Come Jan 1 2009, all Singapore carriers can fly as many times as they want between Singapore and an ASEAN Capital City. The real increases for Singapore would probably be the SIN-CGK and SIN-KUL routes. Bangkok is already as frequent as it can get, Hanoi is not as lucrative as Ho Chi Minh, Yangon is unstable, Manila and Brunei are now high yielding or popular.

On various articles that can be found all over Google, the plans for the current EU-style Open Skies is a definite, but implementation of that range from 2011 to 2013 but one thing ASEAN countries seem to have agreed is that it'll happen by 2015.

But something is definitely happening in 2011, this much I can remember in the ASEAN meeting about Open Skies late 2007.

Perhaps 5th freedom rights like a SIN-BKK-SGN kinda thing. This I'm not sure.

Singapore has an open Skies with Thailand anyways, so there's no need to wait until 2009 for extra SIN-BKK flights.

^^^ i don't think its 'open skies' with thailand per se. Singapore has unlimited 3rd and 4th freedom rights between Singapore and anywhere in Thailand. this means they cannot start flights stopping over at BKK without extra permission.

According to the document:
Phase 1- double designation, move to substantial ASEAN ownership; unlimited 3rd
and 4th freedom within ASEAN; and opening of secondary gateways. (2005-2007)

Phase 2- Multiple designation; restricted 5th freedom beyond rights; completion of
opening up of gateways, remove restrictions on fares. (2008-2010)

Phase 3 - Principal place of business for ownership; 5th freedom within ASEAN;
possible 7th freedom within ASEAN, charter liberalization. Allowing domestic cabotage.(2011-2012)

Given that the 1st Jan 2009 milestone development is only phase 0.5, I'd say the document's timeline is very off, even what was suppose to be done last year (phase 1 - have unlimited flights from any point in an airlines home country to any other point in another Asean country non-stop), wont be carried out any time soon.
I doubt that 7th freedom (EU-style open skies) will happen by 2011, or judging from current delays, even 2015...

^^^ Sorry Blizardtweaker, but Singapore and Thailand has more than 3rd and 4th. Remember the SIN - BKK - KIX flights a while ago? That was done after Singapore, Thailand and Brunei signed the open skies agreement which gave each other 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th freedoms!

MOT announcement: http://app.mot.gov.sg/data/s_04_12_27v1.htm

Not to mention, SIN-BKK-NRT, which is still in operation as of July 2, 2008.

I'm actually wary of a future in ASEAN when 7th freedom is in place, it's not a matter of if, but when, especially if ASEAN-EU, ASEAN-USA, ASEAN-China Open Skies are in place. (They WILL follow after that, a question of when too)

Driven by profit, and no longer by public service obligations, our very own SQ and likewise other nations could be chasing profitable routes, possibly leaving SIN itself, alone. Sure, SIN can still be SQ's home, but 7th freedom and future Open Skies with other blocs and nations mean that Changi actually need be SQ's hub.

This also means possible merger in the AF-KLM sense, most ASEAN citizens who see airlines as a national prestige could see this as threatening sovereignty.

What do you people think?

I can't see where else SQ would go besides Singapore. Bangkok is a possibility, but THAI will probably have none of that... unless...

A TG-SQ merger? That in itself would be interesting, but then as you said, it'll be like the AF-KLM merger with both still operating almost independently at their different home base/hubs.

SQ could go to BKK, SGN, KUL, CGK and do what it does best; the Kangaroo route. Of course, airlines could and will "retaliate" and begin flights from Singapore.

Singapore Airlines would never merge with any ASEAN airline. In my opinion, the best, if I had to squeeze, is Qantas. With the right amount of cooperation, SQ-QF, and by extension, MI/TT/TR/JQ/3K/BL, could dominate the Asia Pacific routes. Of course, under regulators, this was never happen because of anti-monopoly issues. SQ is the largest foreign airline into Australia.

SQ could go to BKK, SGN, KUL, CGK and do what it does best; the Kangaroo route. Of course, airlines could and will "retaliate" and begin flights from Singapore.I agree that it would probably do excellently in CGK, but it'll have a tough fight at BKK with TG.

And I'm also curious why someone flying on the kangaroo route would matter if there was a choice between LHR-BKK-SYD or LHR-SIN-SYD. The only thing there that would matter is the airport choice for the 1 hour (or more) stopover. In this case, Changi wins hands down as BKK is really boring...

So I doubt SQ could increase its yield any more by moving to BKK. It might start flights from CGK on the Kangaroo route, and do extremely well, but I doubt it'll be well enough to force it to move out of Changi.

One of the secret of SQ is not that it is a great airline - I mean it is a great airline, but there are other great airlines out there as well, and TG is probably in the same league. The secret is that Changi has had the foresight to develop itself as a friendly stopover place. There's shopping, gym, hotels, good food, great entertainment and a pleasant environment. No other airport in the region can match Changi for traveller's comfort.

Actually, the kangaroo route has a lot more competitors now, notably Emirates via Dubai. Bangkok actually has a very strong fundamental draw simply due to the strength of the Thai tourism machine. Bangkok receives more passengers than Singapore a year.

We're seeing a diversification in choice for the kangaroo route. Several carriers have started such routes through Hong Kong in the past few years, including Virgin, Air New Zealand, and Qantas. I won't be surprised if Qatar or Etihad would be interested in joining the competition as well.

^^

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe in terms of international transit traffic, Changi is ahead of Bangkok. In fact I believe Changi receives more international traffic than Bangkok, which is supported by a domestic base.

http://www.airports.org/cda/aci_common/display/main/aci_content07_c.jsp?zn=aci&cp=1-5-54-55_666_2__

Data for 2007 by Airport Councils.

18th - Bangkok (BKK) - 41,210,081
19th - Singapore (SIN) - 36,701,556

These figures are total passengers (International and Domestic)

For Cargo movement in 2007. Singapore is ranked 11th. Bangkok is 19th

^^

Thanks.

Thats for total passenger volume. Do we have the data for international traffic alone?

^^

Thanks.

Thats for total passenger volume. Do we have the data for international traffic alone?

Nevertheless, we can estimate since Singapore has no domestic and city-state. It is a feat that Singapore handles so much. Only 4,508,525 difference.

So you may be correct to say that Singapore handles more international traffic than Bangkok as the figures imply.

So you may be correct to say that Singapore handles more international traffic than Bangkok as the figures imply.

Found the figures :) Singapore airport does indeed handle more international traffic than Bangkok airport. This would also suggest it handles more transit traffic, and one famous example is the Kangaroo route mentioned previously.

http://www.aci.aero/aci/aci/file/Press%20Releases/2007_PRs/PR_180707_TOP10.pdf

Singapore - 33,368,099
Bangkok - 29,587,773

^^

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe in terms of international transit traffic, Changi is ahead of Bangkok. In fact I believe Changi receives more international traffic than Bangkok, which is supported by a domestic base.

International traffic figures alone for Bangkok don't tell the whole story, since Thailand's tourism draw is so strong visitors are not confined to 1 city. They can fly further to Phuket, for example, which adds to the domestic count, but originated by an international visitor. That's the Thai tourism machine I'm talking about - which has historically been far stronger than any other Southeast Asian country.

Also, keep in mind that some domestic flights were moved back to Don Muang from BKK - the new airport.

Looking at the most up-to-date 2007 full-year statistics (the link previously posted by someone else was only mid-year 2007) :
http://www2.airportthai.co.th/airportnew/irweb/thai/investor_th.html?lang=en

BKK (new airport) 2007 international passenger count - 33,299,767 (total including domestic 41,210,081)
DMK (old airport) 2007 international passenger count - 18,320 (total including domestic 4,805,240)

Tourism arrival statistics also point to Thailand having the lead in the region.

From a connectivity perspective, Bangkok has the advantage in breadth, with 87 international scheduled airlines (non-Thai-based) fly to BKK :
http://www2.airportthai.co.th/airportnew/main/pdf/SUVARNABHUMI.pdf#page=8

Only 81 to Singapore, which I presume would include SQ, Silkair, and the low-cost carriers.
http://www.changiairport.com/changi/en/about_us/fact_sheets/air_network/2007/index.html

The gap has closed significantly over the past few years, noting the increased importance of other regional destinations and the diminishing influence of Singapore being the major transit hub in Southeast Asia. Singapore and Bangkok are now head-to-head. This intuitively makes sense as the Middle Eastern carriers continue their aggressive expansion and tourism competition within Southeast Asia is improving direct connectivities in neighboring countries.

Found the figures :) Singapore airport does indeed handle more international traffic than Bangkok airport. This would also suggest it handles more transit traffic, and one famous example is the Kangaroo route mentioned previously.

http://www.aci.aero/aci/aci/file/Press%20Releases/2007_PRs/PR_180707_TOP10.pdf

Singapore - 33,368,099
Bangkok - 29,587,773

Keep in mind the definition of transit passenger - no exit from the airport. What Thailand has been able to achieve is make people stay for a few days to break up the kangaroo flight, which has far bigger economic implications than have people swap gates at the airport. In this case, it would register not as a transit passenger, but 2 sets of international arrivals/departures, even though the passenger may technically be in 'transit'.

Thus, looking at the transit passenger figures from ACI alone is not enough to get the full picture.

Ultimately, it's a contest of whether one airport can make people fly 20+ hours in one shot with a brief layover without sightseeing, or whether another airport can make people fly 10 hours twice with a few days' break in between.

Keep in mind the definition of transit passenger - no exit from the airport.

This is precisely why I asked for the breakdown of international traffic figures, which includes traffic on the 'Kangaroo route'. Specific data for transit traffic on this route would be even more helpful in determining which city served a bigger hub for transit traffic on the route.

The point raised earlier by Nov was which airport would be more attractive to transit in. Total traffic figures at the airport alone would not be very helpful in this regard without looking at the breakdown for international traffic.

Of course other factors to look at would be the available connections and capacity/timings between Australian cities and the hub city, as well as cities in the UK - or even Europe. Nevertheless, traffic volume alone does not determine whether an airport is attractive to passengers.

You have broadened the scope to touch on tourism figures. In that regard, Thailand (not just Bangkok) has always been the dominant tourist attraction in SE Asia. Competition is always increasing, and cities have to aggressively market themselves. Singapore is looking at ways to increase its tourism offerings, and one aspect of tourism (and tourism spending) is also increasing the MICE traffic. However, what was being compared wasn't tourism/stopover destinations, but the airport itself. Which airport would you choose to spend an hour in?

This is precisely why I asked for the breakdown of international traffic figures, which includes traffic on the 'Kangaroo route'. Specific data for transit traffic on this route would be even more helpful.

The point raised earlier by Nov was which airport would be more attractive to transit in. Total traffic figures at the airport alone would not be very helpful in this regard without looking at the breakdown for international traffic.

Of course other factors to look at would be the available connections and capacity/timings between Australian cities and the hub city, as well as cities in the UK - or even Europe.

You have broadened the scope to touch on tourism figures. In that regard, Thailand (not just Bangkok) has always been the dominant tourist attraction in SE Asia. Competition is always increasing, and cities have to aggressively market themselves. Singapore is looking at ways to increase its tourism offerings, and one aspect of tourism (and tourism spending) is also increasing the MICE traffic. However, what was being compared wasn't tourism/stopover destinations, but the airport itself. Which airport would you choose to spend an hour in?

Anyway to the main , are we able to provide figures for transit traffic
Specific route traffic is a highly-guarded secret within the airline industry, so the best out there is more generic data such as breakdown by continent and international / domestic. What I have raised is a fundamental shift in how transit traffic works - the trip in one shot, or a trip within a trip alternative. The latter is becoming increasingly popular. Even Singapore Changi is trying to cash in by providing transit tours when inbound passengers have longer connection times. Ultimately, the most lucrative passenger is the end-point traveler, and the trip within a trip passenger would come next. The trip in one shot transit passenger will have the least economic benefit.

Statistics available now identify the trip in one shot transit passenger, which is somewhat outdated given the new economic reality. However, it is inherently difficult to capture the trip within a trip transit passenger as such. Hence, the next best workaround would be looking at tourism statistics in conjunction with international and transit traffic. Reason being the trip in one shot transit passenger will not be a tourist arrival, since he hasn't gone through immigration, while the trip within a trip transit passenger will be.

Keep in mind as well the nature of a MICE traveler. This is business travel, and companies tend to have deep pockets to fly their employees direct as much as possible. In that regard, the notion of a MICE transit passenger is quite strange and unpopular. This would register as an end-point traveler, and be seen in international passenger statistics.

In the past few years, there have been increasing alternatives for kangaroo passengers, notably through Dubai and Hong Kong. Airlines open routes primarily due to loading / traffic concerns, not which is the best airport in the world. This is why Thailand has played an increasing role due to its strong tourism market. Marketing to a European a mini-vacation in popular Thailand on the way to Australia is quite an attractive alternative, even though BKK hasn't made it so high in international airport rankings.

Whats for sure is that airport traffic statistics alone cannot accurately portray the tourism picture of a city/country. What can be gleaned from the data here, is that there is a greater level of international passenger usage at Changi Airport than Bangkok's airport, ie it is a busier airport for international passenger movements.

That said, it doesn’t mean that an airport that handles more traffic makes it more desirable – That’s where the opinion polls and travel surveys come in handy. I do note that Changi seems to be consistently placed above Bangkok’s airport in such surveys...

Whats for sure is that airport traffic statistics alone cannot accurately portray the tourism picture of a city/country. What can be gleaned from the data here, is that there is a greater level of international passenger usage at Changi Airport than Bangkok's airport, ie it is a busier airport for international passenger movements.

That said, it doesn’t mean that an airport that handles more traffic makes it more desirable – That’s where the opinion polls and travel surveys come in handy. I do note that Changi seems to be consistently placed above Bangkok’s airport in such surveys...

Statistics show a cause and effect, and are not a good source to start an analysis. The analysis should start at some basic observations :
i) Thailand has a strong tourism market that is well-established internationally
ii) airlines are willing to diversify their stopover points to increase traffic and market reach

Then look at statistics to see if we can make some inferences.

The two go well together, as Bangkok is already a major point of entry into a massive tourism market. As such, foreign airlines have been quite active in Bangkok, with more airlines flying there than to Singapore (previous fact shown).

Therefore, the market for a stopover point in Bangkok for kangaroo route passengers is immense. The infrastructure is there to handle large amounts of travelers.

From tourism and airport statistics, Thailand is a very strong contender, being a much more popular tourism destination than Singapore, with international passenger counts almost at par with Changi, and a larger airline base. The statistics support the basic observations.

Bangkok's airport statistics indicate the strength of Bangkok's allure and the Thai tourism industry in general. In this case, the traffic numbers highlight the desirability of Thailand in general compared to other regional destinations. Although BKK isn't at the top of airport rankings, it shows in reality, it's not the airport that makes people fly in, it's what the city, and country has to offer. At the end of the day, a desirable ranking on airport surveys means to airline decisions. A study of the world's best airports and the world's busiest airports show rather low correlation.

The economic effect is very important, as more passengers brings more spinoff economic effects. Having the world's best in something is meaningless if it's not being used and it can't support jobs. This is why London Heathrow continues to be a top airport even though the airport experience is nowhere near fantastic.

My very initial point about SQ taking BKK to do Kangaroo route, is that it's not a very cooperative Star Alliance carrier. This is one airline that needs alliances very much, but doesn't work with its partners as much as it should. SQ is an airline that WILL operate lucrative routes or eat up its competition (read: anybody who's not MI or TR/TT) if it can gets its hands on.

You're talking about SQ, the airline that asked to operate Madrid-Mexico, London-New York, Hong Kong-Vancouver, Hong Kong-Toronto, Sydney-Los Angeles; these are some of the world's most profitable and coveted routes, most with limited access.

That being said, I see Singapore and Bangkok as both Star Alliance powerhouse machines working, trying their very best to secure their status quo and preventing other alliances from dominating.

I don't know if you people see it but there are extremely obvious "holes" in both Singapore and Bangkok's destinations that seem somehow filled by the other. Central and Northern Europe (OS/SK) through Thai Airways, Western Europe (LH/BD) through Singapore Airlines, north ASEAN, Indochina through Thai Airways, south ASEAN through Singapore Airlines.

So while we sit down and debate about which is the bigger international hub, the airports and airlines themselves are laughing to themselves at the perceived competition.

Right now, it is undisputable that Changi is the biggest hub on the kangaroo route. Qantas has a secondary hub in Changi with daily flights to ALL major Australian cities, and BA even with its reduced operations, is happy to let QF do all the work. Singapore Airlines is currently the largest foreign airline into Australia, 4 dailies to Sydney, and a minimum of 2 daily flights to the major Australian cities.

Yet you cannot deny the new reality that the choice for stopovers on the kangaroo route have broadened significantly, and the capacity increases in these new destinations such as Hong Kong and Dubai. Singapore is no longer the sole leader, and capacity increases are happening much quicker elsewhere.

Also keep in mind Thai and SQ haven't been very happy bedfellows in Star Alliance. In fact, Thai has been rumbling for quite a while of quitting Star.

I also don't see complementary holes in Thai's network. In Western Europe, they fly to plenty of destinations, such as Heathrow, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, and Rome.

Thai also serves / competes in south ASEAN, flying to Jakarta and Denpasar.

So hkskyline, are you saying that SQ will setup a secondary base at BKK if given a chance? That was the original thrust of this discussion, and my argument was that I doubt that SQ would develop another hub within ASEAN in competition with its primary hub in SIN due to a number of factors (SIN being a top airport, the strength of TG at BKK, etc.). Nevermind DXB and HKG - those are not covered by the ASEAN open skies rules, so there is no way SQ could develop hubs at those airports (and if you want to discuss about those new kangaroo route stopovers, then I think you're in the wrong forum :) Do remember this is the Singapore subforum and we are in a thread titled Tiger Airways. But please feel free to carry over the discussion to the appropriate thread/forum.).

Back on to topic, I DO see the possibility of Tiger setting up base at BKK though once this ASEAN open skies thing goes ahead...

I tend to agree with that assessment. Tying up several aircraft to be based in BKK doesn't seem so intuitive and perhaps problematic from a fleet management point of view when BKK-SIN isn't that far away. I'd imagine SQ's strategy is to have flights fly into SIN from abroad, then transfer to BKK, although apart from Australians, such an arrangement intuitively doesn't make sense. In order for it to work, SQ will need to price below TG, or even EK, which is going to be quite tough.

However, the decision to operate a secondary base in BKK does tie into a kangaroo route discussion, especially if SQ can get fifth freedom to fly Thai passengers from there to Australia. Can that come out of the ASEAN liberalization policies?

However, the decision to operate a secondary base in BKK does tie into a kangaroo route discussion, especially if SQ can get fifth freedom to fly Thai passengers from there to Australia. Can that come out of the ASEAN liberalization policies?Yes. Ultimately, ASEAN is moving to give 1st to 7th freedoms to all ASEAN carriers, which is what started this discussion about SQ moving to BKK. Please see post 253 (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=22575728&postcount=253) of this thread.

Yes. Ultimately, ASEAN is moving to give 1st to 7th freedoms to all ASEAN carriers, which is what started this discussion about SQ moving to BKK. Please see post 253 (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=22575728&postcount=253) of this thread.

In order for a secondary hub to be feasible, Star Alliance will either have to kick SQ or TG out of the alliance. Also, there's a bit more beyond the ASEAN region's new air regime. The liberalized air rights will also have to extend to Australia, and to any other European country these flights will eventually reach.

I thought the protectionism was still on? Doesn't this mean that Tiger, Mandala, ie. all Singapore and Indonesia budget carriers can fly between both countries now?

AirAsia To Start Pekan Baru-Singapore Flight August 14


KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) -- Low cost carrier, AirAsia, is scheduled to have its first flight from Pekan Baru, Indonesia to Singapore on August 14 this year. In a statement Friday, AirAsia said it will fly from Pekan Baru to Singapore three times a week. The new route, managed by AirAsia in Indonesia, is the first to be offered by a local based airline in Indonesia. "We see the latest Pekan Baru-Singapore route as a sign of AirAsia's confidence in capturing the ASEAN market," said its group chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes. With this new addition, AirAsia now serves three international destinations from Indonesia, namely Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching), Thailand (Bangkok) and Singapore plus eight Indonesian domestic routes from Jakarta. Tony added that this new route, supported with the already established Pekan Baru-Kuala Lumpur route, will provide enhanced connectivity for locals to the rest of the region. The booking period for special fares from Pekan Baru to Singapore and from Singapore to Pekan Baru which started on July 17 will end on July 27.

-- BERNAMA

I thought the protectionism was still on? Doesn't this mean that Tiger, Mandala, ie. all Singapore and Indonesia budget carriers can fly between both countries now?
i think it still is. QZ would have REALLY wanted CGK-SIN instead... (which they will get come December) But come to think about it, apart from QZ, SIN never really blocked indo carriers... Lionair and Adamair got the lucrative CGK-SIN. Heck, LionAir even operates a '7th freedom flight' SIN-SGN!
Hopefully, Indo authorities appreciate the gesture and allow SG LCCs in gradually fly there now that their own LCCs have matured some what.

