Vistara operates last flights, Singapore Airlines increases stake in Air India  

November 11, 2024, marks the last full day of Vistara operations in India as a separate airline entity. The carrier is being merged into the Air India Group in a deal that was sealed when the Tata Group (Vistara’s co-owner with Singapore Airlines) purchased Air India from the Indian Government in November 2022. 

All Vistara operations will fall under the Air India banner from November 12, 2024, but with all flights operated by Vistara aircraft being flown under a specially allocated two-letter designator for an interim period. Vistara flights will drop the designator ‘UK’ with it being replaced with the ‘AI’ code of Air India, albeit with a ‘2’ before its new flight number.  

In the first month after the merger, Air India expects approximately 1,150,000 customers with pre-merger Vistara bookings to travel with the newly unified airline. In a social media post relating to the final day of operations, Vistara took to social media to convey a special farewell message to its customers and employees.  

TheBoeingMan / Shutterstock“As the plane ascends, so do our dreams; let’s glide toward the future, where the sky isn’t the limit, but just the beginning,” Vistara said in its post. 

Air India has taken steps to assure customers that routes, schedules, and the in-flight experience previously offered by Vistara will remain the same post-merger,  with the same products, services, and crew onboard its flights. Additionally, to ensure a smooth transition from one carrier to the other, Air India has been adding resources to key touchpoints at various stages of the passenger experience. This includes the setting up of help desks at major airports across India to assist passengers as well as at downtown ticket offices.  

With this latest merger, the  Indian aviation landscape has changed again, with the legacy of failed carriers such as Jet Airways and further back in time, Kingfisher Airways, fading into history. Following the merger, Air India will become the country’s sole full-service carrier, although rapidly growing IndiGo is snapping at its heels, with a growing range of international destinations in its network as well as the introduction of a business class offering plus a loyalty program for the first time.  

As the plane ascends, so do our dreams; let’s glide toward the future, where the sky isn’t the limit, but just the beginning.#ToLimitlessPossibilities pic.twitter.com/FByzY4PaPR— Vistara (@airvistara) November 11, 2024As the final Vistara flights arrive at their destinations, Singapore Airlines has announced it will increase its investment in Air India to bring its overall shareholding to 25.1%. The move is significant as it marks the largest ever investment ever in an Indian airline. Following the 2012 liberalization of foreign direct investment protocols in India,  Vistara was founded as a joint venture between the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, with the latter holding a 49% stake in the carrier. The airline first flew under its own brand in 2015.  

Bringing the two airlines closer together and enhancing their already established commercial relationship, Air India and Singapore Airlines recently announced an expansion of their codeshare partnership, which under the enlarged program, will encompass 11 cities in India plus 40 international destinations. 

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