention is to have one full-service airline and one low-cost airline in the group. The full-service airline will be an amalgamation of Air India and Vistara," Wilson told news agency Press Trust of India.
"Vistara has a very strong recognition in the Indian market but Air India has a much wider recognition if you look outside the Indian market alongside its 90-year history," he added. In November last year, Tata Group and Singapore Airlines had announced a merger between Air India and Vistara, stating that Singapore Airlines would hold 25.1 per cent of the merged entity. The merger is expected to be completed by March 2024. Currently, the merger is under process and seeking clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Currently, Tata group owns 51 per cent stake in Vistara and the remaining with Singapore Airlines. Meanwhile, in what is being touted as the biggest aircraft-deal in global aviation history, Air India CEO Wilson shared that the national carrier's mega-deal worth $70 billion will include 470 planes from Airbus and Boeing, including 70 wide body planes and will completely revamp the flyer's experience.