If I'm not wrong, LionAir was allowed because it was already operating CGK-SIN-SGN and CGK-SIN-somewhere before the protection was in place. AdamAir on the other hand, was treated as a low fare carrier, not a low cost carrier, in the same way Indonesian authorities treated Valuair and therefore allowed them to operate the services.

By the way, it's operated as a 5th freedom ex CGK, not a 7th freedom.

However the LionAir DPS-SIN service confuses me or perhaps the Indo authorities don't consider JT a LCC anymore. There is no protectionism for full-service carriers.

Aug 1, 2008
Tiger drops flights to Australia's Darwin
By Karamjit Kaur Aviation, Correspondent

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9281/st947769701010001qb5.jpg
If costs become 'more reasonable' in future, Tiger will consider resuming services, he said. -- PHOTO: AFP

SINGAPORE budget carrier Tiger Airways will stop flying to Darwin, Australia from Oct 26.

The airline, which currently flies out of Singapore and Melbourne to Darwin, blamed high oil prices and airport charges for its decision.

Chief operating officer Steve Burns said: 'The cost of operating to Darwin is the highest of any airport on the entire Tiger Airways' network.

'This is an important point to stress; combined airport and fuel costs in Darwin cost more than any of the 27 airports that the airline serves across Australia and Asia. It is just incompatible for a true low fare airline to operate to such a high-cost destination.'

If costs become 'more reasonable' in future, Tiger will consider resuming services, he said.

Customers with confirmed bookings for travel after Oct 26 will be contacted and given a full refund, the airline said in a statement on Friday.

Airlines are reeling from the impact of high fuel prices which have shot up by more than 40 per cent this year alone.

Many have been forced to cut capacity and routes, and in some cases, even cut jobs to cope with the crisis.

According to the International Air Transport Association - the global voice of about 230 carriers - at least 24 airlines have already gone bust this year.

Iata expects carriers to lose as much US$6 billion this year, if oil prices do not start easing soon.


Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Steve Creedy | August 01, 2008
The Australian news

TIGER Airways Australia says changing federal government rules to allow it to fly international services will mean more aircraft and jobs in Australia.

The airline is lobbying the Government to axe requirements that international airlines operating from this country must be 51 per cent Australian-owned.

It says it should be allowed to fly from Australia as long as this country remains its principal place of business.

Tiger also says announcements about its second base and the deployment of three aircraft arriving later this year are "imminent", but refuses to elaborate.

Tiger chief executive Tony Davis says opening up the international routes would allow Tiger to bring in more planes and provide more jobs, and it would pay tax on its operations.

He says the airline wants to fly from Australia to destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, recently vacated by rival Jetstar.

Tiger Australia managing director Shelley Roberts later told the Aviation Outlook Summit in Sydney that she was perplexed by the fact that other aviation businesses, such as her previous employer Macquarie Airports, were allowed to expand overseas.

"An Australian-based airline wanting to expand overseas is prevented from doing that," she said.

"In difficult times, when other airlines are cutting their capacity and services to Australia, we're not allowed to grow from Australian operations and bring low fares and more jobs to the Australian public.

"I can't see how it can be in the national interest of the travelling public or those involved in tourism."

Pilots warn, however, that allowing the principal place of business to be overseas could lead to the aviation equivalent of maritime flags of convenience -- where the nationality of the owner of a ship is different from the country of registration.

The Australian and International Pilots Association argues in a submission to the Government's inquiry that "flagging out" in the maritime industry is usually driven by driven by a desire to cut costs and escape regulation.

It says maritime flag of convenience operators have more accidents, more security and safety breaches and more often fail to observe international safety, welfare and operational requirements.

"To avoid this situation in aviation, the national Aviation Policy Statement must ensure that the definition of principal place of business is sufficiently robust," the pilots say.

The Tiger push came as major shareholder Singapore Airlines revealed its net profit in the first quarter fell 15.4 per cent compared with the same period last year, as higher fuel costs cut into rising revenues. The airline reported net profit of $S359 million ($278 million) for the three months ended June, a drop of $S65 million from the same period last year.

The figure was better than expectations and beat the analysts' average forecast of $S307 million.

The airline warns the outlook remains uncertain.

"The price of jet fuel has risen more than 75 per cent."

I've been rooting for Tiger Airways all along but these recent pieces of news make me sick.

Tiger Australia simply does not deserve rights to fly international. It doesn't even nearly have an adequate domestic operation and the only routes that seem to be doing well are flights to Canberra, Gold Coast and Adelaide. I would like to see Tiger Australia develop a more comprehensive network before being allowed to fly international.

What's worse is that they signalled their intention, if given international flights, is to fly to Malaysia. What bullshit about doing for the people when clearly their main agenda is to hurt AirAsia's next area of growth, AirAsia X.

This begets the question; is Tiger just another Silkair for SQ? Low cost travel is possible for Singapore; Tiger just needs to to start a long haul airline but I can see the potential SQ hintering Tiger's development.

Perhaps Tiger needs to let go of SQ?

I've been rooting for Tiger Airways all along but these recent pieces of news make me sick.

Tiger Australia simply does not deserve rights to fly international. It doesn't even nearly have an adequate domestic operation and the only routes that seem to be doing well are flights to Canberra, Gold Coast and Adelaide. I would like to see Tiger Australia develop a more comprehensive network before being allowed to fly international.

What's worse is that they signalled their intention, if given international flights, is to fly to Malaysia. What bullshit about doing for the people when clearly their main agenda is to hurt AirAsia's next area of growth, AirAsia X.

This begets the question; is Tiger just another Silkair for SQ? Low cost travel is possible for Singapore; Tiger just needs to to start a long haul airline but I can see the potential SQ hintering Tiger's development.

Perhaps Tiger needs to let go of SQ?

Air Asia X won't get hurt because Air Asia X has different goals and targets. Its sister airlines - Air Asia is still doing well on its flights in Asia. Just that Air Asia X is facing few constraints. Their new A330s are not available yet and they are trying to get A340 to fly to UK. Only one A330 is operating. Air Asia will be getting two new A330 by year end.

If Tiger Australia wanna fly to KL from Australia, it is really not a problem. In fact Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) would be happy to welcome new airlines, connecting more flights. Not a problem to Air Asia X either.

Reason - different types of aircraft. One is A330 and another is obviously A320/A319. Scale of economics is obviously better on A330 if they can actually fill up the entire plane and fly on the certain amount of fuel between KL and Australia. Air Asia X has XL seats - wider seats available abroad. So Tiger Australia must find ways to break Air Asia X market instead with its A320/A319.

Actually planes have to dump fuels in air to lighten their planes everytime they land. This is why many airlines resort to cutting back the flights to save the cost of fuel. Tiger Airways keeps on cutting back flights - this indicates that the loads on their planes are not good enough to justify the running costs. It is opposite on Air Asia side.

Air Asia CEO seems understanding the Asian market better than other CEOs of budget carriers. Air Asia is still expanding more into Asia. Air Asia chose to set up two Air Asia units in Thailand and Indonesia instead.

SIA has different goals from Tiger and Air Asia X.

SIA won't get scared of any budget airlines and won't try to hinder them either. SIA already calculated the risks long time ago before they decided to set up Tiger Airways together with other shareholders.

Good example is that Ryanair did not manage to grab much of markets of Air France-KLM, Lufthansa or even British Airways because these major airlines have different markets to cater. Furthermore, high speed rail services in Europe are fast eroding Ryanair market shares already and high fuel costs have eaten away much of profits in Ryanair.

The real largest rival to SIA and Changi Airport is Emirates and its home base - Dubai. Emirates is fast catching up with their services and quality of their planes - matching with SIA already. Emirates is one of several airlines that can compete with SIA, offering the same level of services ranging from economy, business class to first class.

Tiger Airways is apparently just a pawn in the game to test the water and an instrumental to keep Changi Airport running. It really depends on how CEO and his team run Tiger Airways and Tiger Airways Australia. So we cannot blame SIA. SIA is just a shareholder of Tiger Airways - supplying money to Tiger Airways to buy new planes.

With desperate action by Tiger Australia to go international, this can tell us one thing - they want to do their own way. They also think going International would keep their carrier running as fuel costs start to eat away their profits.

Tiger hunts Asia, wants fleet of four to be 30
Mathew Murphy
July 30, 2008

TIGER Airways Australia will lobby the Federal Government to allow it to fly internationally, with its sights set on Malaysia.

Speaking at the Asia Pacific Aviation Summit in Sydney, Tiger's new managing director, Shelley Roberts, said she would make representations to the Federal Government as part of its white paper on aviation policy.

While Tiger's international group flies in and out of Perth and Darwin, Commonwealth legislation states that domestic carriers must have majority Australian ownership to fly internationally.

"I am a bit perplexed that while my competitors are able to expand overseas … I am denied from growing my airline," Ms Roberts said.

"I can't see how it is in the interest of Australia to not allow Tiger to expand while others are reducing their capacity."

Ms Roberts and Tiger Airways Group chief executive Tony Davis said budget carriers were able to prosper during difficult times in the aviation industry because of their low cost base.

Ms Roberts said Tiger would embark on a swift growth strategy, and planned to have 30 aircraft in Australia within five years.

Last week Tiger announced that three new aircraft would be added to its Australian fleet of four by the end of the year.

Ms Roberts said the routes that those aircraft would fly and the location of Tiger's second Australian base would be announced "imminently".

Mr Davis told the summit that Malaysia would be one of the key destinations for Tiger if the Government granted it rights to fly internationally.

"Low-cost carriers have to grow, have to expand and now is the best time," he said.

"History has shown that our model is more resilient during times like this."

That has not proved to be the case, though, with Ryanair, which pioneered the low-cost airline on which Tiger is closely modelled.

The first-quarter profit for Europe's largest discount airline has plummeted 85% due to the high cost of fuel.

Net income dropped to €21 million ($A34.5 million) for the quarter ended June 30 from €138.9 million during the same period last year.

Ms Roberts said Tiger would soon announce a bottom-line profit for the group for last financial year.

First things first,

Don't look at the entire Tiger group of airlines as a single airline. Tiger Airways (Singapore) primarily looks after its own interest and regards itself as a Singapore airline and therefore, Singapore interests come first.

Tiger Airways Australia is first and foremost, an Australian airline, with the top-people made primarily of recently quit Qantas and Virgin Blue staff.

Now, looking at the article, does it now seem like Tiger is intimidated by AirAsia X?

One thing with AirAsia and Jetstar is that they never lost sight of their base's primary interest. Each AirAsia unit in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia thinks about the own country's interest first before connecting each other's network. Jetstar has also managed to do the same, 3K has always made sure its network felt like it was catered to Singaporeans in Singapore (although it's probably to feed off Qantas/Jetstar Airways passengers) and that has ensured 3K's popularity in Singapore.

And how do I measure 3K's popularity in Singapore? The fact that 3K flies to cities that are full of competition, and charges overall, roughly the same as a full-service airline (yes, they aren't that cheap) and can actually maintain more than a daily frequency for those destinations is proof that there is demand, and in turn people to fill up those planes.

Now, looking at the article, does it now seem like Tiger is intimidated by AirAsia X?



No. Tiger Australia is struggling hard to keep its domestic operation running and wanting to grab pieces of shares in the international market. Malaysia and Australia have good flow of traffic. This is what they are eyeing. They wanna maximize profits. Only 3 airlines flying routes between KL and Aussie cities - MAS, Air Asia and Jetstar. Tiger Australia just wants to fill up the gap left by Jetstar Airways.

- Air Asia - Perth and Gold Coast
- MAS - Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney
- Jetstar Airways - Sydney (cease after Sept 2008)

Qantas and British Airways already ceased their flights to KL long time ago. So Malaysians and other asians do not have good options to fly from KL to Australia. This also means some would have to travel to Singapore and get connection to Australia on any airlines:

- Qantas - Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
- British Airways - Sydney
- Singapore Airlines - Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
- Australian Airlines - Cairn
- Jetstar Airways - Cairn, Darwin, Melbourne via Darwin, Perth (effect from 2nd Dec 2008)
- Tiger Airways - Darwin, Perth
- Austrian - Melbourne
- Emirates - Brisbane and Melbourne
- Ethiad Airways - Brisbane

Air Asia is just one of carriers to break into Australia market, carrying loads of asians (students and permanent residents). This is more to threaten MAS instead. Before Air Asia comes, Malaysians and other asians had to bear higher fares to fly on national carriers, say MAS into Australia. Naturally, the CEO of Air Asia saw their needs.

Jetstar already has international flights that keep bringing passengers into Australia and feed into domestic network. Qantas plays a role in Jetstar by transferring Qantas routes to Jetstar - similiar to SIA transferring routes to Silkair.

In fact, this is going to be different from the original intention of setting up Tiger Australia (building up domestic network in Australia). They probably discover that it is not gonna work. Now Tiger Australia has approached Australian Government to relax its rules on it, so that they can be granted permission to fly international routes.

Yeah. I'm sure Malaysia- Australia traffic is healthy so much so that Jetstar pulled out of the Sydney-KL route citing low loads, leaving Malaysia Airlines on the route, which is mostly supported by the sole fact that KLM feeds all Australia-bound flights from Northern Europe through MH in AMS. And D7 which relies on students and PRs to Perth and Gold Coast only, which is terribly low-yielding for airlines.

*Jetstar plans to suspend its flight to KL, feeding passengers through 3K instead. I didn't make this up, Jetstar Airways said so themselves.

Yeah. I guess Malaysia- Australia traffic has great loads. Better loads than Australia- Singapore routes (after Aus-NZ, carries the most passengers) I guess.

*Again, I didn't make this up. Only Melbourne reports KUL as the top 10 destinations in terms of passengers carried (at 5th place). No points for guessing who maintains 2nd place at PER, MEL, SYD, BNE, ADL.

Wow. Going the extra mile to promise Australians that Tiger will offer flights at low prices within Australia, gets registered in Darwin and then completely axe flights there, promise Melbourne that it will be a bigger domestic hub than Sydney then breaks it, gives Perth an empty promise that it will be a hub in Tiger Australia's early plans.

I'd bet you call Tiger adaptable in "today's situation".

What a great way to lie.

KUALA LUMPUR, 15 May 2008 – The best is still to come for the world’s aviation industry and it’s happening right here in Malaysia. AirAsia X, the pioneer Malaysian based long-haul low cost airline proves that it is here to stay and it is all set to spearhead Kuala Lumpur to greater heights as a global low cost hub. This message came alongside AirAsia X’s announcement that it will soon be starting a new direct service to Perth, Western Australia from Kuala Lumpur.

AirAsia X will commence the service as early as November 2008 with six return flights per week between Perth and Kuala Lumpur and is already planning to increase to daily return flights by March 2009. The route will be serviced by the airline’s new wide-bodied Airbus A330 aircraft, giving passengers a level of service not normally expected from low cost airlines.

This is the airline’s third destination, following its launch to Hangzhou, China in February this year with five return flights per week, and Gold Coast, Australia in November last year with four return flights.

Tony Fernandes, Director of AirAsia X, said, “We believe AirAsia X is a history in the making that will put Malaysia on the global map as it is the world’s first truly low-cost, long-haul airline – we are a pioneer in this arena, and we are proud that a Malaysian company can be a trailblazer. It has been an exceptional seven months since we started the airline, as both of our current routes have surpassed our expectations and are performing extremely well. To date, we have carried over 50,000 guests between Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur, and 30,000 between Hangzhou. Looking at what we’ve done with these two routes, we are confident of creating a bigger market in Western Australia and influencing the travel trends amongst the budget conscious travelers, to a point where we are looking at daily service to Perth by early next year.”

“We look forward to bringing new tourists to Western Australia by working very closely with Tourism Western Australia and the Perth Airport. The service between Kuala Lumpur and Perth offers travelers incredible connectivity to AirAsia’s network of over 100 destinations across all the ASEAN countries and China at unbelievable fares. Western Australia is experiencing strong economic growth which will help to drive new segments of tourist into Malaysia. Malaysia also has a long history of visiting friends, relatives and students to Perth. It’s amazing to note that in 2007, we carried 18.5 million passengers across our (AirAsia and AirAsia X) network,” added Tony.

The airline’s new planes (due in Q4 2008) will feature the latest technology (not seen before in Asia) for guests’ convenience and to enhance their experience, the following products will be made available – fixed-backshell seats with trademark sleek black leather upholstery, In-flight Entertainment featuring innovative content and applications, power points in all seats and even WIFI access – all combined with AirAsia’s trademark in-flight cabin service from its cabin crew to create an unparalleled in-flight experience complemented with industry-leading lowest fares.

Sheila McHale, Tourism Minister of Western Australia, said, “The introduction of direct flights between Kuala Lumpur to Perth should see visitor numbers and spend increase significantly as holiday-makers take advantage of low prices. Malaysia is already one of Western Australia’s top tourism markets with nearly 40,000 visitors every year, spending AUD157 million.”

Brad Geatches, Chief Executive Officer of Perth Airport, said, “The AirAsia Group has an outstanding reputation for service, reliability and value which will be embraced by the Western Australian market. Perth Airport is delighted to welcome AirAsia X to Western Australia. One of the region’s greatest airline success stories, AirAsia offers outstanding value for money to its customers and access to the AirAsia Group network which is one of the best in South East Asia.”

“More than half of the forecast 2.5 million international passenger arrivals and departures for Perth Airport during 2008-09 are expected to be to and from South East Asian destinations,” added Geatches. Perth Airport has recently announced an AUD1 billion vision for the future, with new regional, domestic and international terminal facilities to be built in the location of the existing domestic terminal.

In conjunction with the announcement, AirAsia X is making an offer not-to-be-missed by giving free FREE SEATS for guests who book between 16 and 17 May 2008. The travel period is between 2 November 2008 to 30 April 2009. Please log on to www.airasia.com for more information.
* excludes airport taxes and fees, fuel surcharges and is applicable for one way travel only.

Source: Air Asia X website

Long haul planes:

Air Asia X
- Airbus A330-300 (25 new aircraft, 1 leased)
- 312 seats (leased aircraft - in operational - XL - 36 seats, Economy Class 276 seats)
- 392 seats (new aircraft - XL 28 seats, Economy Class 364 seats)

Jetstar Airways
- Airbus A330-200 (6 in operation)
- 303 seats (StarClass 38 seats, Economy Class 265 seats)

Air Asia X is considering buying Airbus A350 while Jetstar will be getting new Boeing 787 next year, provided that Boeing can deliver B787 jets in 2009.

Saturday, 2 August 2008
AviationRecord.com

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines-controlled low-cost-carrier Tiger Airways is to exit Darwin, in Australia's north, citing excessive airport fees.

The last Tiger flight will leave Darwin on October 26, discontinuing flights to and from Singapore and Melbourne.

"The cost of operating to Darwin is the highest of any airport on the entire Tiger Airways' network," said Tiger Airways COO Steve Burns. "Combined airport and fuel costs in Darwin cost more than any of the 27 airports that the airline serves across Australia and Asia.

"It is just incompatible for a true low-fare airline to operate to such a high-cost destination,"he said.

Tiger Airways is four years old and after establishing a solid Singapore base, established a jointly owned subsidiary in Australia in March to expand into the local market. It is seeking rights to fly from Australia to Malaysia.

Curiously, while delivering a public broadside to the airport's owner Northern Territory Airports, rival LCC Jetstar, a subsidiary of Qantas, announced it would establish a northern hub in Darwin.

And an Asia-based aviation consultant, Prithpal Singh, told Singapore's News Today that he believed Tiger Airways had "overextended themselves" in their Australian expansion plan and had struggled to compete with local rivals Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Qantas.

Singh said Tiger should concentrate on Asia, where the aviation market was growing.

"Besides point-to-point and leisure travel, Tiger could look at areas where there is heavy labour traffic, including domestic maids, who are more price sensitive," he told News Today.

Tiger will continue flying between Perth and Singapore and offering domestic services between Melbourne and Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Mackay, Rockhampton, Alice Springs and Perth.

"Open Skies" Deals Elevate NE Asian Air Travel

With South Korea signing "open skies" deals with Japan and China, Northeast Asian airspace is becoming a lucrative aviation market worth US$100 billion annually. Airliners are hurrying to buy up available aircraft and reschedule their routes, while striving to gain dominant position in the ever-growing market by launching low-cost airlines.

◆ Northeast Asian airspace is sky-high growth industry

South Korea and Japan concluded an "open skies" deal to lift restrictions on frequency, capacity and destinations, with the exception of the Tokyo-Seoul route, in late 2007. South Korea and China also agreed to open airspace starting 2010.

