Tiger Airways to serve Taipei, increase capacity to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen & Jakarta
- Tiger Airways Singapore announces plans to serve Taipei and increase frequencies to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau, and Shenzhen.
- The airline will commence daily service from Singapore to Taipei in January 2011.
- Tiger Airways Singapore will increase weekly frequencies on existing routes starting from October 2010.
- The airline has gained rights to operate twice daily to Jakarta.
- The expansion will be supported by an increase in the fleet from 10 to 14 aircraft by December 2010.
- Tiger Airways' share price has risen sharply and is now above its IPO price.
The LCC will commence daily service from Singapore to Taipei on 11-Jan-2011, with fares from SGD80 (TWD1,900) one way plus taxes.
Tiger Airways also announced plans to increase weekly frequencies on existing routes, taking effect from Oct-2010, to Guangzhou (from 7 to 14), Hong Kong (from 14 to 21), Macau (from 11 to 12) and Shenzhen (from 5 to 7).
Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore, said: "This expansion will be supported by our fleet increase from 10 to 14 by December 2010. We look forward to announcing more services that our increased capacity enables." She added: "Our existing routes have been very well received by both business and leisure travellers, and Singapore has also been attracting more tourists after the opening of both Integrated Resorts.
On 19-Jul-2010, the airline announced plans to double Singapore-Jakarta frequency to twice daily from late 2010, reporting an average load factor on the route of 85% last financial year. The additional flights will go on sale soon. Tiger stated it won the additional rights from other airlines (including rival Jetstar Asia) under a recent distribution of traffic rights by Singapore's Air Traffic Rights Committee (ATRC).
The ATRC was established in late 2003 to allow the entry of new Singapore carriers. The committee is headed by an official from the Ministry of Transport and includes representatives from the Singapore Tourism Board, Economic Development Board, International Enterprise Singapore, Attorney-General's Chambers and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The ATRC does not have a website and does not make its route awards public.
Tiger Airways' share price has risen sharply over the past week and is now well above its IPO price, gaining a further 1.6% yesterday.
Tiger Airways' share price over the past month
Source: Reuters
Rival AirAsia's shares rose 2.2% yesterday while Virgin Blue was flat. See related report: Five Indonesian airlines seek rights to Australia: Batavia, Sriwijaya, Mandala, Lion Air & AirAsia
In the US, JetBlue's shares soared 8.5% as the carrier revealed a strong increase in 2Q2010 net profit. See related report: JetBlue's 2Q2010 net rises to USD30 million - but expanding too rapidly?
Selected LCCs daily share price movements (% change): 22-Jul-2010
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Yahoo! Finance & Reuters