Singapore-based low-cost start-up carrier Tiger Airways has received its air operator's certificate (AOC) and expects to launch in September.
Tiger, which is 49%-owned by Singapore Airlines (SIA), will begin selling tickets early in September and expects to launch in mid- or late September, says Tiger Airways chief executive Patrick Gan, who received the AOC from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.
Thrice-daily flights to Bangkok will be its first service, followed by daily services to southern Thailand's Phuket and Hat Yai, says Gan, adding that in the first year of operations Tiger will serve up to 10 destinations in three overseas countries. The airline is unwilling, at this stage, to reveal publicly the other two countries. Gan says local authorities still need to make Tiger a designated Singaporean carrier and the company is in the process of applying for traffic rights.
"We have been extremely focused on our costs and will differentiate ourselves in terms of cost. We will be able to offer one of the lowest, or the lowest, fares in the market," says Gan.
He adds that Tiger will be a true low-cost, no-frills airline, with food and beverages provided on board at additional cost. "We expect to become profitable within the first year of operations and secure up to 200,000 customers by the end of this year," he says, adding that the airline expects 25-35% growth in each of the following five years.
At least three new airlines are launching in Singapore this year, the others being Valuair, which started flying in May, and a still-unnamed low-fare carrier 49.9%-owned by Australia's Qantas Airways. All will be operating leased Airbus A320s. In addition to Star Alliance carrier SIA with 49%, Tiger is 24%-owned by US-based Indigo Partners, 16%-owned by Irelandia Investments of Ireland and 11%-owned by Singapore government investment arm Temasek Holdings.
Tiger took delivery of its first A320 last month and will have four in service by the end of the year.
LEITHEN FRANCIS / SINGAPORE
Source: Flight International