The combined population of South Korea, China and Japan is 1.5 billion, a group of potential air travelers that accounts for one-fourth of the world's population. The number of air passengers who traveled between the three countries reached 15.6 million last year. They spent $57 billion doing so, and this year’s market is projected to grow to $67 billion, up about 17 percent year on year.

Just as more South Koreans traveled overseas following the Seoul Olympics in 1988, the aviation industry predicts the number of Chinese tourists will increase by more than 20 percent annually after the Beijing Olympics, paving the way for a market worth $100 billion annually within five years.


◆ Korean airline industry scrambles for budget supremacy

Korean Air will purchase about 50 new aircraft, including 10 next-generation B787s, eight A380s, and seven B737-800/900s, in preparation for projected market growth. Asiana Airlines will also buy new aircraft and reschedule its routes.

Competition among budget airlines has also become fierce. Given that most routes in Northeast Asia are medium or short-range, taking less than five hours per flight, some predict low-cost airlines are set to take up 20 to 30 percent of the entire market.

Jin Air was launched last month with 100 percent investment from Korean Air. Asiana Airlines is also expected to launch Air Busan around October.

Jeju Air plans to open four to five regular routes between South Korea and Japan this year, and to launch as many routes to China next year. Jeju Air will increase its fleet of aircraft to 15 by 2013 by buying two to three new B737-800s each year.

◆ Controversy over foreign airlines' advance into NE Asia

Japanese and Chinese airlines look set to launch flights to South Korea. Three Chinese budget airlines, including Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, and four Japanese low-cost airlines, such as Hokkaido International Airlines, are reportedly considering launching services to Korea.

Singapore Airlines, the world's fourth most popular airline, has launched a low-cost airline, Incheon-Tiger Airways, in cooperation with the city of Incheon, incurring opposition from the Korean aviation industry. Although routes between South Korea, China and Japan are restricted to airlines from these three countries, Singapore Airlines could advance into Northeast Asian airspace by using Incheon International Airport as its base.

Some 20 low-cost airlines in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, and India, including Malaysian airline AirAsia, are also seeking to advance into the Northeast Asian market via Korea.

Officials of Korean Air and Asiana Airlines said Incheon-Tiger Airways is "a joint venture airline in name only. It will be controlled by Singapore Airlines.

“We should not let foreign airlines advance into the Northeast Asian aviation market, which we've opened with much difficulty."

Another industry insider said, "The three Northeast Asian countries have signed open skies deals for the purpose of developing their own aviation industry. It is unprecedented that a foreign airline excluded from the three-nation deals should launch international and Korean domestic services in cooperation with a Korean government."

(englishnews@chosun.com )

More cheap flights with new base: Tiger

August 6, 2008 - 10:38AM

Budget airline Tiger Airways has pounced on a gap left by Jetstar in Adelaide, making the city its second Australian base.

Qantas announced last month the South Australian base for crew and pilots attached to its low-cost offshoot, Jetstar, would be shut down by the end of August.

The measures were designed to offset rising costs of jet fuel and difficult conditions in the aviation industry.

Tiger Airways has also recently axed services due to fuel and operating costs - cancelling flights to Darwin from Melbourne and Singapore.

But Tiger Airways Australia Managing Director Shelley Roberts said today that Darwin and Adelaide were very different examples and SA was a good choice for the airline's second Australian home, after Melbourne.

"Darwin - the only place you can fly to - is pretty much Asia within a four hour flying distance. Adelaide presents many, many opportunities," Ms Roberts said.

"Since we entered the market in Adelaide earlier in the year, we have seen that the market is generally underserved and constrained by the high fares that are in operation.

"So we know we can continue the low fare revolution in Adelaide."

Setting up the second base is expected to almost double the number of annual low fare seats being made available in Australia to more than three million per year, she said.

Tiger Airways will boost services from Adelaide to Melbourne from next week and will base two new A319s in Adelaide from early next year.

Additional aircraft will be based there over the next eight years depending on consumer demand.

The airline would recruit over 50 cabin and flight crew for Adelaide, with former JetStar crew already lining up for jobs, Ms Roberts said.

Tiger Airlines, which hopes to set up at least five Australian bases in the next seven years, wants the public to tell them on its website which destinations to service from Adelaide.

More direct flights from Adelaide are likely to result in more than 10 million additional passengers using the South Australian airport over the next eight years, Tiger Airlines says.

Premier Mike Rann said the cumulative benefit to the state economy could be up to $100 million over 10 years.

"This will give interstate visitors more affordable opportunities to travel to South Australia for their holidays - injecting valuable tourism dollars into the local economy," the premier said.

AAP

the A319s open up a whole new set of possible international destinations... ADL will be a good base for asian flights with the 319 which has a range of 3700nm (much more then the A320)...
http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gcmap?PATH=BKK-ADL,SIN-ADL,CGK-ADL,MNL-ADL,KHH-ADL&RANGE=3700nm%40ADL&PATH-COLOR=red&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=navyThe picture shows the range of a fully loaded A319 out of ADL, with routes like BKK-ADL, KUL-ADL, CGK-ADL, MNL-ADL and even KHH-ADL!
But given that they have not gotten (and may not get) international rights, the only sure to launch service would be SIN-ADL with a connection to MEL. (hence replacing DRW as the hub to asia) I'm sure there are MUCH more people who would want to fly to ADL as their final destination compared to DRW...

Actually, had Singapore's LCCs chosen the smaller A319 over their 320s, they would be able to fly much further:
http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gcmap?PATH=SIN-CTS,SIN-PEK,SIN-DXB,SIN-SYD,SIN-TNR&RANGE=6900km%40SIN&PATH-COLOR=red&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=navy
shown are: SIN-Hokkaido, SIN-PEK, SIN-DXB, SIN-SYD and even SIN-Madagascar!

Japanese and Chinese airlines look set to launch flights to South Korea. Three Chinese budget airlines, including Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, and four Japanese low-cost airlines, such as Hokkaido International Airlines, are reportedly considering launching services to Korea.

Singapore Airlines, the world's fourth most popular airline, has launched a low-cost airline, Incheon-Tiger Airways, in cooperation with the city of Incheon, incurring opposition from the Korean aviation industry. Although routes between South Korea, China and Japan are restricted to airlines from these three countries, Singapore Airlines could advance into Northeast Asian airspace by using Incheon International Airport as its base.
how old is this article? Oasis is no longer flying and has never considered korea. It was a long haul LCC. Hokkaido International Airlines has been renamed Air Do. (for quite a while, might i add!) And there has been no new of Incheon Tiger Airways for a long long time... given the current situation and a chance it might not get to fly internationally (think: Tiger Aus) despite being majority Korean owned.

Sorry. This article is apparently new but there are lots of factual errors in it. The Oasis Hong Kong Airlines is one, although they were indeed given rights to serve many cities, including Singapore (Go read past posts on Oasis and HK Aviation threads, especially those by hkskyline, he did post everything about Oasis quite religiously).

However, they did correctly stated that Jin Air began service last month, and gets other Korean aviation facts correct. Do note the incredibly nationalistic tone of the article.

News of Incheon Tiger cropped up on the The Straits Times on the article of Tiger's Adelaide base announcement. Apparently, Tiger is set to launch the new airline in a "couple of months".

I believe Korea's airlines need to fly a minimum of 3 years in domestic airline services before being allowed to fly international routes. That's how Jeju Air got their recent rights to fly to Japan.

Anyway, on the subject of A319s. I believe Tiger wanted them to service smaller regional airports, not particularly for its longer range. The Adelaide market, no doubt, will be smaller than Melbourne's (no matter how you argue it).

Anyway, on the subject of A319s. I believe Tiger wanted them to service smaller regional airports, not particularly for its longer range. The Adelaide market, no doubt, will be smaller than Melbourne's (no matter how you argue it).

Yes this is right.

A319 aircraft would be more economical for smaller airports that do not require A320 operations. A319 happens to have longer range because it is lighter and smaller, although it has the same fuel capacity as A320 jet.

For the same reasons, Silkair has a fleet of A320 and A319.

Tiger Airways to Offer 13 Direct Flights between Singapore and Macau
Thursday, August 14, 2008

Tiger Airways will introduce six new flights between Singapore and Macau by 26 October 2008, which will raise the number of flights on this route from 7 to 13 flights per week.

To celebrate these additional flights Tiger Airways is offering 5000 seats on the Singapore-Macau route for travel from 26 October 2008, for the bargain price of SGD $39.99.

The airline’s additional flights has meant that it will now have the most direct flights between Singapore and Macau compared to any other carrier.

Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore said,” Tiger Airways was the first low fare airline to operate flights to Macau since 2005. Since then Macau has continued to develop into a world class entertainment Mecca in the Pearl River Delta Region and other carriers have played follow the Tiger. Tiger has continued to grow the market and as a result is increasing the number of flights to offer more choice and more of our famous low low fares. With a great travel schedule and fares from just SGD$39.95, don’t gamble with your flights. Book online at www.tigerairways.com now!”

The additional service starts from 26 October 2008 for the Northern Winter Schedule (26 Oct 2008 –
28 March 2009) and operates on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and
Sundays.

The new services will compliment the existing afternoon service so passengers have a choice of morning or afternoon departures.

Tiger Australia facing $23m loss

The Sydney Morning Herald
August 18, 2008

TIGER AIRWAYS has continued to keep under wraps the financial performance of its Australian operations amid industry speculation the budget carrier has suffered losses in the tens of millions since it started domestic flights out of Melbourne last November.

Tiger's parent company sought a three-month extension to file its full-year financial accounts with Singaporean regulators last month, but financial information from the budget airline reveals its Australian arm lost about $S28 million ($23 million) in its first four months of operation.

If true, the losses counter the upbeat rhetoric of Tiger's chief executive, Tony Davis, on the inroads the carrier has made into Qantas-Jetstar and Virgin Blue's share of the domestic market.

The estimate has been arrived at by reconciling the $S37.8 million profit reported by Tiger's Singaporean operations two weeks ago and comments made by the chief executive of Tiger's main shareholder, Singapore Airlines. Chew Choon Seng told analysts at a profit briefing earlier this year he was not betraying any confidence in saying profit for the 2007-08 financial year came close to $S10 million. "They are ahead of business plans, he said.

If this is the case, Tiger Australia - which is Tiger's only operation outside Singapore - would have lost about $S28 million for the period.

There are suspicions Tiger Australia's losses for this financial year may have deepened, with oil prices surging as much as 43 per cent to a high of $US145 a barrel since the end of March from about $US101. Tiger has declined to comment on the estimates.

"We will be coming out with the consolidated Tiger Aviation accounts when they are ready," said a Tiger spokesman.

Mr Hobbs said the extension Tiger sought from Singapore's Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority to file its accounts was due to a restructure the company undertook during the year.

The restructure saw the formation of Tiger Aviation, which will act as the holding company for all Tiger's various operations in Singapore, Australia and its yet-to-be-launched Korean and Philippine franchises.

While the airline has been coy on stating whether it is actually making money, it has been more forthcoming with less sensitive information. Earlier this month, Tiger boasted how its Australian and Singaporean operations reported a 73.7 per cent lift in passenger growth and 58 per cent lift in revenue in the year to June 30.

There are suspicions Tiger is already coming under increased pressure from its shareholders to lift its performance. A long-serving Singaporean Airlines executive was recently appointed Tiger's chief financial officer, prompting talk its 49 per cent owner now wants to keep a more watchful eye on the running of the airline. There is also speculation as to whether Tiger's other key shareholders, the private equity firm Indigo Partners and Ireland's Ryan family, might be losing patience.

Virgin Blue and Qantas are due to report their full-year results this week which are expected to show a surge in fuel costs and a slowing in domestic demand.

Tiger hides the colour of its stripes
the age.com.au
August 18, 2008

TIGER Airways continues to keep the wraps on the financial performance of its Australian operations, as the industry speculates the budget carrier has had losses into the tens of millions since it began domestic flights out of Melbourne last November.

Tiger's parent company last month sought a three-month extension to file its full-year financial accounts with Singaporean regulators, but financial information from the budget airline reveals its Australian arm lost about $S28 million ($A23 million) in its first four months of operation.

If true, this counters the constantly upbeat rhetoric of Tiger chief executive Tony Davis on the inroads it has made into Qantas-Jetstar and Virgin Blue's share of the domestic market.

The estimate was arrived at by reconciling the $S37.8 million profit reported by Tiger's Singapore operations two weeks ago and comments made by the chief executive of Tiger's main shareholder, Singapore Airlines.

"I can safely say that I am not betraying any confidence for FY 07-08. (Tiger Aviation's) profit came close to $S10 million," Chew Choon Seng told analysts at a profit briefing earlier this year. If so, Tiger Australia, Tiger's only operation outside Singapore, would have lost about $S28 million for the period.

There are suspicions Tiger Australia's losses this financial year could have deepened, with oil prices surging as much as 43% to a high of $US145 a barrel since the end of the March.

Tiger has declined to comment on the estimates.

"We will be coming out with the consolidated Tiger Aviation accounts when they are ready," a Tiger spokesman said.

Mr Hobbs said the extension Tiger sought from Singapore's Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority to file its accounts was due to a company restructure. This involved the formation of Tiger Aviation to act as holding company for all Tiger's operations in Singapore, Australia and its yet-to-be-launched Korea and Philippines franchises.

While Tiger is coy on stating whether it is making money, it is more forthcoming with less-sensitive information. This month, it boasted how its Australian and Singapore operations reported 73.7% passenger growth and a 58% rise in revenue in the year to June 30.

There are suspicions Tiger is under pressure from shareholders to lift its performance. A long-serving Singaporean Airlines executive was recently appointed Tiger's chief financial officer, prompting talk its 49% owner wants to keep a closer eye on the running of the airline. There is also speculation Tiger's other key shareholders, private equity firm Indigo Partners and Ireland's Ryan family, might be losing patience.

While Tiger's results may be some way away, Virgin Blue and Qantas are due to report their full-year results this week. They are expected to not only show a surge in fuel costs but a slowing in domestic demand.

While Qantas is expected to be hit by the slowing in high-yielding corporate traffic that comes with an economic slowdown, low-cost airlines such as Tiger could be in for a rougher ride. One problem is that low-cost carriers, which cram seats on to their planes to lower their cost-base, will be under greater pressure to fill those seats.

Tiger leaps into the black
The Australian Business
Steve Creedy, aviation writer | August 08, 2008

TIGER Aviation's Singapore operations have defied the nay-sayers and moved into the black after reporting a net profit of $S37.8 million ($30 million) for the year ending March 31.

The maiden profit by Tiger Airways Singapore is up from a $S14.3 million loss for the previous year and saw the company's trading margin swing from -7.8 per cent to 8.8 per cent.

Revenue rose 56 per cent to $S271 million while the cash balance rose from a thin $S3.9million to $S19.6 million.

Tiger chief executive Tony Davis said the airline's first profit three years after start-up came as it achieved economies of scale that allowed it to offset low fares.

"I think a three-year period from start to profitability is reasonable and certainly that was our target," Mr Davis said.

"And we're delighted that Tiger Singapore has delivered a very robust set of figures for the last financial year, which was it's third full year of operations. I think the other thing to reinforce is that Tiger Singapore is an entirely independent carrier.

"Unlike the relationship Jetstar has with Qantas, we didn't benefit from passengers being forcibly moved from one airline to the other, we didn't inherit routes and we don't network plan our services with (majority shareholder) Singapore Airlines or anyone else."

Mr Davis described the profit of almost $S40 million as a "very solid set of numbers, which bodes well for future growth and future profitability".

Asked about Australia's contribution to group profitability, he said Tiger Australia was still in the investment phase, as demonstrated by announcements this week of a second base in Adelaide and increased services between Perth and Melbourne.

Tiger Australia announced it would base its two Airbus A319s aircraft in Adelaide and that it now expected the planes to enter service early next year, rather than later this year.

The move to establish the second base comes after recent announcements that the airline would pull out of Darwin and Newcastle and an admission that its expansion had been slower than first touted.

Tiger is also boosting flights between Melbourne and Perth to twice daily from November 1. It will fly an extra three flights a week between October 2 and November 1.

Mr Davis expressed confidence about the group's continuing success, despite challenging market conditions and high oil prices.

He said the airline's low-cost model remained the purest of any carrier in the region and said it remained absolutely disciplined about costs.

"I think we are definitely focused on delivering our product, which is the lowest fares in the market," he said. "And I think the decision we made last week to suspend services to Darwin, which was a very difficult decision for us, is indicative of how focused we are on that cost base.

"We are not going to just increase airfares because of the high operating costs at airports like Darwin ... we're focused on delivering low fares and if we can't do that at certain airports then we won't be able to serve those airports.

"So we are absolutely focused on delivering sustainable profitability for all our businesses and I think that with Tiger Airways Singapore now profitable, obviously our intention is to keep it that way."

While Tiger Australia may not yet be contributing to the group's profits, its four aircraft made a substantial impact operationally in the first three months of the 2008-09 financial year.

Tiger Aviation, parent of the Australian and Singaporean operations, reported a 73.7 per cent increase in passengers for a 64.9 rise in capacity, pushing up load factors by 4.1 percentage points. Revenue was up 57.8 per cent.

Mr Davis said the result showed the group was still delivering impressive year-on-year performances. He expected Australian load factors to increase as brand awareness rose with the expansions in Adelaide and Perth.

Tiger estimates its decision, which it says was long-term but still subject to consumer demand, will bring at least 10 million additional passengers to Adelaide Airport over the next eight years.

Mr Davis said the 144-seat 319s would give the airline the flexibility to develop capital city airports and serve regional destinations unable to take an A320.

????? in black or in red?

????? in black or in red?

Red - Tiger Airways Australia (speculative reports by Australian media as the management has not revealed the exact numbers)

Black - Tiger Airways (Singapore) - first profit in 2008.

Incheon-Tiger Airliner Under Attack
The Korean Times
19-08-2008 18:08
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

The port city of Incheon's alliance with Singapore's Tiger Airways to launch a budget airline is drawing fierce criticism from its rivals and civic groups.

The city and the Singaporean airliner established Incheon-Tiger Airways in January, with Incheon and its affiliates owning 51 percent and Tiger being the single largest shareholder with 49 percent. Of the 51-percent stake, the city holds 2.4 percent, its tour promotion unit 20 percent and two other units the remainder.

Incheon-Tiger had planned to apply for a regular operating license with the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs at the end of this month to start the service this year. This plan is on hold, however, in the wake of a dispute over the ``nationality'' of the budget carrier and which party controls it.

Under domestic aviation law, a corporation cannot register an aviation business if a foreign government, organization or company owns more than half of its shares. Since Tiger owns 49 percent, there is no legal problem technically. Civic groups and other Korean carriers, however, say Tiger will virtually control the new carrier.

Incheon has no experience in the airline business, and Tiger Airways will control major parts of the business including operations, maintenance, procurement and marketing. With huge capital and the Singaporean government's support, Tiger Airways will encroach on the Korean market and threaten the nation's aviation sovereignty,'' a source from a Korean carrier said on condition of anonymity.

The air travel market in Northeast Asia is rapidly growing along with open sky pacts between Korea, Japan and China. The Singaporean carrier is attempting to get a free ride in the big market and Incheon is playing the role of a bridgehead.''

The Incheon Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice said its city is in no position to compete with other private airlines since it houses Incheon International Airport, which is mainly tasked to support private airlines.

Before attempting to start an airline venture, it should first seek public endorsement for its bid to compete with private enterprises,'' the group said in a statement. As the single largest shareholder of the venture, Singapore's Tiger Airways will emerge as the virtual controller of the budget airline.''

Incheon denied a problem in the share ownership. Besides the 51-percent share, three of the five board members are Koreans. Tiger may be in charge of operations, but management and operational skills are two different things,'' a city official said.

Another problem is the viability of the new business in the crowded budget airline market amid high fuel costs. Korea's other budget carriers have suffered losses ― Jeju Air has lost 24 billion won since 2005.

If Incheon-Tiger Airways suffers from a deficit, which is very likely, the city government and its affiliates will have to use taxes to compensate,'' the airline official said.

Incheon denied the allegation, citing Korean Air's budget carrier Jin Air and Asiana Airlines' Air Busan. The big carriers established budget airliners, which shows the demand for a budget travel market. We'll provide more varied options to passengers for short-haul routes.''

The ministry says it will not comment on the controversial aspects until Incheon-Tiger submits its license application.

We'll carefully decide whether to issue the license. Though the city says it owns 51 percent of shares and Tiger Airways 49 percent, we'll thoroughly look into which side has effective control of the airline,'' an official at the ministry's aviation policy team said.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr

Can't believe I can't find any article on it but.....

Jetstar Asia won Skytrax Best Low Cost Airline In Asia and Best Low Cost Airline in Southeast Asia.

The airline's too humble, not mentioning it at all.

Jetstar Asia won Skytrax Best Low Cost Airline In Asia and Best Low Cost Airline in Southeast Asia.
Given its excellent service and on time record, I'm not suprised

If Incheon-Tiger Airways suffers from a deficit, which is very likely, the city government and its affiliates will have to use taxes to compensate,'' the airline official said.
They seem so sure that Tiger will fail.

