Tata Sons has commenced work on the merger of low-fare airline AirAsia India with Air India’s budget carrier Air India Express, said top executives close to the development. As the Tata group takes over Air India, it’s looking to achieve synergies and cut operational costs.
With Tata owning 84% stake in AirAsia India, this first step in creating a single airline entity can be taken in a relatively short span of time, they said. Tata is yet to conclude talks with Singapore Airlines (SIA) on integrating the schedules of Vistara and Air India, the people said. Tata owns 51% of Vistara and SIA holds the rest.
