Tata Group Mulls Over Amalgamating All Its Carriers Under Air India

New Delhi: According to sources placed close to the group, Tata is mulling a plan to amalgamate its four airline brands under Air India Ltd. as it gets ready to rebuild its ailing aviation empire.

India’s largest conglomerate is also thinking about getting rid of the Vistara name, which represents Singapore Airlines Ltd.’s local subsidiary in the South Asian country.

With Tata as its new owner, Air India is getting ready for a makeover. The full-service carrier is thinking about placing an order for up to 300 narrow-body aircraft, which would be one of the biggest orders in the annals of commercial aviation. Following a “substantial” expansion in both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, Air India Chief Executive Campbell Wilson announced last month that the airline will quadruple its current fleet of 113 aircraft over the next five years.

Other persons with knowledge of the situation stated in late September that Air India is also in talks to raise at least $1 billion in a capital round that could value the airline at approximately $5 billion. Starting in December, the airline intends to add 25 Airbus SE and five Boeing Co. aircraft from lessors.

In October of last year, Tata was chosen as the successful bidder for Air India after outbidding competitors with a $2.4 billion offer. The purchase was visibly the biggest privatisation project in the nation in PM Modi’s regime to put a stop to decades of attempts to sell the financially struggling, indebted carrier that had relied on state bailouts for years to operate.

Additionally, it meant that Tata had four airline brands: Air India, Vistara (a full-service carrier), and the low-cost Air India Express Ltd. and AirAsia India. Earlier this month, Air India announced that it will buy AirAsia’s local subsidiary and combine it with Air India Express to form a single low-cost carrier. This consolidation will probably take place, by the end of 2023.