Incheon-Tiger had planned to apply for a regular operating license with the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs at the end of this month to start the service this year. This plan is on hold, however, in the wake of a dispute over the "nationality'' of the budget carrier and which party controls it.
The ministry says it will not comment on the controversial aspects until Incheon-Tiger submits its license application
Why is it on hold? If there has been no official disapproval, why not just go ahead anyway? Is either side having cold feet after Tiger Aus's 'failure'?
AirAsia never had a problem with its 49% stakes in BOTH Thai AirAsia n Indo AirAsia. SQ owns 49% of Vigin Atlantic, a UK airline. Is this just the Korea being very protectionist? Or is it just not common practice for 49% foreign ownership?

I think Northeast Asia is very new to the idea of foreign ownership in airlines. I guess, they are still seen as national interests.

Besides, I haven't seen any attempt by Tiger to convince Koreans the way they have been marketing on their Australian website months before they announced service.

Incheon-Tiger Airways launch postponed

26 Aug 08

SEOUL - S. KOREA'S Incheon city has postponed the launch of a joint-venture budget carrier with Singapore's Tiger Airways in the face of fierce opposition from domestic low-cost airlines, a report said.
'We've decided to put off the application for a licence indefinitely,' Mr Baik Eun Gi, director general of the city's port, airport and logistics bureau, was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency late on Monday.

'Because of widespread negative opinions about the project, we need more time for persuasion and publicity,' Mr Baik said, stressing this did not mean the plan to set up Incheon-Tiger Airways has been abandoned.

The Korea Times carried a similar report on Tuesday. City officials could not be reached for comment by AFP.

Incheon city, west of Seoul and the site of the country's main international airport, originally planned to apply for a licence in September and launch the joint venture by the end of this year.

The city and its affiliates own 51 per cent of Incheon-Tiger Airways while Tiger is the single largest shareholder with 49 per cent.

The project has sparked strong protests from four budget domestic carriers, Jeju Air, Jin Air, Yeongnam Air and Air Busan.

They filed a joint petition with the transport ministry, claiming the venture will be effectively controlled by Tiger since the city lacks airline experience, and so would be illegal.

Domestic aviation law bans Korean airlines which are more than 50 per cent foreign-controlled.

'Under the mask of a Korean carrier, Tiger is attempting to get a free ride,' the four airlines said.

They claimed that Tiger can expect financial support from the Singapore government and thus would have an unfair advantage in competing with private carriers.

The four carriers also said Incheon should not engage in an airline business because it hosts the country's gateway airport, which is tasked with supporting private airlines.

Tiger Aviation, which runs Tiger Airways, said last year the budget airline would start with five Airbus A320 planes. It expected to fly domestic routes as well as to destinations in Japan, China, Russia and Mongolia. -- AFP

I guess Incheon Tiger is gone...

The longer Tiger waits, the bigger Jin Air, Jeju Air, Air Busan and the rest will grow. Added to that is the minimum of flying 4 years of domestic flights before being granted rights to fly international.

I think Tiger should chase more ventures in Southeast Asia, where the market, regulations and governments are comparatively more accepting to low cost carriers than Northeast Asia.

Thailand, where the country's domestic airlines are failing and there is a lack of competition to fill up the low-cost gap left by Orient Thai/ One-Two-Go.

Malaysia, now that MH is focusing on a hub-and-spoke system from KL and nowhere else, with AirAsia trying to make every other Malaysian city a hub, Tiger could jump on the bandwagon and offer routes from cities where AK has largely failed to develop.

AirAsia, Fireflyz will make noise and say they are unable to hub Singapore, but we could always do a turn-around and allow them to use SIN as a hub. Afterall, Changi eventually still wins.

Indonesia would be good but it isn't an easy market to crack too.

Easiest is still Thailand. :)

Indonesia and Thailand would surely react like South Korea - they may do not want Tiger to set up units in their yards.

Simple reason - Tiger is controlled by SIA which is turn is owned by Temasek Holdings. These connections have set off fierce protests from all parties.

Temasek Holdings have investments facing problems - Indonesia's Indosat, Thailand's Shin Corp.

Air Asia has no problem setting up units in Thailand and Indonesia because it is seen as pure business owned airlines. This does not attract any discontent from all parties in the countries.

So I would rather have Tiger Airways to review its strategy and look into building its regional network out of Singapore, instead of trying to set up units in other countries.

Firefly surely makes use of ASEAN Open sky to connect Singapore with its bases - Penang and Kuala Lumpur (Subang). It will also fly from Johor Bahru as well. It would have fleet of ATR 72-500 since first one in operation since 11 Aug 2008. By end year, it would have 5 ATR 72. Intended to have full fleet of 10 ATR 72.

However Firefly is in infancy stage so it may not be ready to fly into Singapore.

Video of Firefly plane (http://thestaronline.tv/default.aspx?vid=1872)

Air Asia would grab similiar golden opportunity to build up more flights to Singapore which has more transit passengers passing through Changi Airport. Air Asia Indonesia has already connected to Singapore. This latest connection would reinforce the inter-connection between Air Asia and its two units. This would benefit transit passengers from Europe and other countries.

http://www.asiaone.com/a1media/travel/08Aug08/others/20080814.165418_caas_1.jpg
Landed at Changi Airport on 14th August.

I won't be surprised if Air Asia X decides to fly out of Singapore one day.

The longer Tiger waits, the bigger Jin Air, Jeju Air, Air Busan and the rest will grow. Added to that is the minimum of flying 4 years of domestic flights before being granted rights to fly international.
Agreed. I really hope that Tiger would try to start somewhere else in NEA, maybe Taiwan or Japan (international routes only). Hong Kong & Macau has a limited LCC market as most prefer to travel in tour groups on legacies, otherwise it would be a good position for a hub for flights between SEA & NEA..
Tiger could also try the Indo AA way, and buy a stake and rebrand an existing airline... maybe even one of the exisitng Korean LCCs that have overseas rights. I remembered reading that they planned to do something like this... guess it never materialized.
Tiger could jump on the bandwagon and offer routes from cities where AK has largely failed to develop.
Such as? (I think AK has pretty much everything in M'sia covered)

AirAsia, Fireflyz will make noise and say they are unable to hub Singapore, but we could always do a turn-around and allow them to use SIN as a hub. Afterall, Changi eventually still wins.
Actually, I thought Singapore has always given rights for most foreign airlines to fly here, even for flights not originating from their home country... its just that exisiting agreements limits the number of Singapore-Malaysia flights. Also, AirAsia has always demanded for Seletar Airport (even though it cant even handle even the tiny 737s) and now it chose to use T1 instead of budget terminal cos of ease of connection.
I'd be really happy if AirAsia n FireFlyz start hubbing out of Singapore... we'd be looking at REALLY cheap flights at last.
I won't be surprised if Air Asia X decides to fly out of Singapore one day.
I'd be REALLY REALLY happen when that happens.. I wont have to transit in KL LCCT anymore...

Also, AirAsia has always demanded for Seletar Airport (even though it cant even handle even the tiny 737s) and now it chose to use T1 instead of budget terminal cos of ease of connection.


Actually Seletar does handle a Boeing 737. But it does not handle a Boeing 757.

http://i1.planepictures.net/59/45/1172528876.jpg
A Boeing 737 at Seletar Airport

Once the runway extension to 1,800m is completed , it would be able to handle a Boeing 757.

o.0 last time i checked, it could only handle up to 727s...
It is located in Seletar in the north-eastern area of the main island, and is operated by the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. There has been a proposal to extend its runway to 2,000 metres, so as to be able to receive the Boeing 737 used by many budget airlines. -from wikipedia, current runway length 1592m... is that enough for a fully loaded 737? (we're not even talking about the 320 yet!) or has it been extended since?

o.0 last time i checked, it could only handle up to 727s...
-from wikipedia, current runway length 1592m... is that enough for a fully loaded 737? (we're not even talking about the 320 yet!) or has it been extended since?

A loaded 737 does land this runway too. The max normal landing length is 1000m for fully loaded B737. A320 with light load can land on this length of 1540 as minimum requirement.

Commercial airliner Boeing 737-700 landing on short runway of 1300m at Santos Dumont (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6TDd_UWdxE)

A319 landing at Santos Dumont (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5GrpC6zaY0&feature=related)

Close up of Santos Dumont Airport (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Santos_Dumont_Airport.jpg)

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/4/0/1184041.jpg
Airbus A321 at Seletar Airport

AirAsia frequently flew its Boeing 737s to Seletar for maintenance. Now that the fleet is largely A320s, they don't come anymore.

Every country will make noise to wherever Tiger or even AirAsia sets up hub in. It is up to the airline to appease people, getting locals sufficiently involved so that they know that although its foreign owned, it still represents the local's interest.

Remember when Tiger first announced it was setting up an Australian airline? It got the locals feel like they were involved, polled them and asked Australians where they wanted Tiger to fly to, where it should hub. It created interest in the airline, as well as firsthand research on where demand was. And most important of all, the airline seemed to want to represent Australia.

The above was not done for SEAir in the Philippines, neither was it done for Incheon Tiger. You don't just go announce to the world you are forming a joint venture with Incheon and expect Koreans to follow you. There was no promo done in Korean on Tiger's website.

In other words, there was no effort on the publicity side. Nothing.

Cracking into another country's market CAN be done, it's just whether you want it badly enough.

I mean, if Jetstar could convince Vietnam, one of the most conservative governments for Pacific Airlines' stake, I don't see why Tiger should fail in setting up ventures.

As for Pacific Airlines, it just took on the brand of Jetstar in form of franchise system. It became Jetstar Pacific.

So the Vietnam regulators approved this airlines change easily as the management structure and operation of Pacific Airlines remain intact. This would set the template for Jetstar to expand through franchise system.

Only Jetstar brand name used, says Pacific Airlines chief (http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/?catid=2&newsid=39278)

SEAir only leases two planes from Tiger Airways in the deal and using its SEAir crews on these jets. And Tiger Airways has no stakes in the shareholding of SEAir at all.

SEAair to Expand Operations in Asia (http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7012056408)

As for Incheon Tiger - they needed to submit the application to start the airlines from the scratch. Unfortunately, before they could do anything to start publicity, they were shot down by Korean carriers fiercely. These carriers already got the words from the media that Incheon has the deal with Tiger Airways. This resulted in postponing the application submission indefinitely.

Korean Carriers Oppose Entry of Incheon-Tiger Airways (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/02/113_18707.html)
This was published in Feb 2008. Just after Incheon and Tiger Airways announced to the world that they have made a deal to set up new airlines in late January 2008.

We already know that.

What I am explaining is that Tiger needs to convince people and airlines that it will not overly threaten their existence and interests (even if later on, they might), which Tiger has not.

It's very common in history. Entities often want some form of compensation or reassurance that their existence or interests will not be affected too much.

It is tough game. People and airlines would not share the same views as Tiger intends. It is much easier to link Singapore with other cities than setting up units in other countries.

Air Asia is aggressively adding total of 15 new routes between Jan 2008 and Oct 2008. Quite impressive. Its units - Thai and Indonesia also add in few new ones. They are quite confident that they are able to soar higher.

Interestingly, By 12 November 2008, Air Asia X A330 would land in Melbourne. By March 2009, it will have A340-300 flying between KL and London's Stansted.

This would give perfect connection - London-KL-Melbourne/Perth/Gold Coast.

On top of this, Air Asia X is adding Tianjin route by Jan 2009. South American and Africa are also on its radar.

Tiger cannot follow the way of AirAsia X. I'm sure Tiger wants to try, but its shareholder, SQ, will simply not allow it.

Singapore Airlines created Tiger to chase the low cost, low yield, leisure travel market, and not cannibalize its money making sectors (aka, the long haul routes). Any competition with SQ right now, is only because of the recent creation of distinct markets.

Singapore Airlines also has the responsibility of promoting Changi as a hub.

To SQ, it is the largest airline out of Australia/Indonesia after Qantas/Gauda, and one of the major players in the Kangaroo/Indonesia route. Qantas is also a major player, but then again, most of Qantas' flights to Europe (codeshares with Air France and British Airways) are through SIN anyway. So in the eyes of SQ, having a Tiger X does little to increase SIN's and SQ's numbers and may even have the opposite effect.

Yes, it does seem like SQ is underestimating the low cost market but then again, we don't know how big or small it is.

Also, SIN is one of the most pure hub and spoke hubs in the world, meaning that few people want to fly to Singapore itself, they continue to other destinations. This also significantly limits how many destinations Tiger can offer from SIN. Comparatively, KL is more of an Origin & Destination hub. Most who fly AK to KL want to go to KL, the number of transfer passengers is in comparison, much smaller.

Tiger Airways is fully independent run. In fact, SIA has no bigger say in the operations. SIA also does not transfer any A320 jets from Silkair to Tiger. This is to testify that SIA has no control over Tiger operations.

SIA is just a 49% shareholder in Tiger - similar to its stakes in Virgin, supplying funds and getting profits/gains from operations. This is the role that SIA is playing. 49% does not mean that SIA has rights to dictate the operations.

Actually, it is the CEO, Tony Davis and the management of Tiger Airways who decide the operations of the Tiger Airways. Hence, they are at liberty to fly their jets and compete directly with SIA. They have vast opportunities in Southeast and Asia markets. But they chose to set up Australian unit first.

Furthermore, Tiger Airways already flies to many of cities that SIA / Silkair planes go or even takes over the routes that were dropped from Silkair.

So Tiger Airways does not even make any dents on SIA/Silkair markets. Hardly. Because all three airlines cater to different markets all the way. Now Tiger Australia is jumping up and down because it wants to fly international routes out, just like Air Asia Thai and Air Asia Indonesia.

Strategy of Tiger Airways is to set up units in other countries to minimize the risks and maximizing profits through domestic revenues. We know that Tiger Airways have selected South Korea and Australia to set up units under the brand of Tiger Airways. However these countries have proven to be extremely tough and challenging for small airlines.

This is very similar to the structure that Air Asia took in early years of operation. Air Asia has grabbed the opportunities in setting up airlines in Thailand and Indonesia where vast lands have less competition, weak competitors or lack of alternative options that passengers take. Domestic market in Malaysia remains stronger for Air Asia as Air Asia is better option (cheaper and flexible) for Malaysians.

So Air Asia is able to take advantage of these situations in these countries, resulting in building up thicker network of air routes in Southeast Asia and China as well as Australia. Eventually, it will expand the coverage to Europe and much of Asia through Air Asia and its units. This would fit the motto: "Now Everyone Can Fly".

Air Asia routes map (http://www.airasia.com/site/sg/en/page.jsp;jsessionid=5EBF7C6D2C097C4735ACDECB307E2E6A?name=Route+Map&id=1b08ffec-ac1e00ae-511e0a00-b45a43db&nav=1-1)

Latest news:
Melaka Airport (Malacca) is the latest additional hub for Air Asia - Air Asia Boeing 737 would be used in this airport from 8th December 2008. A320 would be deployed eventually after the runway there is extended.

What are you trying to smoke saying that SIA has little say with a 49% stake?

Yes, there were unhappy that Virgin Atlantic has been under performing, thus bringing little revenue to the airline. But they were also unhappy that they couldn't get more cooperation with VS. Besides codeshares on flights between UK and Australia, the only true joint cooperation both airlines had was that SIN-MAN-MCO service. (Remember they put so many ads on advertising flights between Singapore and Walt Disney World on SQ and VS)

In comparison, Qantas- Jetstar had a far greater say in how Jetstar Asia was run until recently with a 42.5% stake.

Low cost airlines rely on high fleet usage, short turnaround times and high loads. LCCs therefore become very vulnerable if they rely on a single hub as it is subjected to Singapore's traveling patterns. Unlike full service carriers, low cost airlines are much less able to support itself during low periods.

That's why budget airlines open other hubs, not only to serve the social duty they have brought upon themselves of providing low cost travel to the masses, but to spread their risks also.

With a little persuasion, perhaps political or economical-driven or a mix of both, they find their markets. AirAsia went for Thailand and Indonesia, Jetstar went for Singapore and Vietnam, Tiger went for Australia and the Philippines.

Contrary to European and American markets, the lines between distinct markets are blur in Southeast Asia. Let's put aside the obscure idealized dream that the poor are flying. (That's rubbish... LCCs in ASEAN cater more for the growing market of the middle class which the full-service airlines fail to accomodate)

The reason is that full-service airlines are perfectly able to match and undercut low cost airlines. So there is definitely some form of reduction and maneuvering within airlines and their regional and low cost offshoots.

But you may wonder why create so many brands? Because the Southeast Asian market is beginning to fragment, not in the way of leisure passengers and business, but in terms of point-to-point flights offered by LCCs in ASEAN and cheaper fares on those lucrative capital cities routes. AirAsia's Everybody Can Fly, although points at low low fares in its marketing, actually refers to the nature of flying direct. It also fills the gap at KUL for the lack of airlines and destinations, especially in Southeast Asia. Up till recently, KUL had very poor links to the rest of ASEAN.

NEWS Tiger Australia has launched a few destinations from its new hub in Adelaide to Perth, Gold Coast, Hobart, Alice Springs, in addition to 6 times daily to Melbourne from March 2009.

What are you trying to smoke saying that SIA has little say with a 49% stake?SIA with its 49% stake has a 49% say. If I'm not wrong, Tiger's board has a few prominent SIA members, so SIA does have a large... let's call it influence... in the decision making of Tiger.

NEWS Tiger Australia has launched a few destinations from its new hub in Adelaide to Perth, Gold Coast, Hobart, Alice Springs, in addition to 6 times daily to Melbourne from March 2009.Has launched? Past tense? Are you posting from the future? Last time I checked, it's still August 2008 and Tiger hasn't launched those routes yet, although they have stated that they will launch them in March 2009.

In the companies, we have three main groups - shareholders, board of directors and management.

- the shareholder’s role is to provide purpose and capital;
- management is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the corporation;
- the board of directors is the link between owners and specialists

So in other word, SIA is a shareholder - "provide purpose and capital". So it actually does not dictate the operation - this is the core answer. SIA's investment in Tiger Airways remained the same - S$11.93 million in 2006 and 2007 - taken from SIA Annual Report FT 06/07.

This article below dated in 2004.
"The new airline will be independent and managed separately from SIA.

Singapore Airlines' CEO Chew Choon Seng said, "We have been studying the rise and successful growth of the low fare airlines in America and in Europe, and evaluating the applicability of the low cost, no frills model in our part of the world. Our conclusion is that it can succeed here as well. It will open up and serve a new segment of the market, making air travel accessible for more people and encouraging more trips. It will complement SIA's premium service and product offering and SilkAir's regional operations."

"However, we have observed that almost all attempts by full service network airlines to operate wholly owned low fare carriers have been unsuccessful. This is because the low cost model requires completely different methods and procedures, marketing approaches and skills, and it is hard to be both premium full service and low cost, no frills at the same time. Hence our decision to have it as a 49% owned associate company rather than a majority owned subsidiary, and to set up Tiger Airways with the Ryans as partners who have the right experience, know-how and successful track record for this business model, as well as Indigo Partners whose principals are known in the industry for the financial discipline they bring to airlines like RyanAir and Continental."

"I want to emphasise that we will continue to build and grow SIA's success as a premium full service network airline through product innovation, route expansion and an unwavering focus on customer service. Likewise we will grow SilkAir as SIA's regional wing, as both serve quite different market segments from that of the new airline." Mr. Chew Choon Seng concluded."

Wikipedia:
"An associate company (or associate) in accounting and business valuation is a company in which another company owns a significant portion of voting shares, usually 20–50%. In this case, an owner does not consolidate associate's financial statements. Ownership of over 50% creates a subsidiary, with its financial statements being consolidated into the parent's books. Associate value is reported in balance sheet as an asset, and dividends from the ownership are reported in income statement. In Europe, investments into associate companies are called fixed financial assets."

"A subsidiary, in business matters, is an entity that is controlled by a bigger and more powerful entity. The controlled entity is called a company, corporation, or limited liability company, and the controlling entity is called its parent (or the parent company). The reason for this distinction is that a lone company cannot be a subsidiary of any organization; only an entity representing a legal fiction as a separate entity can be a subsidiary. While individuals have the capacity to act on their own initiative, a business entity can only act through its directors, officers and employees."

"A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or company (including a corporation) that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a joint stock company. A company's shareholders collectively own that company. Thus, such companies strive to enhance shareholder value. Stockholders are granted special privileges depending on the class of stock, including the right to vote (usually one vote per share owned, but sometimes this is not the case) on matters such as elections to the board of directors, the right to propose shareholder resolutions, the right to share in distributions of the company's income, the right to purchase new shares issued by the company, and the right to a company's assets during a liquidation of the company. However, stockholder's rights to a company's assets are subordinate to the rights of the company's creditors. This means that stockholders typically receive nothing if a company is liquidated after bankruptcy (if the company had had enough to pay its creditors, it would not have entered bankruptcy), although a stock may have value after a bankruptcy if there is the possibility that the debts of the company will be restructured."

