On various domestic and international routes, including Delhi-Sydney and Delhi-Paris, Air India and Singapore Airlines will ensure minimum capacity. It is part of commitments made to the fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) to address possible competition concerns arising out of the Vistara merger.
On September 1, CCI approved the proposed merger of Vistara with Air India. It was under a deal wherein Singapore Airlines would also acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India.
By the watchdog, certain competition concerns due to the proposed merger were raised. To address them, the airlines have given certain commitments with respect to the merger.
As per the commitments, on certain overlapping O&D (Origin and Destination) domestic and overseas routes, Air India has voluntarily offered to maintain a “minimum capacity/ supply level”.
Routes detail
According to a 73-page CCI order that has been made public, in the domestic segment, routes are – Bengaluru-Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar-Delhi, Delhi-Thiruvananthapuram, Amritsar-Delhi, Bhubaneshwar-Mumbai, Bengaluru-Delhi and Cochin-Delhi.
Delhi-Sydney, Delhi-Melbourne, Delhi-Paris, and Delhi-Frankfurt, are the international routes where Air India will maintain minimum capacity/ supply level.
On these routes, both Air India and Vistara operate flights.
Additionally, on certain overlapping O&D pairs between India and Singapore, Air India and Singapore Airlines will maintain minimum capacity/ supply level. These are Mumbai-Singapore, Tiruchirappalli-Singapore, Chennai-Singapore and Delhi-Singapore.
In India’s fast-growing aviation space, the merger deal would mark a major consolidation.
After the merger concludes, Singapore Airlines will be allotted more shares in the merged entity through a preferential allotment. The deal will make Air India the largest international carrier in the country. It will also become the second-largest domestic carrier.