Air India-Vistara Merger Approved: Singapore Regulator Sets Conditions

New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) Singapore's competition regulator CCCS on Tuesday said it has given a conditional approval for the proposed merger of Air India and Vistara, more than a year after the announcement of the deal.

The merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal, wherein Singapore Airlines will acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, was announced in November 2022.

Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group.

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has granted conditional approval for the deal after accepting certain commitments from Air India, Singapore Airlines and Vistara to address possible anti-competition concerns.

The commitments include those pertaining to scheduled air passenger transport services on the Singapore-Delhi (SIN-DEL), Singapore-Mumbai (SIN-BOM), Singapore-Chennai (SIN-MAA) and Singapore-Tiruchirappalli (SIN-TRZ) routes.

The parties have committed to maintaining capacity on these routes at pre-pandemic (i.e. calendar year 2019) levels, according to a release issued by CCCS.

In a statement on Tuesday, a Singapore Airlines spokesperson welcomed the approval and said the proposed merger is in progress, pending foreign direct investment and other regulatory approvals.