This week, the Tata Group announced that it plans to merge Air India and Vistara, creating one full-service carrier for the market. After negotiations, Singapore Airlines joined the deal as well, taking up a 25% stake in the new, expanded airline and creating a new partnership with the flag carrier. So how will the two airlines work together and how will it benefit them?
Singapore Airlines (SIA) has had a successful partnership with Vistara in the last seven years, launching new routes to India and offering codeshares far beyond. However, pairing up with Air India will take this operation to a much bigger stage, with more international destinations on offer now and hence, more opportunities.
As Air India expands in the next few years, it will be hoping to take advantage of Singapore Airlines' strongly established network through Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania, offering codeshare flights to the likes of Australia, New Zealand, Jakarta, Manila, and many more cities that it currently doesn't serve or have a larger market.
This will be made easy by Vistara and Air India's existing network to Singapore, which saw Pune as the latest city to join the route map. Once combined, SIA will be able to funnel even more passengers into its hub at Changi International Airport and take advantage of the growing and underserved market.
Europe is one market where Singapore Airlines and Air India do not overlap too much, with both offering robust networks to the continent. While SIA has a larger route map, it will struggle to attract much of the westbound traffic from India due to the additional time needed to fly and plenty of alternatives from the Middle Eastern giants.
However, the same cannot be said for North America, which may well be a big area of gain for both carriers. Singapore Airlines' strong network on the West Coast of the US could be advantageous to Air India, which currently doesn't serve cities like Seattle or Los Angeles.
04/12/22 Pranjal Pande/Simple Flying
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