Air India chief executive officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson on Monday said that the Vistara brand will cease to exist after the merger with Tata SIA Airlines Ltd. The resultant full service carrier of Tata group will be known as Air India, which has a wider recognition globally considering its 90 year-long history, said Wilson in a virtual press conference.
Vistara, in comparison, is well-known mostly in the Indian market. However, the brand will preserve the Vistara legacy in the new venture, Wilson added. Air India’s Maharajah brand, on the other hand, will be retained and is being modernised.
“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 said.
Wilson added that the integration is going through a regulatory approval process and is awaiting clearance from the Competition Commission of India. The airline plans to have one full-service – an amalgam of Air India and Vistara – and one low-cost airplane in the group.
While Vistara began operations in 2015 as a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, Air India completed a year of privatization in January.
In 2022, Vistara held the title of the second-largest domestic airline in India for six months before being overtaken by Air India in January with a market share of 9.2%.
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The Tata group is in talks with external parties to draw out areas of focus, opportunities and an outline of the end product once the regulatory process is completed, Wilson explained.
Earlier this month, the airline made aviation history with the biggest ever aircraft order of 840 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus to expand its domestic and international business.
(With inputs from PTI)