Tiger Airways - neuer No Frills Carrier made by SQ & FR

[akayama]

Dow Jones Business News

Singapore Airlines Moves Into Budget Fare Market

Tuesday December 9, 7:12 am ET

By Hasan Jafri and Abdul Hadhi, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

 

 

SINGAPORE -(Dow Jones)- Singapore Airlines Ltd. , one of the world's major carriers, will launch next year a low-cost airline that will further intensify competition in the Asian aviation industry.

Singapore Airlines and its parent, Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., the Singapore government's investment arm, will own a majority in the new airline called Tiger Airways. The family that owns Dublin-based Ryanair will also be a shareholder along with Indigo Partners LLC, a U.S. investment company.

 

"SIA recognizes the potential for low cost travel in this part of the world and wishes to participate in this new segment of the market," SIA chief executive Chew Choon Seng said.

 

The decision by SIA, after months of deliberation, is yet another indication of how the emergence of budget airlines like Malaysia's AirAsia Sdn. Bhd. ( AIA.YY) or Virgin Blue in Australia are changing the Asian aviation landscape.

 

But there are also concerns whether the new budget carriers will be economically viable.

 

With the addition of Tiger Airways, there could be three budget carriers vying for a limited market by end-2004, a local analyst said, adding that "will make competition very tight and the market has to grow dramatically to sustain them."

 

The move also comes at a time when SIA attempts to restructure its costs and amid crucial talks with its pilots union, whose members are upset that pay cuts haven't been restored although the airline has returned to profitability.

 

A low-cost carrier will "open up and serve a new segment of the market making air travel accessible for more people and encourage more trips," Chew said.

 

SIA lost a record S$312 million in the quarter ended March because of the SARS outbreak, before recording a stunning S$306 million profit in the following quarter.

 

Temasek is a majority shareholder in some of Singapore's largest companies, but has recently bought into banks in neighboring Indonesia where it sees potential as the country's economy recovers. This will be its first foray into the aviation business.

 

While budget airlines aren't yet a serious threat to established, full-service national carriers in Asia, they are a cause of worry to those that are still flying only thanks to heavy government subsidies or protection. The pressure on full-service airlines will continue to grow as they struggle to improve their income amid falling ticket prices and rising costs.

 

Tiger Airways, like other low-cost carriers, will fly a single type of aircraft on regional routes catering to budget travelers. A decision on the type of aircraft hasn't yet been made. The airline will fly to destinations within a four hour radius but SIA declined to name specific cities.

 

SIA expects the budget affiliate to be "successful and profitable within a short order of time" Chew said, but didn't disclose the amount of investment in the startup.

 

Tiger Airways expects to start operations in the second half of next year from Changi Airport, unlike other low cost carriers, which often use secondary airports to save costs.

 

Ryanair's former director of operations, Charlie Clifton, will be involved in establishing the airline's operations across Asia. SIA is in the process of finding a chief executive for the new airline, who is intended to be a Singaporean.

 

Chew said SIA will continue to grow its unit SilkAir, which had previously been touted as a possible makeover to a budget airline, even as it launches its new budget carrier.

 

"There is the possibility of both carriers operating from the same points but they will operate in different segments," he said.

 

Tiger Airways will not only be competing against AirAsia, the Malaysian budget airline that's attempting to take business away from Singapore, but also ValuAir, a Singaporean budget airline that will also begin operations next year.

 

"We welcome the competition but just hope that we will compete on a level playing field," ValuAir director Jimmy Lau said.

 

The two join a slew of budget carriers across the region. JG Summit Holdings Inc.'s Cebu Pacific in the Philippines, which began operations in 1996, flies to Hong Kong and Seoul, but mainly serves 19 domestic destinations in the archipelago. AirAsia, meanwhile, has nearly 200 domestic flights per week to 13 cities in Malaysia.

 

The budget airline business in Asia is still small, but growing. Partly as a result of the demise of Ansett Australia, Virgin Blue has steadily built its Australian domestic market share - it says it has 30% of the market - since August 2000. Virgin Blue is a joint venture between Virgin Group's Richard Branson and Australian transport group Patrick Corp. (A.PRK).

[AvroRJX]

Wofür Europa 20 Jahre brauchte wird Südostasien wohl nur 3 Jahre brauchen.......

[viasa]

So, ich habe diesen Thred wieder von seeeeeeehr weit unten hochgeholt.

 

Grund ist, dass Tiger Airways kurz vor der Ablieferung ihres ersten Jets steht!

 

Hier ein Bild des Jets:

 

Gross

 

 

[ Diese Nachricht wurde geändert von: viasa am 2004-07-17 12:20 ]