Tigerair
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| Founded | 2003 | ||||||
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| Hubs | Singapore Changi Airport | ||||||
| Focus cities | Bangkok International Airport Clark International Airport Phuket International Airport | ||||||
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | 15 | ||||||
| Parent company | Tiger Airways Ltd | ||||||
| Headquarters | Singapore | ||||||
| Key people | Tony Davis(CEO) | ||||||
| Website | http://www.tigerairways.com | ||||||
Tiger Airways Private Limited (Chinese: 飞虎航空公司; abbreviated: 虎航) is a low-cost airline based in Singapore and is Singapore's first true low-cost carrier. Its main base is Singapore Changi Airport and destinations will encompass airports within a four hour flying radius of Singapore.
History
The airline was incorporated in December 2003 and launched sales on August 31 2004. Tiger Airways is staffed by a team of engineers, operations personnel, pilots and cabin crew and expects to increase staff numbers in line with the airline's growth. The airline flew into a period of relative difficulty for the aviation industry with rising oil prices and intense competition from other airlines. The airline held off imposing fuel surchages as its competitors have done.
With Singapore Airlines having a stake in the airline, it is noted that the airline occasionally fills in the gap when SIA drops its services from certain destinations. Macau, once served by SIA before being taken up by its subsidiary SilkAir in 2002, terminated all flights completely by the end of 2004. Three months later, the route was taken over by Tiger Airways with flights commencing 25 March 2005. A similar pattern can be observed in Krabi, where SilkAir suspended services in February 2005 in the wake of the effects wrought by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Tiger Airways will resume direct services to the location from 7 October 2005.
In late July 2005, it was announced that the airline would commence flights from Macau to Manila (Clark) on October 30 2005, a much heralded move as it may signal the establishment of a secondary base besides Singapore, allowing the airline to expand and diversify risks. On 21 September 2005, the company produced a report card on its first year of operations, with a total of over 500,000 passengers carried, 5000 scheduled flights flown, and a flight completion rate of 98.7%. 94% of flight departures and 90% of arrivals took place according to schedule. It acquired four aircraft and launched a total of nine routes (of which four are flown exclusively by the airline) during the year.
The airline expects to increase its fleet to nine Airbus A320 aircraft by end 2006, and to carry up to 3 million passengers a year by then.
Shareholdings
Its founding shareholders are: Singapore Airlines Limited (49%); Indigo Partners LLC, the investment firm founded by Bill Franke, (24%); Irelandia Investments Limited, the private investment arm of Tony Ryan and his family (founders of European no-frills carrier Ryanair), (16%); and Singapore's investment agency Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd (11%).
Services
- China, People's Republic of
- Macau (Macau International Airport) (from 25 March 2005, to Angeles City from 30 October 2005)
- Cambodia
- Phnom Penh (Pochentong International Airport) (expected to begin soon)
- Indonesia
- Philippines
- Angeles City (Diosdado Macapagal International Airport) (also serves Manila Clark, to Macau from 30 October 2005)
- Singapore
- Singapore (Singapore Changi Airport), Home Base
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- Hanoi (Noi Bai International Airport) (from 7 April 2005)
- Ho Chi Minh City (Ho Chi Minh International Airport) (from 1 April 2005)
- Danang (Danang International Airport) (from 10 Jan 2006)
Fleet
Tiger Airways currently operates 4 Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
Tiger Airways announced an order for 8 Airbus A320 aircraft at the 2005 Paris Airshow which will seat 180 passengers in an all-economy configuration, and will be powered by IAE V2500 engines. Five will be delivered in 2006 commencing in March 2006, and 3 will be delivered in 2007. Tiger aims to have one of the newest fleets among the low cost carriers.
with deliveries beginning in March 2006, and .
Flight Numbers
Events in 2005
- On 21 September 2005, Tiger Airways announced that it is adding services to Kolkata in India. Tiger Airways had just received the thumbs up from the Singapore Air Traffic Rights Committee this afternoon. Flights to Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, will commence once formal approval has been received from the Indian Authorities. Tiger Airways will operate three flights a week. Tiger Airways also announced plans to expand its network to other cities in southern China, India and Cambodia and more than double capacity to three million passengers.
- Tiger Airways is the first airline to commit to Singapore's new low-cost airline terminal, which is expected to open in late March 2006.
External links
- Tiger Airways
- First year report
- Tiger Airways Fleet Detail
- Tiger Airways Passenger Opinions
- Singapore Airlines