Jakarta-Singapore route poised for big capacity increase, led by Tiger and Mandala

Jakarta-Singapore, one of the world's largest routes, will see a major surge of additional capacity in 2013 as a newly expanded bilateral between Indonesia and Singapore is implemented. Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tiger Airways and its new Indonesian affiliate Mandala Airlines will be the biggest beneficiary as the Tiger Group currently only has a paltry 5% share of capacity in the Jakarta-Singapore market. Tiger and Mandala are each preparing to add several daily flights on the route, supplementing Tiger's current schedule of only two daily flights.

Other LCCs - including Indonesia AirAsia, Lion Air and Jetstar Asia - will also benefit from the new bilateral while full-service carriers are likely to see their market share drop, including market leader Singapore Airlines (SIA). AirAsia and Lion will be keen to add Jakarta-Singapore flights to maintain their leading shares of LCC capacity in the market as Tiger/Mandala attempt to quickly match or surpass their existing thicker schedules. AirAsia and Lion each currently operate six daily flights on the route.