This would answer the question whether SIA has control over Tiger Airways operations.

So in other word, SIA is a shareholder - "provide purpose and capital". So it actually does not dictate the operation - this is the core answer.
SIA is the biggest single shareholder (49%) in Tiger, and on top of that, Temasek has a direct 11% stake in the company. As Temasek also has majority control (54%) of SIA, you can be very sure that Temasek, and hence Tiger, will not do anything that goes against SQ's interests.

This would answer the question whether SIA has control over Tiger Airways operations.
That it would ^^

SIA is the biggest single shareholder (49%) in Tiger, and on top of that, Temasek has a direct 11% stake in the company. As Temasek also has majority control (54%) of SIA, you can be very sure that Temasek, and hence Tiger, will not do anything that goes against SQ's interests.


That it would ^^

Not surprising that alot of people think this way. Day-to-day operation is sole responsibility of the management who has to be answerable to the board of the directors who in turn is answerable to the shareholders. It is common in all companies.

The management has to satisfy the shareholders the value of the companies. This is bottomline. 49% means SIA has the muscles in capital pumping. It also would earn dividends/gains as well when the company makes money.

SIA 2005 Financial Presentation - Go to page 33 on Tiger Airways (http://202.66.146.82/listco/sg/sia/cpresent/intpre2005.pdf)
This is how they calculate the percentages and allocate the shares.

SIA does not have to consolidate the financial statements of Tiger Airways into its financial report. If they do consolidate the finances, the SIA executives would have access to the Tiger Airways management, dictating how assets are being used or not or even making decisions over flights.

In this case, SIA has no formal access to Tiger management and its financial management at all. Corporate governance has created barriers between shareholders and the management to remove the conflict of interest and prevent mismanagement. In between is the board of directors to protect the interest of the shareholders. This is known and practiced in financial world.

SIA keeps its hands off, in order to allow Tiger Airways to progress and all SIA does is to provides capital.

Similar, does Temasek with 54% stakes, dictate and order SIA how to manage the business and cut the flights etc? Of course, no. Same thing applies to all shareholders. It is SIA board of directors who has to ensure the profitability and the operations all the way. They are paid to do the job.

This is why SIA chose to set up an associate company, rather than a subsidiary company, for Tiger Airways so that SIA can concentrate better on its premium services and make its financial reports look good. It took Tiger Airways 3 years since 2005, to make first profits.

All the Tiger Airways management do is to ensure the profitability that would satisfy the shareholders' investments regardless how the management runs the operations.

"Has launched", or announced, or has just put up on schedules, or has put up for sale...

It's interesting that this has been turned into whether SIA controls Tiger Airways when I've never used that word at all.

I would still say that SIA has a "say" in Tiger's operations, in the sense like how Nov put it, "influence".

Chong: Keeping her head down as fuel costs rise

Rather than the obvious one of “more airlines will go bust if fuel prices continue to rise”, Jetstar Asia’s CEO Chong Phit Lian sees three other trends that will play out in the Asian aviation landscape in the coming years.

One is the promise of open skies in ASEAN by next January. “It could mean everyone setting up airlines and flying the same routes and hurting each other for a while.

"If it really means that airlines could fly point to point all over ASEAN, this could really change the landscape. You will see increased capacity and airlines dumping prices for a while, and then airlines cutting capacities and deploying their aircraft elsewhere.

“It’s a double edged sword but it’s a good move for ASEAN in the long run.”

Two, travel is no longer only for privileged and has become a democratic right in Asia with the emergence of low cost airlines. “You now see full service carriers wanting to start low cost airlines. Why? Because a lot of the airlines are national flag carriers and they’ve realised how expensive flying the flag can be.”

Third, there is a need for airports and other service providers to airlines to change their models. “For example, some airports don’t care if you use them for half an hour or an hour, they charge the same rate. I see a day when charges will be based on usage – there is a need to change the airport model.”

I met Chong at Terminal 1 of Changi Airport where she has her offices. Chong is as down-to-earth as you would expect a leader of a company that preaches low cost, and self-service, to be.

She stands in queue for a coffee along with the rest of the customers. “I’ve always been a believer in self-service. I think it’s because I am so impatient that I think it’s faster if I do things myself.

“Once in China, I walked into the kitchen and asked if I could cook my own food because they were taking so long. My end objective is always to get things done.”

When she travels on her flights, she speaks to her customers to find out why they flew with Jetstar and what else the airline can do to improve its product and service. That morning, she had just emerged from a session with ground handlers where she was motivating them to perform better service for her airline and thus, its customers.

Coming in from the cold into an industry that is more known for regulations than innovations has not been tough for Chong. She’s made a career out of going into industries of which she knows nothing. She went into Singapore Mint as CEO with no experience of that business.

“Within six months, you know what you have to do. It’s about managing resources – people, facilities and equipment – and it’s about managing value add.

“Today, with the fast pace of technological change, every CEO also has to be on top of that as well. Technology has changed our way of life – the old textbooks, you can’t use them anymore.”

Right now, though, she’d be the first to admit the old textbook rules of managing costs and making sure yields are going in the right direction, at a time when fuel costs have wreaked havoc to the low cost model, are coming in handy.

This means, making the airline more efficient – it has consolidated flights by focusing on the more popular routes and reducing the less frequented sectors – and trying to get as many bums on seats as possible.

“We have introduced a lot of promotions as well to keep people still flying. Price does move people sometimes. When demand is low and price is good, smart travellers know it’s the best time to buy.

“High fuel costs or not, travel is part of our lifestyle. When everything is going up at the same time, we will arrive at a new equilibrium and everyone will adjust to a new commercial reality. It will take time but it will find its own level.”

While there has been softening of demand on shorter routes, what she’s also seen is business travellers trading down to low cost carriers, especially on flights to Indonesia.

“We have seen a 2-4% drop in loads but at the same time, we have increased capacity, so our total number of passengers has increased.”

But she is not letting the high fuel costs dampen her spirits. If anything, she sees it as a challenge and an opportunity.

“When things get so down, the only thing that can happen is for them to go up,” she says. “Along the way up, some may fall and some will rise. You have to maintain a positive outlook, manage costs and ensure yields are in the right direction.

“Also, cost is a relative statement. What is cost to one is a real opportunity to someone else. The key is how to value add. I tell my staff, don’t tell me how you have cut costs, tell me how much you have value added.”

In April this year, Jetstar Asia announced it had gone into the black in the year ended March 31, 2008 – with a 20% increase in passengers and a passenger load factor of 75%, a growth of four percent over the previous year.

Whether it will stay in the black by the end of this financial year is another question but Chong says, “We are pushing very hard to get things done.”

With up to 80% of its business coming through its website, Jetstar Asia will continue to invest in this channel. “We’ve found it to be a very effective cost of sale especially in a market like Singapore. We also have a site for agents because there are still customers who still want that face to face contact.”

The airline also has a Jetstar Fan Club in which customers are encouraged to post travel reviews and photographs.

As for ancilliary revenues, Chong says it still isn’t a big part of the airline’s revenue model at the moment. “We do earn a fair amount through our f&b sales and duty free and commissions through selling insurance and hotels, and soon, land packages.

“It’s a question of what else can you sell onboard without antagonising your customers, and without adding complications to the crew process.”

She adds that Jetstar Asia is also looking into “arrangements to tap on passengers who fly to Singapore on other carriers”. “Not necessarily interline but self-interline – consumers are getting more knowledgeable and it’s a question of how we can reach them.”

From: Australia.to

Jetstar Asia voted best low-cost airline

JETSTAR Asia has been awarded the 2008 SkyTrax Best Low-Cost Airline Award in two categories – Best Low-Cost Airline in Asia and Best Low-Cost Airline in Southeast Asia.

"Skytrax award is significant as it is an independent survey across 90 countries and over a base of more than four million consumers," said Jetstar Asia CEO Chong Phit Lian.

"We are pleased with the recognition and will continue to offer the best value, comfort and service reliability that are expected of us," he added.

To celebrate the award, Jetstar Asia is offering special reward low fares, from S$2 per passenger segment, for on-line booking via www.jetstar.com.

Since the launch of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route on Feb 1, 2008, Jetstar Asia has been experiencing tremendous demand and growth just like their full-service counterparts.

Although it is a budget airline, Jetstar Asia offers competitive airfares, convenient check-in and out at KL International Airport, 20kg baggage allowance, free online seat selection and allocation and comfortable leather seats.

From sun2surf.com

Tiger Airways Singapore adds another A320 to its fleet

As a fourth birthday celebration Tiger Airways Singapore will continue to grow by adding another Airbus A320 to its fleet in Mar-09, taking its Singapore fleet to nine aircraft.

More frequencies on current routes and new destinations being considered as seat capacity is set to grow by 12.5%.

Tiger Airways will add another brand new 180 seat Airbus A320 to its growing fleet in Mar-09, bringing the airline’s total number of aircraft based at Singapore’s Changi Airport to nine. This growth comes as a direct result of Tiger Airways Singapore’s strong trading performance including the posting of a SGD37.8 million profit for the last financial year and allows the airline to continue implementing its network expansion plans in Asia. The new aircraft being delivered to Tiger Airways Singapore is in addition to the three new aircraft being delivered to the company’s sister airline in Australia, which includes two Airbus A319s that will be used to establish a new base in Adelaide, South Australia.

Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore said “even in the current challenging trading environment the airline’s strict adherence to our business model and our low, low fares means that unlike our some of our competitors Tiger Airways is in a strong position to grow our fleet and passenger numbers on a sustainable basis. This additional new aircraft will give Tiger Airways the opportunity to further expand its Asia Pacific paw prints with more frequencies and the possibility of new destinations from the airline’s Singapore hub.

The Tiger Airways Group currently has a total of 60 new A320 aircraft on order for delivery over the next 7 years. As a result of the additional aircraft coming into the Tiger Airways fleet the airline is actively recruiting more pilots and cabin crew in Singapore, Melbourne and Adelaide to further expand its operations.

Rosalynn Tay said “this additional aircraft is the first of many over the coming years. Tiger Airways Singapore has the right business plan and the right product for our millions of customers to continue the growth of one of the world’s most successful low fare airlines. Through our strict adherence to the true low fare model, Tiger Airways can now introduce more planes, employ more people, offer even more low fares and serve more destinations more frequently than ever before.”

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 08-Sep-08

Just now heard on either 987FM or Power 98 or Class95 that AirAsia did an advertisement to hire cabin crew.

I found this weird as AirAsia traditionally hires cabin crew of their home carrier; Thais for Thai AirAsia, Malaysians for AirAsia, Indonesians for Indonesia AirAsia. Oh well, maybe they appreciate the need to hire English speaking crew...

Believe me, I've checked before. Coz I wanna be part of a flight crew and was checking hires around the Asian region.

AirAsia has voluntarily started advertising all-in fares in their Singapore newspaper ads and their online Singapore homepage.

The EU, Australia among other countries, have mandated all-in fares for all airlines and tour operators, meaning Advertised Airfare, Tour Packages and Cruise Tickets MUST include ALL surcharges, taxes, and show all hidden costs. I remembered some time back, there were some people complaining about fake $0 fares and that fair and non-deceptive advertising be made compulsory. Anyone knows what happened to that?

Its strange (but great!) that AK chooses to advertise all in fares only in singapore and not in their home country. Some of AK's all-in fares turned out pretty cheap (all less than $100), and turning to Jetstar's almost $100 one-way (excluding tax n charges) fares for HKG/TPE, and then to Tiger's $0.08 fares advertised all pages away from each other in the same newspaper can be quite misleading.

It's great that AK/FD has decided to include "all-in fares". It just makes things easier.

Seems like both AirAsia and Tiger Airways are planning an "agressive expansion" prior to the upcoming ASEAN capital cities 'open skies'.

Looks like the deal didn't fall through!
-----------------------------------
CAB approves Seair-Tiger deal on lease of aircraft

THE Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has approved the lease agreement of a local low-cost carrier with Tiger Airways for two brand new Airbus aircraft.

“Finally, they [CAB] approved our lease agreement with Tiger Airways after one-year and seven months,” Avelino Zapanta, Southeast Asian Airlines (Seair) president, said and added this would pave the way for the airline’s regional expansion.

In September 2006, Seair signed a lease agreement with Tiger Airways for the two brand-new 180-seater A320 aircraft.

CAB Deputy ExecutiveDirector Porvenir Porciuncula said the agreement was approved on July 31, despite opposition from Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Asian Spirit and Air Philippines. The rival airlines alleged the Singaporean carrier is using Seair to access domestic operations.

Seair will employ an additional 100 Filipino technical professionals, including pilots and cabin crew, to run its expanded operation.

Zapanta said the new aircraft would be used to fly to Singapore, Macau, Thailand and Hong Kong from Clark.
-- Darwin G. Amojelar
-----------------------------------
Okay, now we know where some of the extra aircraft will go to. Most likely, the SIN-CRK and CRK-Macau route will be taken over by SEAir on Singapore registered, Tiger Airways-branded, aircraft.

And IF (this is becoming a big if) their korean base does take off (hopefully sooner than 1 year and 7 months later), their Philippines' hub could link to their Korean one. CRK to ICN is within range of a 320. In fact, Asiana already flies this route 10x weekly with an A320, increasing to twice daily by the end of the year. (sounds profitable already!)

Looks like the deal didn't fall through!
-----------------------------------
CAB approves Seair-Tiger deal on lease of aircraftThat is good news indeed. Hopefully, Tiger will now expand more in SEA (no pun intended).

More (hopefully good) Tiger news! Incheon Tiger still go?
-------------------------
Incheon Tiger Airways hopes to launch next year
By Nicholas Iondies

Singapore-based low-cost airline group Tiger Aviation is now hoping to launch its planned associate carrier in South Korea next year and is confident it will be able to start with international operations, rather than just domestic services.

Tiger’s group CEO Tony Davis said at a press briefing in Singapore today that Incheon Tiger Airways is now expected to start operating sometime during the 2009 calendar year. When plans were first announced in November last year, operations were to have begun before the end of this year.

Plans were pushed back in part because the South Korean Government introduced a new law requiring airlines to first operate domestically for two years and complete 20,000 flights safely before launching international services.

Tiger and other planned new South Korean airlines lobbied against the change and Davis says it has now been eased, which means new airlines will be given permission to launch international services on a case by case basis.

“The law has been rescinded. We are confident that we can convince the authorities…that we can operate safely and we don’t need a probationary period to prove that,” he says.

Davis says the new carrier, which is 49%-owned by Tiger and 51%-owned by the municipal government of Incheon, where Seoul’s Incheon International Airport is located, expects to start operating sometime in 2008.

He says “there is no urgency”, although the carrier will now begin the process of applying for its air operator’s certificate “in earnest”. Chris Ward, until recently managing director of Tiger’s Australian operations, recently moved to South Korea to be the first managing director of Incheon Tiger Airways.

Incheon Tiger intends to operate international services to nearby countries such as China and Japan. Davis says: “There are great opportunities in Japan and there are great opportunities in eastern China.”

Tiger Aviation now has operations in Singapore under the Tiger Airways name as well as in Australia, also under the Tiger Airways name. Eight Airbus A320s are operating out of Singapore and four out of Australia and the group has commitments for another 60 A320-family aircraft.

Before the end of this financial year two A319s and one more A320 are due to start operating in Australia and one more A320 out of Singapore.
--------------------------
He sure sounds confident! I'd expect the other Korean LCC startups to cry foul if Incheon Tiger is given immediate Intl' rights!

Tiger heaps capacity on Singapore–Kuala Lumpur route
Friday, 26 September 2008

Tiger Airways has just announced that it is adding 400% more capacity on the Singapore–Kuala Lumpur route, which means that the currently daily service will turn into a five-daily service.

This means the two cities will see an additional 40,000 extra seats each way a month or 480,000 seats in a year, and fares are already on sale.

“This is a huge milestone in Asian low fare aviation, and at Tiger Airways we’re very proud to be leading the way once again,” said Rosalynn Tay, Tiger Airways Singapore Managing Director.

“This huge increase in flights between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore means one thing for travellers – lots more Tiger Airways’ famous low fares.”

The extra capacity will be spread throughout the day, from early in the morning to late at night. Departing Singapore the flights leave at 06:10, 13:10, 14:30, 17:10 and 20:50.

“I would like to congratulate the forward thinking of the Singapore and Malaysian governments and aviation authorities in their progression of a liberalisation agenda that benefits both economies,” said Ms Tay.

“By meeting this liberalisation milestone ahead of the ASEAN roadmap both countries are acknowledged around the world in a job well done. The customer is the big winner here. ”

The Singapore and Kuala Lumpur routes used to be one of the most heavily regulated. Historically Singapore to Kuala Lumpur has only been serviced by legacy carriers Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airlines. But as of the 1st of February this year, budget airlines have been granted the rights to start operations.

From liberalisation, Tiger Airways, Jetstar Asia and AirAsia have all raced for a market share on this lucrative route.

Jetstar increases Singapore - Kuala Lumpur services

Jetstar Asia has announced that from Dec-08, they will be increasing their services between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur from 7 times weekly to 19 times weekly.

This announcement follows the full liberalization of the SIN-KUL market.

When asked on the impact of the full liberalisation of the market for low cost carriers, CEO Chong Phit Lian said ... “It is definitely good news. The service time between Singapore and KL is short and passengers in both cities are very familiar about the benefits of low cost carriers.

"Our SIN-KUL-SIN services have thus been very well-received since we commenced daily services from February 1 this year.

"Currently, with only one service daily, our load factor has already exceeded our expectations with seats filling more than 65% on average.

"The liberalisation of the market would mean that we can provide more convenience and connectivity for passengers between two closely-knit cities.”


(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 26-Sep-08

Let's see how many flights AirAsia will add...

4 new daily flights, 6 daily flights total:

AirAsia is to add four additional daily direct flights between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. With these new frequencies, AirAsia will have six daily direct flights which connect the two major cities.

To celebrate, AirAsia is giving away 51,000 free seats, and refreshingly, unlike other airlines with similar offers, AirAsia is also waiving the fuel surcharges. Passengers will only bear the airport tax and admin cost for the additional new frequencies.

The additional services will commence on 1st of December 2008. The promotion is valid for the booking period 26th September – 3rd October 2008 for travel between 1st December and 31 July 2009.

Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia Berhad said, “These additional flights, further demonstrate our commitment to making air-travel convenient and affordable for everyone. In addition to that, we strongly believe that this will pave the way for more tourism, investments and that both countries will enjoy mutual benefits of feeding the traffic between the hubs. Indeed, we are very delighted to have acquired these additional services thus welcome healthy competition.”

Apart from the 6 times daily flights from Kuala Lumpur, AirAsia also flies four times daily from Bangkok, once daily from Phuket and three times weekly from Pekanbaru, Indonesia to Singapore.

So on the route of SIN-KUL:

AirAsia- 6 daily
Tiger- 5 daily
Jetstar Asia- 4 daily

I know the SIN-KUL is very lucrative, but will these flights actually be filled?

On a side note, I casually surfed the Jetstar Asia website and found that 3K is actually hiring cabin crew and pilots! This is probably the first time in a long time that they've reopened recruitment.

Can anyone from Tiger Australia possibly update us when/if new destinations are added to their network. There is still plenty of gaps in their schedule for their NewA320 arriving Dec15....

Gold Coast needs an increase perhaps?

Well, the only update is that they are cancelling Darwin, but that was announced a few months ago...

They are also starting a new hub at Adelaide, with flights to/from Hobart, Gold Coast, Perth and Alice Springs, in addition to the original flights to/from Melbourne. So there's your Gold Coast increase...

OMG! SQ cuts SIN-KUL flights!
SilkAir to fly S'pore-KL

Singapore Airlines (SIA), SilkAir and Malaysian Airlines will offer a total of 15 daily flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur come December 1.

SilkAir, SIA's sister carrier, has been included into the existing SIA-Malaysian Airlines codeshare arrangement on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route, said SIA today in a news release.

SilkAir will be flying the KL-Singapore leg for the first time, commencing with two daily flights from October 26, while SIA will operate five.

From December 1, SIA and SilkAir will operate four flights each, while Malaysian Airlines will fly the other seven.

Under the codeshare agreement, customers will generally have access to all flights operated by the three airlines, as interchangeable tickets are available for travel on most fare types apart from some issued on restricted fares.

Mr Chin Yau Seng, Chief Executive, SilkAir said, "SilkAir is pleased to be able to offer, together with Singapore Airlines, a wider choice of flights for customers travelling between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur."

"This is the first time we will have flown to Kuala Lumpur, and we are excited about the prospects for this new route," he added.

It may sound 'nicer' to say that more flight choice would be available, but seriously, SQ will cut 2 widebody 777-200/ER flights a day to be replaced with 4 daily A319/320s.

