Tatas apply for 'Tata SIA Airlines Limited' name

Tata Sons Ltd and Singapore Airlines announced on Sept 19 that they are setting up a new full-service airline in India

Starting the process of incorporating a new company for its proposed aviation venture with Singapore Airlines, Tata group has sought to register this entity as 'Tata SIA Airlines Limited'.

The application for registration of this name has been filed with the Registrar of Companies through submission of form '1A', which is the first step towards incorporation of a new company.

 The registration is currently "under process" and can be approved soon, as per the latest information available with the Corporate Affairs Ministry. This would be followed by submission of various other documents, including the Article of Association, and details of the company's board of directors, share capital, business areas etc.

Going by the proposed name, the new company is expected to be a 'public limited company', which needs to have a suffix 'limited' to its name. The private limited companies need to suffix their names with 'private limited'.

The brand name of the proposed airline, however, is yet to be announced.

Incidentally, Tata SIA Airlines Limited would be among the first major companies to be incorporated under the new Companies Act, 2013 that came into effect earlier this month.

Tata Sons Ltd, the holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate Tata group, and Singapore Airlines announced yesterday that they are setting up a new full-service airline in India. While Tata Sons would hold majority 51 per cent stake, Singapore Airlines (SIA) would have remaining 49 per cent.

The two partners are expected to make an initial investment of $100 million to launch the airline, which may take off next year after necessary clearances.

The initial Board of the new carrier, Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, will have three members, two nominated by Tata Sons and one nominated by Singapore Airlines.

This is the third attempt by the two partners to enter the Indian civil aviation sector.

The Tatas have a long history of association with civil aviation in India. In 1932 JRD Tata had started Tata Airlines, which was later in 1946 renamed as Air India and was subsequently nationalised in 1953.

Earlier in February this year, Tata group had also announced a partnership with Malaysia's AirAsia for a low-cost carrier in India, wherein Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace Pvt Ltd is the third partner.