The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has accepted assurances by Air India (AI, Delhi International) and Singapore Airlines (SQ, Singapore Changi) that they will maintain a minimum capacity on a number of routes to alleviate possible competitive concerns arising from the planned merger between the flag carrier and Vistara (UK, Delhi International).

The CCI approved the proposed merger earlier this month, subject to compliance with voluntary commitments the parties offered. Under the merger, the Vistara brand, a 51/49 joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airlines, will disappear as the carrier is enfolded within Air India. The deal also involves the Singaporean airline taking a 25.1% stake in its Indian counterpart.

The minimum capacity/supply level commitments agreed to concern certain overlapping origin and destination routes, namely:

Multiple routes on the India - Singapore country pair are also subject to the same voluntary commitments, including:

Ahead of the merger, seven passenger airlines operate scheduled services between India and Singapore, including Singapore Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary Scoot (TR, Singapore Changi), Air India, and Vistara. ch-aviation capacities data reveals these four carriers currently provide 77.71% of the weekly available seats on the country pair, with the two Singaporean airlines providing 63.19% of these. The only airline not associated with the merged entity that has a significant share in this market is IndiGo Airlines (6E, Delhi International), which commands a 17.55% slice of the pie.

The CCI released a lengthy document this week outlining the voluntary capacity commitments. In the wake of that, Air India and Singapore Airlines have pledged to finalise the merger "as soon as possible", subject to final regulatory approvals. Separately, the Singaporean carrier said it welcomed the competition authority's acceptance of its voluntary commitments which it and subsidiary Scoot fully intended to abide by.