Air India–Vistara Merger: GDS Impact for Indian Agents

The November 2024 Air India–Vistara merger changed PNR formats, seat maps, and commission codes in Amadeus and Sabre.

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Air India–Vistara merger: what changed in Amadeus and Sabre for Indian travel agents (2026)

By Vihaan Patel (Vihaan Patel covers the intersection of travel and digital payments — Indian OTAs, airline-direct booking flows, UPI vs credit-card surcharges, RBI tokenisation rules and the booking-funnel mechanics that quietly cost (or save) you money.) · Published · 11 min read

Vistara ceased operations in November 2024, absorbed fully into Air India. Over a year later, agents are still running into legacy UK flight numbers, mismatched commission codes, and seat maps that reset after a rebooking. This is the practical GDS guide that the airlines' official comms somehow never quite delivered.

TL;DR — the short answer

Vistara fully merged into Air India in November 2024. As of 2026, Vistara no longer exists as a separate operating airline — all its routes are now Air India (AI) flights. In Amadeus and Sabre, this means legacy 'UK' (Vistara's IATA code) bookings and commission codes are gone; everything is now under 'AI'. If you still see UK-coded flights in your GDS, they are old PNRs or display artefacts — you need to reprice and rebook under AI. The main practical headaches for agents: seat map resets when Vistara PNRs were migrated, commission code confusion on BSP reconciliation, and some Amadeus display quirks that show historical UK fares in fare history. All are fixable with the right entry commands.

What happened in the merger — the agent-relevant timeline

The Tata Group, which owns Air India, announced the Vistara merger plan well in advance — completion happened in November 2024. The process involved:

The integration was not instantaneous from a GDS perspective. Some Amadeus terminals were still showing UK entries in fare history for months after the merger closed. If you are doing a fare comparison and an old UK entry shows up, it is historical data — do not quote it to a client as a current fare.

PNR lookup: what changed and what still confuses agents

The most common complaint I heard from agents through early 2026: 'I have a customer with an old Vistara PNR — how do I look it up?'

Here is the short answer: old Vistara PNRs were migrated to Air India PNRs during the merger. The customer should have received a new Air India confirmation email with a new PNR (a 6-character alphanumeric in Air India's format). To look up a migrated booking:

The confusion that persists: some agents received the migrated PNR but the original consolidator-issued ticket (the e-ticket number, the 14-digit IATA ticket number starting with AI's carrier-identifying digits) may have changed during migration. If you are doing an exchange or refund on a migrated ticket, verify the e-ticket number against Air India's records before submitting through BSP — a mismatch between your original ticket number and Air India's current record is the most common source of ADMs on migrated bookings.

Seat map resets: why they happened and what to tell clients

This one caused more client complaints than anything else. Vistara's cabin configurations — Business Class, Premium Economy, Economy — did not always map directly onto the Air India aircraft that took over the routes. In some cases, Air India deployed a different aircraft type on a merged route, and the seat map changed entirely.

If a client had pre-selected a Vistara seat — say, a specific window in Vistara's Economy — and the route was migrated to an Air India Airbus with a different cabin layout, their seat assignment simply disappeared. Air India's system typically assigned them a default seat, which may or may not have been acceptable.

What agents should do for any clients who had Vistara bookings migrated:

  1. Pull up the current PNR in Air India's system (not the GDS — the airline's own reservation system via the agent portal or phone) and confirm the seat assignment is still valid.
  2. If the seat is missing or changed, rebook the seat selection via Air India's manage booking tool or via the AI agent portal before the client reaches check-in.
  3. For Business Class bookings, the priority is higher — confirm the specific seat number, not just 'Business Class', since cabin configurations differ substantially between Air India's widebody and narrowbody aircraft.

As of 2026, the active Air India fleet seat maps should be stable — any migration-era resets that weren't corrected manually are now likely permanent. Going forward, book seats on Air India's own system and you won't run into Vistara ghosts.

Commission codes and BSP: what you need to update

This is where BSP reconciliation headaches come from. Vistara (UK) had its own commission agreement with IATA BSP under the UK carrier code. Air India (AI) has a separate, distinct agreement. If any of your agency's commission codes, BSP-linked agreements, or overriding commission authorisations were set up under UK, they do not automatically transfer to AI.

What to check:

If you have unresolved ADMs related to the Vistara migration, Air India's agency support team has a dedicated migration-issues desk — get the contact from your local Air India GSA or from the agent advisory they sent in late 2024. Verify the current contact on airindia.in's agent section; these support structures change.

Practical GDS commands cheat sheet for the merger aftermath

For Amadeus users dealing with AI (post-merger) bookings:

For Sabre users:

For deeper agent-side analytics on your Air India booking history and to cross-reference fares before issuing, the FlightGPT Partner portal can help surface fare comparisons across sources — useful when you want to verify whether the AI fare you're seeing in the GDS is competitive versus the API-direct rate.

Bottom line

The Air India–Vistara merger is effectively complete from an operational standpoint — Vistara is history. The residual GDS headaches (UK code artefacts, seat map resets, commission code confusion) are solvable, but they require deliberate cleanup rather than hoping the system catches up on its own. If you haven't already audited your BSP commission structure for any UK references, do it now — it is one of those things that quietly generates ADMs until you fix it. For new bookings, everything is AI, and the process going forward should be straightforward. Also read our guide on Air India Express's separate agent portal and the IndiGo name-mismatch correction process — both are common agent admin tasks that have specific timelines and costs worth knowing.

Frequently asked questions

Does Vistara still operate any flights under the UK code?

No. Vistara surrendered its Air Operator Certificate and IATA code (UK) in November 2024. All flights that were operated as Vistara are now Air India flights under the AI code. If your GDS is showing UK-coded availability on future dates, it is a data artefact — contact your GDS support to clear it.

My client has a Vistara PNR from before the merger. Is the booking still valid?

Bookings made before the merger were migrated to Air India PNRs. Your client should have received a new Air India confirmation email. If not, call Air India reservations with the passenger name and travel date — they can locate the migrated booking. The original Vistara PNR format is no longer active in live systems.

Club Vistara miles were converted to Flying Returns — what's the conversion ratio?

Air India announced a specific conversion ratio at the time of the merger. Rather than quote a number that may have been subject to adjustments during rollout, verify the ratio on the Air India Flying Returns website (airindiaflying.returns section on airindia.in) — the official FAQ still lists the merger conversion terms.

Are there any Amadeus-specific quirks left over from the Vistara migration?

Yes — fare history entries in Amadeus may still show old UK fares for routes that were Vistara-operated. These are historical and non-bookable; ignore them when doing fare comparisons. Also, some older Amadeus agency profiles had UK stored in fare preference or carrier preference settings — clear these to avoid confusion. Your Amadeus BSO can help identify any UK references in your agency's Amadeus profile.

Who do I contact for Air India agent support in India?

Air India has a dedicated travel trade support channel — contact details are on airindia.in under the 'Travel Agents' section. They also operate through local GSA (General Sales Agent) offices in major cities. For BSP and commission-related issues, the Air India BSP desk contact is separate from the reservations helpline — your IATA office can provide the current contact.

Did Air India's Amadeus commission agreement change after absorbing Vistara?

Yes, the content access and commission terms for Air India in Amadeus were updated as part of the merger consolidation. The specific terms are under your agency's BSP agreement and any override commission agreement you have with Air India. If you had a separate Vistara (UK) override agreement, it did not automatically transfer to AI — you need to confirm with your Air India sales manager that your agency code is on the current AI agreement.