Tigerair cements position as Singapore’s largest low-cost group, overtaking Jetstar & AirAsia

Singapore is seeing another surge in low-cost carrier capacity, led by aggressive expansion from Tigerair. LCC groups Jetstar and AirAsia are also continuing to expand in Singapore but more modestly than Tiger.

Tigerair, Jetstar and AirAsia had equal shares of the Singapore market back in 2010. But Tigerair has since grown faster and will widen the gap from its rivals as it adds five more A320s in the current fiscal year. Tigerair will account for almost 11% of total capacity at Singapore Changi by the end of 2013 compared to just under 8% for AirAsia and Jetstar.

LCCs already account for a little over 30% of seats at Singapore - an impressive figure given Changi's LCC penetration rate was virtually zero a decade ago and its lack of a domestic market. Tigerair's forthcoming expansion will drive up the LCC penetration further, to about 32%, but it comes with risks as Singapore's short-haul market could return to the over-capacity situation seen two years ago.