The LCCs have made their mark! I cant imagine paying $350 to seat on Silkair's dated old seats and get served a $200 can of coke... (Jetstar which flies from Changi to KLIA main terminal charges about $150 return including baggage, so the hefty price difference is for that can of soft drink that you will be served for a 45minutes flight)
On a side note, I casually surfed the Jetstar Asia website and found that 3K is actually hiring cabin crew and pilots! This is probably the first time in a long time that they've reopened recruitment.
They've been advertising on the newspapers also.. It says you'll fly to Australia, Thailand and Vietnam. So its not Jetstar Asia who's recruiting, its Jetstar Intl' who needs crew for their Aus-Asia ops... Like PER-SIN, SYD/MEL-DRW-SGN/SIN, MEL-BKK, SYD-HKT. 3K isnt expanding... the reason it can only fly 2 and a half daily (19 weekly) flights to KUL is due to its lack of aircraft..

JQ Asia not getting to many more A320's are they?? If any, that is...

I remember Geoff Dixon saying somewhere that Jetstar Asia "was a mistake"

Anyway, it was always so unprofitable to fly 777s on this 45 minute stretch. This is perhaps where SQ's increases to Riyadh, Istanbul and Dubai are coming from.

Honestly, this is not a severe cut in capacity. Instead of battling the LCCs individually, MI/SQ and MH have come together, codesharing and therefore sharing revenues. This way, they consolidate their operations and still are able to offer the business passenger 15 flights daily. This is abit like those AF/KL/DL/NW trans-atlantic joint-ventures. It's abit anti-competition actually.

In contrast, AK/3K/TR will offer about 13 flights daily only.

Personally, I think Jetstar Asia has a sufficiently adequate network with numerous strengths (Indonesia being one of them). With the ASEAN capital cities open skies and increasingly liberalized agreements with countries like Malaysia, Qantas or Jetstar, or whoever is controlling 3K/VF should not give up right now. It is the time for expansion, cautious expansion nonetheless.

Haha. If I had the money, I'd buy 3K/VF and turn the airline into what it is capable of being.

Oh. And it seems like Jetstar Asia has changed its url to jetstarasia.com from jetstar.com.sg or jetstar.com/3k or whatever it was previously.

I remember Geoff Dixon saying somewhere that Jetstar Asia "was a mistake"

Personally, I think Jetstar Asia has a sufficiently adequate network with numerous strengths (Indonesia being one of them). With the ASEAN capital cities open skies and increasingly liberalized agreements with countries like Malaysia, Qantas or Jetstar, or whoever is controlling 3K/VF should not give up right now. It is the time for expansion, cautious expansion nonetheless.

Haha. If I had the money, I'd buy 3K/VF and turn the airline into what it is capable of being.
Qantas had built Jetstar Asia for one reason and one reason only, that was to be a feeder for Jetstar Int'l traffic, to consolidate Asian traffic in Singapore and pass them to JQ for flights to Australia. They failed to do this (well). There was a power struggle between 3K and parent JQ over 'control' of 3K's planning and operations, resulting in the fallout between the 2 airlines. With 3K still being directly controlled by Qantas, they don't want 3K to expand anymore, as they have now found their new 'asian feeder airline', Jetstar Pacific in vietnam. Technically, any furthur expansion of 3K would result in it eating into the eventual market of Jetstar Pacific.

Agreed, that Jetstar Asia has great potential, and is IMO, the best asian LCC, both in terms of service and comfort. Its almost a full fledged carrier, with LCC-like prices. It has developed a good brand for itself to be recognized as the Premium LCC.

Its sad that 3K has lost its shareholder's support. Hopefully, they would be willing to sell (highly unlikely) to companies that believe in the carrier's growth. Perhaps a name change could be warranted to differentiate it from Jetstar Aus/Intl'. (After all Jetstar's domestic ops don't exactly hold a good name)

If that is true, it makes the Jetstar Asia even sadder.

This is one of the many follies of Qantas' planing.

To cope with competition, Qantas began turning Jetstar from a low cost offshoot into cheapo Qantas, flying less profitable routes to international destinations. Although this in the short term, keeps the yield high, but the fact that the product is cheaper, means that they'll lose the potential premium passengers to other airlines, overall, seeing revenues drop in the long term.

The choice of Alan Joyce as the new CEO is also worrying. This means, we'll see Jetstar expanding far exponentially at the very expense of the Qantas brand. It could even be possible that Qantas will be left with just minor Kangaroo routes to London/Frankfurt, Aus-USA and Aus-South America, with Jetstar doing everything else.

When Qantas turned Jetstar into a Qantas Lite, it sparked the end of Jetstar as a main 3rd LCC player in Southeast Asia. I highly doubt Jetstar Pacific will grow to even the levels of 3K. 3K benefits from being a Qantas hub, and also a strong O&D operation from SIN. Ho Chi Minh, on the other hand, is not a Qantas hub and O&D from SGN is weak, therefore relying on leisure routes from Australia since Vietnam's middle class has not fully matured yet.

OMG! SQ cuts SIN-KUL flights!

It may sound 'nicer' to say that more flight choice would be available, but seriously, SQ will cut 2 widebody 777-200/ER flights a day to be replaced with 4 daily A319/320s.



SIA is just transferring SIN-KUL flights - obviously off peak hours to Silkair. SIA still holds peak hours flights. This way is to optimize the capacity and increase the efficiency of deployment of planes. Silkair jets can be easily filled up during off peak hours when demands are not at peak and also increase the frequencies to allow premium passengers to have more choices if they wanna fly with SIA.

SIA takes out widebodied planes and redeploy them to other routes.

This also explains why SIA is able to add in new frequencies to other cities.

MAS has mixed fleets of narrowbodied and widebodied jets so they can optimize the flights easily.

Singapore Airlines And SilkAir To Offer More Frequencies To Kuala Lumpur - From SIA website and flight timetable attached (http://www.singaporeair.com/mediacentre/pacontent/news/NE_5508.jsp)

Tiger's new A320 aircraft to be delivered by the end of the year will have 3 new destinations to fly to!

AirAsia gets nod to fly to S’pore from KK, Kuching, Miri
By MUGUNTAN VANAR

KOTA KINABALU: The federal government has agreed for AirAsia to undertake direct flights from three major towns in Sabah and Sarawak to Singapore, Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said.

He said officials from his ministry and their Singapore counterparts will meet later this month to discuss direct flights from Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Miri to the island republic.

“Our negotiations would be based on reciprocity. We hope to finalise negotiations this month,” he told reporters Saturday after attending the Sabah MCA convention here.

He said the Transport Ministry had been given the green light by the Government to negotiate for the low-cost carrier to provide direct flights to Singapore from the three major cities in Sabah and Sarawak.

He also disclosed that his officials would be discussing increasing the frequency of the current daily two flights to Singapore during their meeting with their counterparts.

“We hope by December the additional flights to Singapore by AirAsia will be implemented,” Ong said, adding that the move was part of Asean’s roadmap towards liberalising aviation.
We'll soon see AK n TR operating between SIN and East M'sia! (I'm not expecting 3K to apply for or get any rights since it lacks aircraft) Hopefully more destinations in Mainland M'sia will open up soon...

Jetstar Asia has so far managed to squeeze Medan, Jakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya, KL, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Taipei, Yangon, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh from their fleet of 8 or 9 aircraft, I'm sure they can squeeze more.

And besides Qantas will be more than happy if 3K can offer connecting destinations in Malaysia, particularly peninsula Malaysia. I bet QF is dying to add at least Penang, Kuantan and perhaps Langkawi into the Qantas Group network, and 3K provides a low cost access.

It shouldn't be that difficult for 3K to squeeze in the 1 - 2 hr flight to East Malaysia. However, I think they are gearing up for a Manila launch somehow...

Jetstar Asia has so far managed to squeeze Medan, Jakarta, Denpasar, Surabaya, KL, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Taipei, Yangon, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh from their fleet of 8 or 9 aircraft, I'm sure they can squeeze more.



Sorry, Jetstar Asia actually has only 5 jets in its fleet. Confirmed by CAAS - Singapore aircraft registry. The other 2 jets have returned to Jetstar fleet since two airlines went separately. Valuair has 2 jets. This leaves 7 jets.

CAAS - Registry of Singapore based carrier planes (http://www.caas.gov.sg/caas/en/Aviation_Development/List_of_Aircraft_on_Singapore_Register/download/Singapore_Registered_Aircraft_Engine_No_Sep08.pdf)

By the way, Valuair still retains its branding and two jets are still in livery of Valuair. Due to Indonesia regulations, Jetstar Asia management keeps this brand, obviously for Indonesia flights. The other reason - both Valuair and Jetstar Asia have separate operating systems.

Jetstar Asia is still unable to get its own fleet to fly into Indonesia. This results having Valuair jets to Indonesia on VF flight codes instead.

Here is the copy of the flight schedule for Jetstar Asia.
Jetstar Asia flight schedule - 28 Jul 2008 - 25 Oct 2008 (http://www.jetstarasia.com/pdf/flight-info/Jetstar_flight_Schedule_110808-251008.pdf)

In other words - Jetstar Asia is really maximizing the usage of its entire fleet. It needs shareholder funds badly to purchase new jets to continue its growth...

OK, so I was misinformed about the fleet. But I've read that their aircraft utilization is high, but not as high as Ryanair and Easyjet. Sorry, I don't have exact figures but I vaguely remember the figure in Europe is higher.

But they do use aircraft in 3K colors on flights to Indonesia right if the situation calls for it? I can't see Valuair managing 4 daily Jakarta, AND fly to Denpasar, Surabaya and Medan with just 2 planes.

Like I said, I hope the Qantas Group, which has a 49% stake in this, see the potential goldmine from SIN and allows at least 1 or 2 planes to be added.

OK, so I was misinformed about the fleet. But I've read that their aircraft utilization is high, but not as high as Ryanair and Easyjet. Sorry, I don't have exact figures but I vaguely remember the figure in Europe is higher.

But they do use aircraft in 3K colors on flights to Indonesia right if the situation calls for it? I can't see Valuair managing 4 daily Jakarta, AND fly to Denpasar, Surabaya and Medan with just 2 planes.

Like I said, I hope the Qantas Group, which has a 49% stake in this, see the potential goldmine from SIN and allows at least 1 or 2 planes to be added.

Sadly, Qantas really has no plans to send planes to Jetstar Asia - busy with Jetstar Pacific and Jetstar.

Yes they do have 3K colours on flights to Indonesia by using VF flight codes. The situation is really severe and the Jetstar Asia expansion is in question.

If Jetstar Asia manages to get rights to Indonesia, the brand of Valuair would definitely disappear overnight and jets would be absorbed into fleet of Jetstar Asia, provided that the management thinks this way.

From watching Jetstar succeed so much down under, I would also like this to happen in asia. The Question is, would there be much Impact if thee was no 3K in Changi? There is enough competition down there isn't there?? Especially with TR covering half of what they do.

Mabye if 3K start going extra low cost, ie- doing what TR does and operate on dead set no costs!

Mabye if 3K start going extra low cost, ie- doing what TR does and operate on dead set no costs!
Nooo!!! Please don't take away our premuim LCC.
Yes they do have 3K colours on flights to Indonesia by using VF flight codes. The situation is really severe and the Jetstar Asia expansion is in question.

If Jetstar Asia manages to get rights to Indonesia, the brand of Valuair would definitely disappear overnight and jets would be absorbed into fleet of Jetstar Asia, provided that the management thinks this way.
I would prefer if they rebrand into a new airline altogether, away from Jetstar since their parent wants to distance themselves from the airline and that Jetstar domestic doesn't have such a good name. Hows Orange Star Airways or something? (Orange Star is the holding company for 3K n VF)
They could theoretically repaint their VF planes into 3K colors if they liked... I've flown HKT-SIN on 3K using VF aircraft and crew (yes, they have separate crew for VF n 3K equipments, shown on their name tags)

I would prefer if they rebrand into a new airline altogether, away from Jetstar since their parent wants to distance themselves from the airline and that Jetstar domestic doesn't have such a good name. Hows Orange Star Airways or something? (Orange Star is the holding company for 3K n VF)
They could theoretically repaint their VF planes into 3K colors if they liked... I've flown HKT-SIN on 3K using VF aircraft and crew (yes, they have separate crew for VF n 3K equipments, shown on their name tags)

Jetstar Asia does not want to lose VF rights to fly to Indonesia. This is why they did not absorb Valuair jets and the flight codes in first place.

If they change to another name, they would lose shareholder - Qantas. The management needs Qantas for the rights of using branding of "Jetstar". Valuair already struggled on its own before "merging" with Jetstar Asia.

This is all about business. Not easy to survive when there is no funds injection to expand business.

Worse is that Qantas already injects funds into Jetstar Pacific which will be getting up to 30 A320 jets by 2014. From 14 November 2008, jet from Jetstar Pacific would land at Changi...

I think the Qantas Group has shifted its focus in favor of Jetstar Pacific. However, the breakup of 3K from JQ shows 2 things. It means that 3K is no longer a consideration in JQ's strategy of operations. But it also means that the Qantas Group is intentionally holding onto Jetstar Asia and wants to keep 3K/VF healthy enough.

In layman terms, I think Qantas is holding onto 3K/VF so that SQ/Tiger or any other interested party doesn't.

Because honestly, the airline has submitted quite an impressive report card; managing to not only break-even but make a profit. Considering the profitability announcement was made when oil prices were nearing record highs, considering it went through merger just 3.5 years back, its actually quite amazing. The airline also has managed to add more destinations while reducing its fleet, this translates into incredibly high aircraft utilization.

This makes 3K a very attractive airline, especially for airlines who want to expand their network, especially for airlines who needs the rights to those destinations, especially for low cost airlines who are either already established in other parts of ASEAN and need a SIN presence to make their network complete, or low cost airlines who want to grow their presence already in SIN. I can think of a few airlines who might want to grab this the moment it's available. :)

If this is Qantas reason for holding onto 3K, it would only add to the frustration of lack of opportunities of growth for 3K.

AirAsia gets nod to fly to S’pore from KK, Kuching, Miri
By MUGUNTAN VANAR


KOTA KINABALU: The federal government has agreed for AirAsia to undertake direct flights from three major towns in Sabah and Sarawak to Singapore, Transport Minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat said.

He said officials from his ministry and their Singapore counterparts will meet later this month to discuss direct flights from Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Miri to the island republic.

“Our negotiations would be based on reciprocity. We hope to finalise negotiations this month,” he told reporters Saturday after attending the Sabah MCA convention here.

He said the Transport Ministry had been given the green light by the Government to negotiate for the low-cost carrier to provide direct flights to Singapore from the three major cities in Sabah and Sarawak.

He also disclosed that his officials would be discussing increasing the frequency of the current daily two flights to Singapore during their meeting with their counterparts.

“We hope by December the additional flights to Singapore by AirAsia will be implemented,” Ong said, adding that the move was part of Asean’s roadmap towards liberalising aviation.

On issues pertaining to the services of Puspakom and the Road Transport Department, he said that he had issued a warning to privately-operated Puspakom to act against their staff who might be involved in corrupt practices or abuse of power.

He noted that certain Puspakom centres in the country had forced clients to buy highly-priced accessories like reflectors from vendors operating at the centres to get their vehicles' fitness passed.

“I have told Puspakom to stop such practices immediately as they are arm-twisting their clients and such a practice is unacceptable,” he said, adding that it was among various measures taken to tackle problems faced by the people at such centres.

He also said that he would be expediting effective e-services to help overcome long queues at their counters as well as fighting corruption.

I think the Qantas Group has shifted its focus in favor of Jetstar Pacific.
Yes, they have and have even made an announcement some time back to that effect.

In layman terms, I think Qantas is holding onto 3K/VF so that SQ/Tiger or any other interested party doesn't.
I never thought about it like that, but now that you mentioned it, I can't help but agree... Another airline (or rather THE other airline) could buy it up and break apart the airline for its Indonesian rights. This would also guarantee them far greater profits since they would then get a monopoly in the LCC market ex-SIN.

This makes 3K a very attractive airline, especially for airlines who want to expand their network, especially for airlines who needs the rights to those destinations, especially for low cost airlines who are either already established in other parts of ASEAN and need a SIN presence to make their network complete, or low cost airlines who want to grow their presence already in SIN. I can think of a few airlines who might want to grab this the moment it's available. :)
Yes, namely from Singapore: Tiger Airways, M'sia: Air Asia, Philippines: Cebu Pacific... (these are the only 3 that come to mind, I can't see any other carriers being interested or financially-able to acquire 3K.)
----
Also, I just found a flaw in their Jetstar Pacific plans should they decide to have one-stop flights between Australia and Europe via SGN : "All transit passengers must have Vietnam Visas even if they are remaining in the terminal for their connecting flight."
Its highly unlikely that they would want the stop to be via SIN since they are 'disregarding' 3K and also because Qantas has a major hub there for Aus-Euro flights... Meanwhile, they've axed M'sia and probably wouldn't want to compete with Air Asia X, so we're left with.... Thailand?
---
Oh and the news has been posted before tamago, just a few posts above: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=26143270&postcount=347

Call me a skeptic but I think Jetstar will choose either Dubai or Singapore for its hub to Europe, if it ever plans on starting them.

Firstly, Ho Chi Minh will be difficult as you've mentioned about the need for a Vietnam visas. Thailand is overall more leisure, and passengers meant to transport passengers to Australia might not make it there since Thailand seems like a nearer destination, therefore Bangkok will be abit difficult.

Singapore, on the other hand has considerable O&D between SYD/PER and SIN. But other than that, the other flights ex-Australia are meant to connect to flights to Europe/India (on Jet Airways)/France (on Air France). This means there'll actually be space for European passengers going to Australia since relatively fewer passengers mean to fly to SIN. Remember that the 787 seats only 250 passengers, so seats must be maximized.

Dubai, there has been occasional whispers that Qantas is planning to make Dubai a hub when something takes effect in 2009. Dubai IS in a very strategic position, and planes can be based at Dubai flying to lower-yield destinations. Overall, Qantas could use Dubai to beat Emirates at their own game; something I think SQ seems to be doing gradually.

I'm not an insider and this is pure guesswork but I think Jetstar's breakup with Jetstar Asia could partly stem from the fact that JQ already has fifth-freedom rights from SIN and doesn't need to 'use' 3K's Singapore rights anymore.

In fact, Qantas has on certain occasions, flown several seasonal trips to Rome, picking almost no passengers from SIN and just relying from their fellow connecting flights.

Same news but just proof that it has been confirmed by both sides.

Singapore, Malaysia expand air services agreement

SINGAPORE, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Singapore and Malaysia expanded the bilateral air agreement on Monday, allowing both countries' low cost carriers to increase services.

"The new agreement gives low cost carriers of both countries the right to operate between Singapore and three cities in East Malaysia - Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Miri," said Singapore's Ministry of Transport in a statement.

It said that from Nov. 1, Singapore low cost carriers will be allowed to operate a total of seven flights a week to each of the above cities, and these will be later increased to 14 flights to each city from March 1.

The same entitlements have been granted to the low cost carriers of Malaysia, said the statement.

I wonder if Air Asia will have a Singapore hub. It already flies from Singapore to Bangkok, KL, Phuket and Pekanbaru. Add in the 3 East Malaysian cities and possibly Jakarta from November and it would make Singapore a "focus city" if not a true hub.

Any guesses as to where Tiger will fly to first?

Technically, there's actually no reason why Miri should be linked to Singapore because MH nor MI flies there. And obviously, these airlines act according to demand.

I think AirAsia and Tiger will aim to start Kota Kinabalu first because of the very fact that it's an AirAsia hub.

But knowing AirAsia, they will add all 3 cities just so that they'll capture whatever demand there is ex-SIN. No matter what, they'll have more rights than Tiger and Jetstar Asia because AirAsia doesn't need to share its rights with another LCC because there's no other LCC.

I think Jetstar Asia will, and should, sit this one out. Would be surprised if they did anything. 3K has time and time again, said it wants routes to West Malaysia; Malacca, Penang and Ipoh were specifically mentioned.

I don't think it really matters if SIN becomes a hub for AirAsia. The airline is crazy about adding flights to SIN (it has publicly mentioned it wants to link every inch of Malaysia to SIN, wants 20 daily KUL-SIN, wants to add CGK/DPS-SIN) and it'll probably in future, become a very huge focus city for the airline.

I don't think it really matters if SIN becomes a hub for AirAsia.It would probably eat into all the Singapore airlines if it does. SilkAir will probably be the most threatened!

It would probably eat into all the Singapore airlines if it does. SilkAir will probably be the most threatened!

Despite Air Asia's aggressive move into Singapore, it has not really make any massive dent on SIA and Silkair's market yet as these 2 Singapore airlines still target at premium passengers and still expand to other regions.

It is not hard to understand why Air Asia is aggressive to plug in more flights to Singapore.

