New Delhi (PTI): Marking a major consolidating in the Indian aviation space, Air India on Tuesday said the merger of full service carrier Vistara with itself has been completed and the integrated entity will be operating over 5,600 weekly flights connecting more than 90 destinations.

With the merger, Singapore Airlines will have a 25.1 per cent stake in the enlarged Air India.

"Air India Group has completed the operational integration and legal merger between Air India and Vistara, creating a full-service carrier of scale and marking a significant milestone in the post-privatisation transformation journey. This follows the merger of the Group's low-cost airlines Air India Express and AIX Connect (formerly Air Asia India) on 1 October 2024," a statement said.

Vistara was a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines.

Air India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson said the merger completes the consolidation and restructuring phase of the Air India Group's post-privatisation transformation journey, and is thus a significant milestone.

"Over the past two years, teams across the four airlines have worked closely together and with other stakeholders to ensure that the transition of people, assets, operations and, most importantly, customers, was as seamless as possible," he said.

Tata Group acquired loss-making Air India from the government in January 2022.

 

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ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.

“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.

The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.

“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.

Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.

There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.