Vistara stake put SIA in the right place at the right time: Goh Choon Phong

Singapore Airlines is bullish about India’s long-term prospects and feels its 49% stake in Vistara positioned it well for an evolving Indian airline market. SIA Group CE Goh Choon Phong says that India has for some time been key to the carrier’s long-term vision, pointing to the sheer scale of the world’s most populous nation, with 1.4b people. “India is a huge, huge market,” says Goh. “It is fast growing; it’s going to be the third largest economy in the world and is already the third biggest travel market in the world. Our investment in India allowed us to participate directly in the growth of India.” Goh made the remarks at a 9 November media roundtable at SIA’s training facility following the release of the airline’s interim results for the six months to 30 September. Growing passenger traffic propelled the group to an operating profit of S$1.55b ($1.4b), up 26% year on year. SIA’s 49% stake in Vistara is set to become a 25.1% stake in fellow Star Alliance member Air India following the pending merger between the two airlines, a deal expected to complete by March 2024. SIA’s partner in Vistara, Tata Group, acquired Air India from New Delhi in early 2022, and set about merging the two full-service airlines, as well as its low-cost units Air India Express and AirAsia India.<br/>