End of an Era: Vistara Merges with Air India, Marking a New Chapter in Indian Aviation

The midnight of 11-12 November 2024 was historic for the Indian aviation sector, especially for Vistara Airlines. Vistara's journey ended on the night of 11 November, and the airline merged with Air India. After this merger, Vistara's 6500 staff, 70 aircraft and all its domestic and international flights started operating under the banner of Air India. Now when the pages of the history of the airline industry are turned, there will be a mention of Vistara. This airline company was started in 2013 as a joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines.

Vistara Airlines started its first domestic flight on 5 January 2015 between Delhi and Mumbai, and now it is expected that its last flight will also be on this route. Vistara started its international service on 6 August 2019 with a flight from Delhi to Singapore. The airline used to serve more than 50,000 passengers every day through about 350 flights. But, after the announcement of its merger with Air India in 2022, Vistara will now be operated by Air India from November 12.

Vistara has made full preparations to reduce the problems of potential passengers after the merger. Tickets have been updated, and for a few days, passengers who have bought tickets in the name of Vistara will get boarding passes with AI-2 code, but all their flights will be operated under Air India. Air India staff will be available to assist passengers, especially at Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and other major airports so that passengers do not face problems like re-scheduling, flight delays.

The logo of Vistara aircraft will also gradually be changed to the logo of Air India. Vistara aircraft codes will be under Air India from November 12, and the Vistara brand will gradually disappear. After the merger, Vistara passengers will be served from Air India counters. However, additional facilities like lounges will not be available to Vistara passengers for the time being.