It is obvious that Air Asia has done its homework on Malaysians working here in Singapore. Having flights direct to Sabah and Sarawak would enable tourism in East Malaysia to take off and enable Malaysians to return home from Singapore whenever they have break from working. This benefits all parties.

Air Asia also captializes on the flow of traffic at Changi Airport - especially the ones from the West - probably much more than at Air Asia's home base at Sepang Airport.

All units of Air Asia have flights connected to Singapore from Indonesia and Thailand.

I would say Silkair and SIA would be threatened when Air Asia comes to target at premium passengers, not the routes or destinations. In this case, Air Asia is not likely to target at premium passengers who prefer to fly in luxury.

Is Singapore better than us - if so why?
Sep 15, 2008
From Tony Fernandes CEO of Air Asia blog
http://www.tonyfernandesblog.com/main.php/2008/09/15/is-singapore-better-than-us-if-so-why-1

The A380 experience. I haven't flown SIA for a long time certainly not on long haul as I used to get a discount from MAS (but please note used to hahaha). I have been flying the Gulf Airlines as they are cheaper but decided to treat myself and fly on SQ A380 in their suites.

The picture tells a million words even though I'm pretty lousy photographer. But it is a wonderful sight to behold and an amazing piece of engineering.

But what amazed me before I talk about the title was how happy the SIA crew were to see me. They all said that AirAsia had made a big difference to their lives both from the fact they could fly more and the fact that our company showed that you don't need to put people in boxes. That AirAsia had allowed cabin crew to be pilots, boys who carried bags to be pilots, call center staff to be Station Managers. It was great to hear all of this. But the best part of the conversation was that we gave from our heart and that we put our employees first.

It was strange hearing it from a Singaporean staff as sometimes I even feel my own staff don't realize but it was a great feeling nevertheless. It was a wonderful feeling that a Malaysian company of only 6 years can impact an airline that has clearly been the world's best. But that's my thought for the day.

Sitting in aircraft, I was amazed at how Singapore could create such an airline that is world renowned, an airport that is second to none. And on and on. It's like when they put their mind to it they do it. How does SIA have such an amazing airline that flies all over the world?

Why are they better than us?

I have been Singapore's number one critic and still am in many ways but have to marvel at them when I went on the A380. When some airlines nearer to me are trying to be an LCC and have completely lost what their brand stands for, SIA has been relentless in building a premium brand that is focused and disciplined.

So what do they do and how can we learn from them to apply to our own businesses?

1) Focus and disciplined. They stick to their model religiously. They are premium brand and they don't cut corners i.e. they are not a 5 stars value airline. They are a 5 star premium airline.
2) They market aggressively. Too many companies don't put enough into marketing.
3) They hire the best people. It's a meritocracy. The competition within the organization is fierce and the best people get the jobs.
4) The government is very pro-business. Bureaucracy is kept to a minimum. Things are done fast, infrastructure is been built quickly.
5) They innovate - the first all business class airline to New York. They’re the first to order the A380.

Recently I have noticed that Singapore has realized that the competition is important. Even AirAsia has been given incentives by the airport which is better than our own. It doesn't matter that AirAsia may affect SIA, Tiger or SilkAir. The message I got was it doesn't matter about Singapore companies; the most important thing is what's good for the people and the country.

Anyway, some tips for your business.

For us, we have tried to practice some of those points at AirAsia, Tune Hotels, Tune Money and AirAsia X.

At least in LCC, we have a bigger presence than the Singapore LCCs (# in Fleet: AirAsia-69, Tiger Air-9, JetStar-7).

Haha. For once I agree with jedialf, LCCs will not dent full-service carriers (unless they're shitty to begin with).

What LCCs are appealing to is the price-sensitive people, the heartlanders, those on a shoestring budget, those who would love to fly frequently but cannot because full-service is too expensive but can afford to fly LCCs regularly, the growing lower middle class people, the budget-conscious, the adventurous, schools who are feeling cheapskate, you get the gist.

These people will probably NEVER get a chance to fly SQ/QF/CX/AF/BA Economy until they've saved up their entire lifetime.

LCCs tend to attract more O&D passengers. SQ/MI will not get hurt because they continue feeding in passengers from faraway places into these exotic destinations. MI doing KUL-SIN is not exactly SQ being spooked, but a good business decision since its 777s were never efficient doing these short regional hops anyway.

AirAsia To Launch Kuching-Singapore Direct Flight On Nov 1
October 08, 2008 18:24 PM E-mail this news to a friend Printable version of this news

KUCHING, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- AirAsia, which has secured rights to fly from Kuching direct to Singapore, will launch its first flight on the Kuching-Singapore sector on Nov 1 as part of the efforts to enhance air connectivity to Sarawak.

Its group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes said on Wednesday the low-cost carrier, which obtained the approval only yesterday, would open for sale 5,000 free seats beginning midnight today until Oct 19 this year, excluding surcharge and airport tax, on the new route.

"We fought for six years (for the further liberalisation of aviation industry, especially between Malaysia and Singapore) and have a very aggressive marketing campaign in Singapore," he told a media briefing here, which was also attended by Sarawak Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Manyin.

Fernandes said AirAsia would initially have one flight daily but would expand the frequencies in future once its proposed low-cost carrier terminal (LCCT) here was established.

It was also looking at the direct flight connectivity between Kota Kinabalu and Sibu, following numerous requests from the state's tourism industry and people to service that sector as well as reinstate the daily Kuching-Macau route within three months after the flight was scheduled to be suspended on Oct 26, he said.

Fernandes said when the airlines started its operations in Sarawak, it was committed to developing both the state's tourism and business industry by opening up new air links with other regional destinations but the lack of support from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd in granting certain concessions had caused it to review and rationalise some of its routes from here recently.

He said the Kuching-Bali direct flight was being stopped because the high charges and bureaucratic management had hampered its efforts to changing market conditions, especially when the airlines industry was experiencing a tough period due to the global fuel hike.

AirAsia, which flies a total of 182 flights weekly into and within Sarawak, has carried more than 3.6 million passengers in the state so far, with its market share of the Kuala Lumpur-Kuching sector growing to 68 percent at present from 33 percent in 2003.

Fernandes said almost one million passengers were recorded in the Sarawak sector so far this year, generating about RM718 million in revenue.

He projected that some five million passengers would have flown AirAsia into and out of the state by 2013.

-- BERNAMA
AK has confirmed SIN-KCH flights on 1st Nov, but nothing yet on the BKI n MYY ones... Although SIN-BKI should be coming on really soon, since MH has announced 0RM fares for SIN-BKI as well, and we all know that 0RM fares are always available for AK-plying routes...
Haha. For once I agree with jedialf, LCCs will not dent full-service carriers (unless they're shitty to begin with).
A bit like MAS? no offense... but I have a feeling MH could soon degrade to 'Buy on board' for economy class or even worst, '1st baggage fee'... they're already removing the 'Seat selector' for 'discounted' tickets (which really aren't that discounted to begin with) and offering 'snack boxes' worst than most of those offered by china's domestic airlines... at least with 3K/AK, i have to option to get a full hot meal..

On AirAsia's sg website, both Kuching and Kota Kinabalu are available on the drop-down menu.

I wonder whether TR and 3K will bite since they will not be able to match AirAsia/MH/SQ/MI since it will not be daily yet. And I don't think Tiger really anticipated this news coming up too fast, I think they don't have enough aircraft to support the recent increase in frequencies they've announced, the ramp-up of services to KL, and this.

I wonder whether TR and 3K will bite since they will not be able to match AirAsia/MH/SQ/MI since it will not be daily yet. And I don't think Tiger really anticipated this news coming up too fast, I think they don't have enough aircraft to support the recent increase in frequencies they've announced, the ramp-up of services to KL, and this.

Tiger has 8 planes in operation. Another 8 will be delivered between now and 2010. 30 more would be after 2011 until 2014...

Air Asia has 42 A320 in operation with remaining 7 737 and 1 A330. Additional of 50 jets to be delivered by 2013... So Air Asia can sail past - light years ahead.

Air Asia Thai and Indonesia have in total of 19 B737 (10 with Thai, 9 with Indonesia).

Budget carrier Tiger Airways says bookings up in crisis

9 Oct 08

SINGAPORE - A Singapore-based budget airline said on Thursday that bookings are up despite an escalating global economic crisis.

Matthew Hobbs, a spokesman for Tiger Airways, said travellers are seeking cheaper alternatives to allow them to fly by air.

"We are not seeing a decline... We are seeing that people are substituting from premium carriers to budget carriers like Tiger because they still need to travel," Hobbs told AFP.

"Forward bookings show that people are still booking and they are still travelling, but they are looking for the best price."

Hobbs said budget airlines had historically experienced growth during crisis periods such as in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

While Tiger Airways will monitor the travel market closely, Hobbs said the airline would proceed with plans to expand flights and its fleet.

From December 1, the airline will increase service from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to five times a day from once a day, he said.

Tiger Airways, which is 49 percent owned by Singapore Airlines (SIA), said it would increase flights to Bangkok, Phuket and Macau later this month.

Four more Airbus planes are scheduled for delivery between December and March, raising the carrier's fleet from 12 to 16, Hobbs said. "We will continue to monitor the market conditions for opportunities," he said.

Andrew Herdman, director-general of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, warned on Wednesday that some airlines would not survive the worsening global economic situation.

He said the biggest challenges were weakening passenger demand, in particular first and business class travel, and uncertainty over the economic outlook.

SIA, one of Asia's most profitable carriers, said it was watching changes in travel demand.

"We are monitoring any changes in demand that may occur as a result of the deteriorating global economic position," SIA spokesman Stephen Forshaw told AFP. "We will remain nimble in the deployment of capacity going forward." - AFP

Just for our info,

jetStar Pacific launch Bangkok

jetStar Pacific, formerly known as Vietnam's Pacific Airlines, is starting its own service on the Ho Chi Minh - Bangkok route from 31OCT08, as per Amadeus timetable display on 09OCT08.

BL8601 SGN1045 - 1215BKK 737 D
BL8602 BKK1300 - 1430SGN 737 D

from airlinersroute.blogspot.com

from airlinersroute.blogspot.comThat site doesn't exist...

Whoopsie... Airlineroute.blogspot.com

http://airlineroute.blogspot.com/ :)

Tiger Airways eyes new routes in Asia and Australia

By TBM staff | Mumbai
Ahead of the World Route Development Forum in Kuala Lumpur next week, Tiger Airways announced yesterday that its delegation will hold dialogue with airport authorities from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Cambodia and Australia with regards to its plans to extend its reach in the Asia-Pacific region. Also high on the priority list is the addition of further capacity on existing routes in the international network from Singapore to countries such as Malaysia, China, India and Indonesia, together with domestic routes in Australia. The airline also plans to increase its fleet from 12 planes to 16 in the next four months with firm orders in place to take the total fleet to 72 in the next seven years.

Steve Burns, Chief Operating Officer, Tiger Aviation said, “History tells us that the true low cost airline model is perfectly positioned to thrive in uncertain economic times. By building our presence on existing routes from Singapore and within Australia, and expanding our footprint to new destinations in places such as Hong Kong, Cambodia and Taiwan, we can be the first airline to offer true low fares to these destinations.”

Burns further added, “We are seeing strong forward bookings driven by our true low fares, and with our firm aircraft order Tiger Airways is set to further grow air traffic in the Asia-Pacific region while other airlines cut back services. The continued liberalisation occurring in the Asia-Pacific region means millions more low Tiger Airways fares in the coming years.”

Hmmm...

SIN - HKG
SIN - TPE and
SIN - PNH?

or will we get

SIN - HKG
SIN - TSA and SIN - RMQ and
SIN - REP?

I wonder if it's possible to fly SIN-TSA...

So Tiger has 8 A319/20's die before the end of 2010. (Did they order their aircraft in peak ordering season???)

Anyway, 4 of those are due before March 2009. 3 to Oz, 1 to Singapore.

Would we say that the other four might be split among the group, ie-2 for Sing, 2 for Oz?

Tiger has 10 aircraft right now, 8 in SIN, 2 in MEL.

2 A319s will go to ADL.

I'd say for the rest, depending on the situation in Australia and Singapore, will go accordingly. Things in Australia are not going well, with many former loyalists with Qantas switching to Virgin Blue, Tiger Australia and other cheaper alternatives, even for overseas trips.

I find it interesting because Tiger's announced intended destinations are actually Jetstar Asia's strongest performing routes (with the exception of the routes to Indonesia). It's also interesting because I thought with LCCs, they'd usually make routes that don't usually work, work, as in offering flights to destinations not already served (low cost or full-service) But not in this case.

I think Tiger will head for Kaosiung instead of Taipei. Reason? Kaosiung is a current Silkair destination. I think with SQ more willing to put faith in Silkair to operate routes like SIN-KUL, we may possibly see SQ transfer several "mainline" flights to Silkair, ala SIN-KUL.

Kaohsiung may be an interesting alternative, but if Silk Air could fly into Taipei Songshan airport, that in itself would be a huge money maker. Meanwhile, if Tiger is looking for alternative airports with a cheaper landing fee, Taichung is more or less midway between Taipei and Kaohsiung, although it would probably not be a good choice since it's not connected to the Taiwan High Speed Rail yet.

ddes, Tiger have 4 Aircraft in Australia. They will get a new A320 in December(Revenue services begin 15thDEC) and 2 new A319's with Revenue services starting in Feb12 and March1.

Singapore will also get another new A320 soon, so soon TT will have 7 and TR will have 9

I find it interesting because Tiger's announced intended destinations are actually Jetstar Asia's strongest performing routes (with the exception of the routes to Indonesia). It's also interesting because I thought with LCCs, they'd usually make routes that don't usually work, work, as in offering flights to destinations not already served (low cost or full-service) But not in this case.
Since 3K has an does very well on those routes, Tiger natrually wants a bite of those routes too. Tiger has realised that the Ultra-LCC method isn't working too well with Singaporeans... They once declared that they would NEVER fly to Hong Kong due to its high fees, and fly ONLY to destinations under 4 hours (TPE is longer than that!) As you can imagine, not that many people want to fly to Macau and take an expensive hydrofoil to HKG! (AirAsia realized this some time back and now have 2x daily to HKG... iirc)

Oh and LCCs that make routes work when they usually don't? This refers to the AirAsia and Ryanair type of airlines... a category (ultra low budget airlines) which Tiger should fall under...

Cloud over Tiger profitability
Scott Rochfort
October 14, 2008

TIGER AIRWAYS has missed a second deadline to lodge its full-year accounts, fuelling speculation that the Singapore Airlines-backed budget airline has failed to reveal the extent of its financial woes.

The airline has declined to explain why its holding company, Tiger Aviation, has not lodged its accounts for the year to March 31, after already obtaining a three-month extension from Singapore's Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority in July.

The delay comes as the airline told the Herald it could postpone the delivery of a fifth Airbus A320 aircraft to Australia by two months.

Although it said last week that bookings remained strong, it declined to provide any indication of when it planned to lodge its accounts. A Tiger spokesman, Matt Hobbs, denied the airline was in trouble. "Tiger is very happy with how things are going, and we continue to fill planes in Australia and Asia," he said.

There are suspicions Tiger's 11-month foray in Australia is still losing it millions of dollars each month.

Since the Herald reported in August that its Australian operations could have lost $S28 million ($29 million) in the four months to March 31, the airline has still failed to confirm or deny the figures. The estimated loss was arrived at by reconciling the $S37.8 million profit reported by Tiger's Singaporean operations in the year to March 31 and comments made by the chief executive of Singapore Airlines, Chew Choon Seng. He told an analyst briefing earlier this year that Tiger Aviation's profit for the year was close to $S10 million.

If so, Tiger Australia - Tiger's only operation outside Singapore - would have lost about $S28 million for the period. But given the rise in fuel prices since March 31, economic slowdown in Australia and recession in Singapore, the losses could have worsened. Tiger did not say why the introduction of two Airbus A319s to its Australian fleet of four Airbus A320s had been pushed back to January.

In March the airline's chief executive, Tony Davis, said they would be delivered in November.

The airline also confirmed it could delay the delivery of an extra A320 to Australia next month to January, and would focus instead on developing new routes from Singapore into Malaysia.

Qantas's part-owned Jetstar Asia has also failed to lodge its accounts. It was given a three-month extension to lodge its full-year accounts by Singapore authorities on September 29.

They are a new airline dont forget, and have mega start up costs....Plus with the high fuel prices, and a few bad days they had (cancellations!)

Fuel has dropped to what it was 1year ago..Its all back to normal now. Things will be much better in 2009 I would say.

(Just dont offer any unsustainable fares, or just not half a million like they did at the start in 2007!)

Yes, new airlines have high start-up costs...

But I think the matter is more of opportunity cost. Tiger IS taking in new planes but that is minimal compared to what it's competitors already have or will have. So there'll be the question of where to expand more?

And right now, the SIN base is appearing to make money and with the upcoming ASEAN capital cities open skies, as well as increased liberalization, as well as the relative safety of the ASEAN economy compared to Australia's, it will make more sense to expand in SIN compared to money-losing Australia.

I'm not saying Tiger will pull out of Australia.

Amazing news! Was wrong about Jetstar Asia. Wonder where they're sourcing aircraft? They are already squeezing utilization here already.

News hasn't popped up on 3K's website (they're usually slow to put up news anyway), was found from former Valuair shareholder, AsiaTravel website (owned by European tour giant, TUI).

Jetstar Asia launches $0++ Promotion on Flights to Kota Kinabalu and Kuching
Wednesday, 15 October 2008


Jetstar Asia is to begin flying to Kota Kinabalu from 1 December 2008 and to Kuching from 1 March 2009. These new routes are in line with the agreement to expand the bilateral air services between Singapore and Malaysia.

To celebrate the latest addition of East Malaysia to its current network of 14 destinations, Jetstar Asia will be offering $0 (not inclusive of taxes and surcharges) fares from 17 October.

Ms. Chong Phit Lian, CEO, Jetstar Asia Airways Pte Ltd. said, “It is double joy for us this month with the approval to begin flights to East Malaysia and the increased in number of flights to KL. We believe that the East Malaysia route will be well received by travelers as they plan for the year end holidays. With the festivities approaching, the flights will create greater accessibility and affordability for friends and relatives to visit each other.”

Jetstar Asia operates out of Changi Airport Terminal One and offers free online seat selection, leather seats and a generous free 20kg luggage allowance.

Jetstar Asia relaunches inflight magazine

SINGAPORE: Singapore's Ink Publishing has signed a contract to relaunch Jetstar Asia's inflight magazine.

The first issue will be onboard Jetstar Asia and Valuair flights from December 1, and will be published every two months. Jetstar Asia merged with Valuair in 2005 and both airlines fly out of Singapore to most major South-East "As the publishers of the Jetstar magazine for the airline’s Australian parent company, we plan to apply the same winning formula of exciting features, interesting personality interviews and timely news, but focus predominantly on the fascinating people and places from around Jetstar Asia’s regional network, says Ink's editorial director Clare Brundle.

Ink produces more inflight magazines for more airlines than any other company in the world. Clients include Air Macau, AirTran Airways, Bangkok Airways, BMI, BMIbaby, Brussels Airlines, Cebu Pacific, China Airlines, Clickair, EasyJet, Gulf Air, Jazeera Airways, Jet2.com, Kingfisher Airlines, Mandala Airlines, Midwest Airlines, MyAir, Ryanair, Siem Reap International Airways, SkyEurope, Sky Express, SpiceJet, Sterling Airlines, Tiger Airways, Thomas Cook, VLM Airlines and Wizz Air.

- Aviation Record, Australia

I hope they aren't thinking of flying midnight-6am flights to East Malaysia! I just booked a flight on lionair to Bali and the flight there departs at 0620 and the return flight departs midnight and arrives in Singapore at 3am!! Which explains it low prices of $109x2... 3K charges slightly more than SQ on this route though... (both around $450 rtn)

But then again, the fact that they have to launch only on December and March, could indicate that new aircraft will only be available by then... leased maybe?

What's wrong with midnight to 6am flights? Those are the best :D

This is from airlineroute.blogspot.com. I take it from there as the schedules are easy to pull out and reference from.

AirAsia to start Singapore - Borneo

AirAsia has announced it'll be launching Daily Singapore - Kota Kinabalu and Singapore - Kuching route from 01NOV08

AK6274 SIN2135 - 2350BKI 320 D
AK6273 BKI1840 - 2055SIN 320 D

AK6674 SIN2035 - 2155KCH 320 D
AK6673 KCH1840 - 2010SIn 320 D

Judging by this, I'd expect Tiger and Jetstar Asia to pretty much complement OR match these timings.

Seems like 3K will operate to BKI first, TR to KCH first, before gaining rights to the other destination from March when the frequencies are increased to 14 each.

What's wrong with midnight to 6am flights? Those are the best :D
indeed overnight flights are great, but imagine boarding a 3hr flight at midnight that arrives at 3am! Or boarding a flight at 3am that lands at 6am! Thats a nightmare!

