New Delhi: The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Tuesday approved acquisition of entire shareholding in Air Asia India by Air India, wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons (TS).
The Tata Group, which took over the national air career in January this year, wants to develop Air India Limited (AIL) as its flagship company and merge budget careers like the Air Asia India and AI Express Limited (IAXL) with it. However, Vistara, which is TS’ joint venture with the Singapore Airlines, will remain a separate entity.
The proposed combination envisages the acquisition of the entire equity share capital of Air Asia India by AIL. At present, TS holds 83.67% of the equity share capital of Air Asia India.
AIL, along with its wholly-owned subsidiary, Air India Express Limited (AIXL), is primarily engaged in the business of providing domestic scheduled air passenger transport service and international scheduled air passenger transport service. Besides, AIXL also offers air cargo transport services and charter flight services in the country.
Air Asia India operates under the brand name “AirAsia”. It is engaged in the business of providing domestic scheduled air passenger transport service, air cargo transport services and charter flight services in India. AirAsia India does not provide scheduled air passenger transport services on international routes.
