Air India to merge Vistara operations in November
September 02, 2024
Vistara will end services under its own operations on 11 November as its merger with Air India progresses towards completion. Air India states on its website that from 3 September Vistara's ticket sales will "gradually transition" to the Star Alliance carrier, and by 12 November all routes will be operated on the Air India operating certificate. The operational merger comes after India's government approved the plan for Singapore Airlines to take a 25.1% stake in the post-merger Air India in recent weeks, which was the last remaining hurdle to joining the two carriers. SIA currently owns a 49% stake in Vistara with the remainder held by Tata Sons, which also acquired Air India from the Indian government in January 2022. SIA and Tata agreed to merge the two carriers in November 2022. The full-service joint venture carrier launched operations in January 2015 and over time has expanded to operate a strong domestic and growing international network. Vistara is scheduled to operate over 10,000 flights during October, which will be the last full month of its operations, compared to just under 14,000 by Air India during the same month. Data shows that Vistara operates 53 Airbus A320neos, 10 A321neos and seven Boeing 787-9s, which is set to join Air India's operating fleet of 141 aircraft.
India approves SIA investment in Air India-Vistara merger
August 30, 2024
Singapore Airlines has obtained approval from the Indian government for its proposed foreign direct investment into the enlarged Air India Group, stemming from the merger of its 49%-owned company Vistara and Air India. SIA will hold approximately 25.1% of the expanded group after the completion of the proposed merger, the carrier says in a filing to the Singapore Stock Exchange. Tata Sons will hold 73.4%. The proposed merger, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Singapore Airlines disclosed its plan to merge Vistara and Tata-owned Air India in November 2022. In June, India's National Company Law Tribunal approved the scheme of arrangement to merge Air India and Vistara.
MAG capacity cuts to hit medium- and short-haul networks
August 30, 2024
Malaysia Aviation Group has confirmed that it will reduce capacity by 20% across large parts of its network as it grapples with supply chain issues and significant delays in new aircraft deliveries. "The reduced network involves 20% of our capacity, comprising Malaysia Airlines, Firefly and Amal's routes in Malaysia, Asean, North Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Greater China, South Asia and the Middle East," says group managing director Izham Ismail in a 29 August statement. "As air travel returned to normalcy with airlines globally restoring capacity into the market, we had been managing our schedules proactively to mitigate post-pandemic challenges including supply chain disruptions. We made the decision to carefully restore our capacity taking into consideration the speed of supply chain support," he adds. MAG flagged that it would reduce capacity until December due to the operational challenges it is facing on 24 August but had not stated which regions would be affected. A major driver of the reduction in capacity is a significant shortfall in new aircraft deliveries, with 17 expected this year. However, it has only received four Boeing 737-8s out of the 13 contractually agreed, while it will only receive three out of the scheduled four A330-900s due this year. MAG has also experienced attrition of skilled workforce as new MRO players have entered the Malaysian market. "To address this, we are collaborating with partners to augment our manpower and increase our skilled engineering workforce, and we have improved remuneration packages to sustain a strong talent pipeline for MAG," Ismail adds.