Completion of a merger between Air India and Vistara will see Singapore Airlines become a 25.1% shareholder in the new combine.
SIA held a 49% share in Vistara, which becomes part of a new Air India group following last month’s merger of low-cost airlines Air India Express and AIX Connect. formerly Air Asia India.
Vistara was previously a joint venture between Tata and SIA.
The consolidation of the four Tata-owned airlines into a single group operating one full-service and one low-cost airline is part of an ongoing, five-year transformation.
The deal was heralded as a “significant milestone” in Air India’s post-privatisation journey.
The unified group now operates over 8,300 weekly flights on 312 routes, connecting more than 100 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 300 aircraft.
The new full-service entity Air India will operate more than 5,600 weekly flights connecting 90 domestic and international destinations with a fleet of 208 aircraft.
The airline will now be flying more than 120,000 passengers a day and offers an extended worldwide connectivity to 800 destinations through more than 75 codeshare and interline partners.
Preparation for the full-service merger started more than two years ago, including the induction of more than 6,000 staff from Vistara into a new organisational structure.
Among many other aspects, 270,000 passenger bookings have been migrated and 4.5 million Club Vistara frequent flyer accounts inducted to Air India’s recently-redesigned Maharaja Club scheme.
Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson 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.”