Tata's aviation empire | Air India-Vistara merger announcement likely

Tata Group and Singapore Airlines are in talks for the potential merger of their joint venture — Air Vistara with Air India. If a merger is considered, it will bring four airline brands and operations — Air India, Vistara, Air India Express and Air Asia India — under one Tata umbrella.

India's aviation space is currently dominated by budget airline Indigo. So what kind of competition are we talking about here?

In terms of market share, Indigo will continue to be the dominant player going by the current numbers. In October, the combined market share of four Tata owned brands stood at nearly 26 percent. Indigo meanwhile, enjoyed a 57.7 percent market share. So even together, the market share will be half of Indigos.

Air India, Air India Express, AirAsia India and Vistara together have 200 aircraft. Indigo, meanwhile, has 245 aircraft in the air and is likely to have ordered 700 more, which should be delivered over the next few years.

Air India has also been placing aircraft orders, but even if these are inducted, the combined fleet size will remain smaller.

Indigo has also been carrying more passengers on its aircraft from January to September this year, Air India, Air India Express, AirAsia India, and Vistara together carried 3.4 crore passengers, while Indigo carried 5.3 crore passengers.

Watch the accompanying video of CNBC-TV18's Madeeha Mujawar to know more about what the combined entity could look like and what does this mean for India’s aviation landscape.

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