Singapore Airlines
said the proposed merger of Air India and Vistara “remains on course” and is
subject to approvals from regulators as well as competition authorities in
several jurisdictions.
Once the merger is
complete, Singapore Airlines (SIA) will have a 25.1 per cent stake in Air
India. Currently, Singapore Airlines owns a 49 per cent shareholding in Vistara
and the remaining 51 per cent stake is with the Tata Group.
“The proposed
merger of Air India and Vistara remains on course, with the Competition
Commission of India approving the transaction in September 2023.
“It remains
subject to foreign direct investment approval, as well as approvals from other
regulators and competition authorities in several jurisdictions including those
from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Civil Aviation,
and National Company Law Tribunal, and the Competition and Consumer Commission
of Singapore,” said SIA Group.
While announcing
the group’s financial performance for the first half of the financial year
2023-24, the SIA said when the merger is complete, it will get a 25.1 per cent
stake in an enlarged Air India Group with a significant presence in all key
Indian airline market segments.
India is one of
the world’s fastest-growing civil aviation markets and Air India, which was
acquired by Tata Group in January 2022, has embarked on an ambitious revival
and expansion plan.
In the first half
of the 2023-24 fiscal, SIA Group reported a 55.4 per cent jump in net profit to
SGD 1,441 million from US$ 927 million in the year-ago period.
Its total revenue
jumped 8.9 per cent to SGD 9,162 million from SGD 8,417 million in the same
period a year ago.
As of September
30, the group had an operating fleet of 202 aircraft comprising 195 passenger
aircraft and 7 freighters. SIA’s operating fleet comprised 140 passenger
aircraft and 7 freighters while Scoot had 55 passenger aircraft.
The Group has 96
aircraft on order.
Industry-wise, SIA
said robust demand for air travel continued into the Northern Summer travel
season, led by the rebound in passenger traffic to North Asia with the full
reopening of China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, and Taiwan.
SIA and non-frill
carrier Scoot carried 17.4 million passengers in the first six months of the
current fiscal, an increase of 52.3 per cent year-on-year. Passenger traffic
grew 38 per cent from a year before.
“For the Northern
Summer 2024 operating season (31 March 2024 to 26 October 2024), SIA will ramp
up services to destinations across its network. This includes restoring Airbus
A380 services to Frankfurt, deploying widebody Airbus A350-900 medium-haul aircraft
to Cairns and Male, and reinstating direct services between Singapore and
Barcelona.
“Flight
frequencies will be increased to reach or exceed pre-pandemic levels across
multiple points. These include Ahmedabad (India), Beijing and Shanghai (China),
Copenhagen (Denmark), Da Nang (Vietnam), Darwin, Melbourne, and Perth
(Australia), Dubai (the United Arab Emirates), Tokyo-Haneda (Japan), and
Seattle and Houston (United States of America),” the release said.
According to SIA,
the demand for air freight remained soft due to inventory overhang, as well as
geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds. Increased competition and softer
demand also contributed to the downward pressure on cargo yields, which fell by
46.2 per cent from a year before, it added.
PTI