Seems like 3K will operate to BKI first, TR to KCH first, before gaining rights to the other destination from March when the frequencies are increased to 14 each.
okay, this explains 3k's march 09 entry into KCH...

But they do use aircraft in 3K colors on flights to Indonesia right if the situation calls for it? I can't see Valuair managing 4 daily Jakarta, AND fly to Denpasar, Surabaya and Medan with just 2 planes.
The planes don't cross over to each other on a normal day. :)

JetstarAsia
Plane No. Flt No. Dest. Dep(SIN) Arr(SIN)

1 511/512 SIN-BKK 07:10 12:40
1 575/576 SIN-MFM 14:10 22:15

2 555/556 SIN-SGN 07:25 12:05
2 521/522 SIN-TPE 13:00 23:00

3 691/692 SIN-HKG 06:40 14:50
3 695/696 SIN-HKG 15:45 23:50

4 561/562 SIN-MNL 06:40 14:05
4 687/688 SIN-KUL 15:05 17:30
4 513/514 SIN-BKK 18:45 00:05

5 591/592 SIN-PNH 06:45 11:25 [1367]
5 585/586 SIN-RGN 12:10 18:40 [1367]
5 599 SIN-REP-PNH 06:00 12:05 [247]
5 551/552 SIN-SGN 19:30 00:05 [D]

ValuAir
Plane No. Flt No. Dest. Dep(SIN) Arr(SIN)

1 501/502 SIN-CGK 07:40 11:40
1 547/548 SIN-SUB 13:05 18:15
1 583/584 SIN-MES 19:05 22:25 [136]
1 541/542 SIN-DPS 19:05 00:45 [2457]

2 581/582 SIN-MES 06:55 10:15 [457]
2 503/504 SIN-CGK 11:05 15:05
2 507/508 SIN-CGK 15:55 19:55
2 505/506 SIN-CGK 20:45 00:30

The planes don't cross over to each other on a normal day. :)

JetstarAsia
Plane No. Flt No. Dest. Dep(SIN) Arr(SIN)

1 511/512 SIN-BKK 07:10 12:40
1 575/576 SIN-MFM 14:10 22:15

2 555/556 SIN-SGN 07:25 12:05
2 521/522 SIN-TPE 13:00 23:00

3 691/692 SIN-HKG 06:40 14:50
3 695/696 SIN-HKG 15:45 23:50

4 561/562 SIN-MNL 06:40 14:05
4 687/688 SIN-KUL 15:05 17:30
4 513/514 SIN-BKK 18:45 00:05

5 591/592 SIN-PNH 06:45 11:25 [1367]
5 585/586 SIN-RGN 12:10 18:40 [1367]
5 599 SIN-REP-PNH 06:00 12:05 [247]
5 551/552 SIN-SGN 19:30 00:05 [D]

ValuAir
Plane No. Flt No. Dest. Dep(SIN) Arr(SIN)

1 501/502 SIN-CGK 07:40 11:40
1 547/548 SIN-SUB 13:05 18:15
1 583/584 SIN-MES 19:05 22:25 [136]
1 541/542 SIN-DPS 19:05 00:45 [2457]

2 581/582 SIN-MES 06:55 10:15 [457]
2 503/504 SIN-CGK 11:05 15:05
2 507/508 SIN-CGK 15:55 19:55
2 505/506 SIN-CGK 20:45 00:30

Nod nod, thanks, tamago. My friends got shocked when they walked to the gate and find Valuair jet. They held Jetstar Asia tickets in their hands - on way to Hong Kong few months ago - guessing one of jet was sent for maintenance...

Wow. Looks like JetStar livery planes does fly into Indonesia with VF codes, since they can't be do without any of the 2 planes being unserviceable?

Wow. Looks like JetStar livery planes does fly into Indonesia with VF codes, since they can't be do without any of the 2 planes being unserviceable?

Until now, Jetstar Asia is not successfully securing its rights into Indonesia on its own codes.

Shouldn't 3K be getting rights to Jakarta CGK from the end of this year?

Anyway, why would 3K even need to get its codes on Indonesian flights. It afterall, owns VF and has a very good schedule for Medan, Denpasar, Jakarta and Surabaya.

Jetstar Pacific will be adding a whole horde of routes in November/ December, including a more frequent Ho Chi Minh- Siem Reap. Will we possibly seeing this SIN-REP axed soon in favour of other routes?

Shouldn't 3K be getting rights to Jakarta CGK from the end of this year?

Anyway, why would 3K even need to get its codes on Indonesian flights. It afterall, owns VF and has a very good schedule for Medan, Denpasar, Jakarta and Surabaya.


3K needs to have its own codes so to get rid of Valuair and get duo systems out. It is not cost effective to have two separate systems in long business run.

3K has one month left to bear before the rules and regulation get lift in December 2008. We will know if Jetstar Asia finally gets rid of valuair brand and absorb two jets into its fleet.

Jetstar Pacific will be adding a whole horde of routes in November/ December, including a more frequent Ho Chi Minh- Siem Reap. Will we possibly seeing this SIN-REP axed soon in favour of other routes?

It is possible. The answer will be from Qantas - a major stakeholder of Jetstar Asia...

Surfing around 3K's website, I noticed a quote that interested me.

"Qantas and Temasek jointly hold 80% of Jetstar Asia"

Since we know QF owns 42.5% of 3K (apparently from QF website, Australian media quote 42%), the share that Temasek holds is interesting, owning about the same size of a stake as Qantas. I know Temasek sometimes has a role of just financing, but it also does have several companies in which it has an active say in how its companies are run.

Surfing around 3K's website, I noticed a quote that interested me.

"Qantas and Temasek jointly hold 80% of Jetstar Asia"

Since we know QF owns 42.5% of 3K (apparently from QF website, Australian media quote 42%), the share that Temasek holds is interesting, owning about the same size of a stake as Qantas. I know Temasek sometimes has a role of just financing, but it also does have several companies in which it has an active say in how its companies are run.

Compared to Qantas, Temasek has little influence, except for funds which it can pull out if it is not happy with performance or get low returns.

Qantas owns the branding of "Jetstar". Naturally, Qantas would do anything to sway the management of Jetstar Asia to meet its demand in the name of branding.

So the investor that has kept 3K afloat has been Temasek. That explains alot since Star Cruises and all the other former Valuair/Jetstar Asia shareholders loved to complain that the airline wasn't making money.

Temasek loves to put money everywhere but they don't understand the rationale of investments, particularly in those regarding national interests.

I believe Temasek Holdings is the government's way of regulating the airline industy and maintaining its liberalized nature by creating a sense of live competition between TR and 3K. I also believe Qantas also wants 3K to stay to keep TR competitive and utilize Singapore's liberal policies to open up routes to destinations that do not justify a direct nonstop route from Australia.

JQ is 100% owned by QF and the highly publicized breakup between JQ and 3K means that Qantas knows that in the near future, the rest of ASEAN will also be opening up and by opportunity cost, any nation with a domestic market comes as a bonus as opposed to Singapore's one-hub operation. The advantage that Singapore ever had is slowly being eaten up by the increasing liberalization of ASEAN's skies.

So what if Australians require a Vietnam visa to transit in SGN? As reported in local papers, SIN is a hub for leisure tourists going to the rest of Southeast Asia, they would definitely no doubt visit Vietnam too.

Too much competition accompanied with a poor base to support is also not good as proven by what's happening with India's airline industry now. Kingfisher-Jet Airways have announced an alliance which literally puts them everything short of a full merger and Air India is rotting, sort of.

In our case? Our airlines have to trample over each other to get rights, AirAsia can already offer daily BKI and KCH while TR and 3K can only offer either or. And come March, when AK can offer 2 daily BKI and KCH, our LCCs can only offer 1 daily to each destination. Which is better for passengers?

Birth of Temasek Holdings can be traced to 1974 - its primary role is to build up the investments - now value around more than S$180 billion. As far as you can see, Temasek Holding would invest in Singapore companies to keep them alive - they consider as assets to nation. The other investment group is Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) which has more than S$200 billions.

What exactly happened is that because Temasek Holdings has investments remain unknown to outsiders. It is nature that people outside question what is going on and feel insecured. This causes the companies that Temasek Holdings invests in, to get into trouble with local protective laws in their countries. This is very normal. Singapore was not alone.

Dubai Worlds Port was denied to run US ports when it purchased British firm that runs ports worldwide including US ports. Eventually US ports were forced out of Dubai Worlds Ports to AIG.

Chinese investment group was also not spared either.

What airlines does is really no concern to Temasek Holdings. It is more interested in getting returns and financing role. Same for all companies it invest in. Singtel, PSA Corp, SIA so on.

If Temasek Holdings is not around, there will not be a Tiger Airways or even Jetstar Asia, no PSA Corp, no Singtel or even no SIA.

We will be struck with no jobs to speak of. Almost all major companies that were once run by Government are owned by Temasek Holdings. With vast funds, Temasek Holdings is able to inject fresh funds in times of trouble. This is what it plays this role. Not many people see this way.

This is why Singapore Government has massive funds already - can already afford to build Terminal 4 or even few underground MRT lines that exceed 20 billions dollars! Compared subways of New York with our gleaming expensive MRT air con underground systems.

Until now, many people view Temasek Holdings as a controlling entity belonging to Government. This is what people is scared of.

What Qantas sees in Vietnam should not be our concern. It is really Qantas's pure business perspective - they may see something we don't see.

As for India, it is all about politics getting mixed with business decisions. It is the fuel costs that trouble many airlines there. They tried to cut down the wages that were against the labour laws that resulted in sacking to save the airlines. In some cases, retrenched staff were recalled back, in fear that people would resort to boycott the airlines.

Air Asia has advantages in first place - it has so many planes so it is no surprising that it can get many rights out.

Given our unique situation, we have no domestic turfs to speak of. It is really depending on vision of our Singapore carriers to strive for. if the management found ways to solve, then they can take off. It is all about battlefield in Singapore.

It is tough in Singapore business context - market is so small in Singapore so the companies have to go out of Singapore to reach bigger market - ASEAN and ASIA. So our Singapore carriers are fighting against foreign carriers. This is why I emphaized getting bigger jets for Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways in first place...

The whole issue is about Temasek Holdings and their relatively huge stake in Jetstar Asia.

Firstly, the fact of the matter is that Qantas doesn't give a hoot to Jetstar Asia as much as before, now favouring Jetstar Pacific's development instead. If that is true, and that there are no funds nor interest to expand Jetstar Asia, why then is Temasek Holdings as a 40% shareholder of Jetstar Asia not doing anything to protect a "national asset"?

My concern is very simple and can be summed up in 3 words: returns on investment. I'm sure Temasek is not stupid and would have determined the outlook of Jetstar Asia before sustaining the airline but then again, I'm not sure.

And anyone would be stupid to think that any of 3K's profits were great since oil prices rose quite sharply at that time and any gains would have plunged the airline back into the red again.

The upper hand - is Qantas. Since it owns the branding, it already has bigger influence that can impact the decisions.

Temasek Holdings has its own decision whether to pump funds or not - all shareholders already sank S$36 million dollars into Jetstar Asia. Temasek always go for long term investments. It just waits and watches the performance of the companies.

If I am not wrong, it was Temasek who brought in Ms Chong Phit Lian who used to work for the Singapore Mint (under Sembcorp - owned by Temasek Holdings).

This was after Qantas's appointed CEOs of Jetstar Asia failed to make marks. The mistakes Jetstar Asia made during the times of Qantas's men was maiden flight to Taipei first before awaiting the approval from China on flights from Singapore to Chinese cities.

Soon after this, the approval was of course denied (the pretext was "Beijing does not allow budget carriers to China").

This really destroyed the chances. I guessed that Temasek has enough and brought in Ms Chong Phit Lian. This surely strained the relationship between Qantas and Temasek Holdings.

Ms Chong Phit Lian has to convince the shareholders why they need to raise the funds. She already tried to ask for new planes from Qantas, including Boeing 787 before splitting off. So she is on her own, exhausting every option. She already managed to get the airlines out of water.

So what is left is an airline that is almost a shadow of itself.

So with no planes, I assume Qantas will force Jetstar Asia out of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Ho Chi Minh in favour of Jetstar Pacific. This would therefore explain 3K's ability to increase capacity to KUL, and start flights to BKI, KCH.

Hopefully they won't pull out of Indochina! But then again, that means they will be flying the dreaded midnight to 6am slot to Borneo! Does it really have no options to lease any jets?

I've always wondered about the China issue.

At the time of merger, Valuair flew to Xiamen and Chengdu. Why then did they axe those routes almost immediately when they knew China didn't allow them in? They could have done something ala VF in Indonesia right now.

I think QF will not be that silly to ignore 3K's operations. Jetstar as a LCC can still be the number 2 or number 3 player in Southeast Asia if they continue to build up BOTH 3K and BL. With Lion Air cornering the Indonesian market, AirAsia in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, and Tiger's ventures in the Philippines still not happening, it will not be able to force Tiger out of the market but it will keep Tiger's footprint in the region to the bare minimum.

Besides, looking at the bigger picture, the Jetstar brand is already bigger than Tiger from SIN; Cairns, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Manila, Macau, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Taipei Taoyuan, Yangon, Denpasar/Bali, Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya.

Does Jetstar Asia fly the SIN-SGN flights? Do you think they'll transfer those to Jetstar Pacific and concentrate on SIN-Borner instead?

SIN-BKI

3K 525 1320 SIN- 1540 BKI
3K 526 1620 BKI- 1850 SIN

SIN- KCH

3K 529 1330 SIN- 1500 KCH
3K 530 1540 KCH- 1710 SIN

SIN- PER

JQ 110 1745 SIN- 0010 PER
JQ 109 0115 PER- 0550 SIN

Does anyone have any idea what is the JQ plane from PER going to do from 0550 to 1745 in SIN?

From Jetstar's website, 3K will cut frequencies to Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Macau, Jakarta (4 to 3 daily from October 26), the rest will be cut from December 1. KCH, BKI not showed in the flight schedules.

By the way, Jetstar's schedules are here: http://www.jetstar.com/au/en/travel-info/flight-info/flight-schedule.html

Also looking at Jetstar's Australian short haul international schedules, I can roughly see why TR canceled flights to DRW. JQ is dumping 2 daily SIN-DRW services, one daily each on the SIN-DRW-MEL, SIN-DRW-CNS route.

I've always wondered about the China issue.

At the time of merger, Valuair flew to Xiamen and Chengdu. Why then did they axe those routes almost immediately when they knew China didn't allow them in? They could have done something ala VF in Indonesia right now.



And they also axe Hong Kong VF flight too. I think somebody in VF prevents losing Indonesian rights after they realize too late after Qantas guy chopped off the flights. I am sure this causes unhappiness in Singapore management.

I do hope that Jetstar Asia has found ways to lease aircraft to keep growth and expansion. Miracle can happen...

Is there a chance they can use Jetstar aircraft on expansion routes?

SIN-BKI
Does anyone have any idea what is the JQ plane from PER going to do from 0550 to 1745 in SIN?


Probably, they are preparing this for Jetstar Pacific (on leased terms) to make an entry to Singapore in November - 12 days later (if confirmed on 14th Nov for Jetstar Pacific, JQ from Perth would be starting from 2 Nov).

During this period (5am-5pm), they are probably sending this plane for training crews and pilots to familiarize themselves on routes between Vietnam and Singapore.

OR

Qantas decides to "lease" the jet to Jetstar Asia to use it on other flights on Qantas's lease terms...

I don't really see why Jetstar Pacific crews would need training since they have already begun receiving and training with A320s.

When does JetstarPacific recieve their first new A320 (as in begins revenue services), or have they already got one?

According to flight schedules, it appears that Jetstar Pacific will fly 3 out of the 7 dailies between Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi from October 26. So yeah, October 26 will see the first Jetstar Pacific A320s begin revenue service.

And Tiger finally quietly reveals Kuching on its dropdown menu from SIN.

TR 492 1435 SIN- 1555 KCH
TR 493 1625 KCH- 1745 SIN

SIN- PER

JQ 110 1745 SIN- 0010 PER
JQ 109 0115 PER- 0550 SIN

Does anyone have any idea what is the JQ plane from PER going to do from 0550 to 1745 in SIN?

From Jetstar's website, 3K will cut frequencies to Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh, Macau, Jakarta (4 to 3 daily from October 26), the rest will be cut from December 1. KCH, BKI not showed in the flight schedules.
A few possibilities...
1) JQ will operate flights on behalf of 3K between 0600 and 1745
2) JQ will rotate aircraft used on this route to perform maintainence for all its Perth based aircraft in Singapore. (I'm guessing its cheaper here)
3) JQ will operate flights on behalf of BL between 0600 and 1745
4) The SIN-PER flight is operated by 3K, so during the day, it operates other 3K flights.

I know we're all hoping for the first one, but I'd say 2 and 3 are more likely.

Anw IIRC, all of Jetstar Pacific's 8 (or at least the first 8) A320s will be leased from Qantas, so they won't own any of their own metal.
From 26 Oct, BL will start operating the A320:
BL8794 SGN1030 - 1230HAN 320 D
BL8795 HAN1300 - 1500SGN 320 D
BL8800 SGN1530 - 1730HAN 320 D
BL8801 HAN1700 - 1900SGN 320 D
BL8808 SGN2040 - 2240HAN 320 D
BL8803 HAN1810 - 2010SGN 320 D
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Jetstar_Pacific_737_HAN.JPG
from wiki, BL has repainted their 734s into Jetstar colors! (Nice huh? I wish 3K and JQ's 320s were painted with the larger 'jetstar.com' wordings like JQ's 330 and 321s)
----------------

Eventually, SIN-SGN 2x daily will be operated by BL instead of 3K (currently its a codeshare between the 2, operated by 3K), this would free up some slots of a new route? Maybe just in time for SIN-KCH in March?
EDIT: I just checked, BL will operate SGN-SIN from 14NOV onwards... to 'replace' one of 3K daily flight.

A few possibilities...
1) JQ will operate flights on behalf of 3K between 0600 and 1745
2) JQ will rotate aircraft used on this route to perform maintainence for all its Perth based aircraft in Singapore. (I'm guessing its cheaper here)
3) JQ will operate flights on behalf of BL between 0600 and 1745
4) The SIN-PER flight is operated by 3K, so during the day, it operates other 3K flights.

I know we're all hoping for the first one, but I'd say 2 and 3 are more likely.

JQ doesn't have alot of Perth-based aircraft. It only flies to Melbourne Avalon, Melbourne Tulamarine, Denpasar, Jakarta, Singapore. Maintenance? I highly doubt it.

JQ can operate flights on behalf of BL but it appears that the PER-SIN aircraft is actually doing the journey from MEL, meaning it is in direct competition with TR/TT. If JQ really wants to handover aircraft to BL, why not just fly MEL-DRW-SGN like what they are already doing? MEL-PER-SIN-SGN is much longer. I guess they're going to force TR/TT out of PER like how they did it at DRW. And I've checked, DRW increased its cost by AUD 8 so TR/TT claiming DRW was becoming too expensive is unbelievable.

Right now, TR seems a little desperate. They are offering 250k seats for 1 cents and both AirAsia and Jetstar (JQ/3K) are not particularly bothered by it.

http://images3.jetphotos.net/img/2/8/4/6/58123_1223856648.jpg

I don't really see why Jetstar Pacific crews would need training since they have already begun receiving and training with A320s.

Not yet...on leased jets from Qantas.

I believe BL would have already sent various crews to train on JQ jets. Australians cannot be both part of the cabin crew and the flight crew. BL is afterall a Vietnamese airline.

By the way, looking at 3K and BL schedules, the JQ plane from PER will never make it back in Singapore in time to do its return flight from SIN to PER should it crossover to BL from SIN. Remember, this is a DAILY flight.

Tiger Airways to launch Flights between Singapore and Kuching
Wednesday, 22 October 2008

Tiger Airways is to launch flights between Singapore and Kuching on 20 November 2008. To celebrate the new route, the Singapore-based airline has 15,000 seats on sale for 1 cent excluding taxes and charges for travel from 20 November 2008 to 5 October 2009.

Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore said, “The access to this new route comes at a perfect time as we take an additional A320 aircraft into our fleet. The delivery of these brand new aircraft means Tiger Airways can grasp new opportunities such as Kuching without cutting back flying to other destinations unlike some of our competitors.”

Tiger Airways Singapore new low fare flights to Kuching will depart Singapore at 14:35 arriving in Kuching at 15:55 daily. Flights from Kuching will depart at 16:25 arriving in Singapore at 17:45 daily.

Jetstar targets corporate travel
By Karamjit Kaur

LOW-COST carrier Jetstar Asia which received its fourth million passenger on Wednesday is confident it can weather the turbulence of the global financial crisis which has hit the travel industry.

Among other strategies, the Singapore-based carrier is aiming to capture a larger slice of the corporate travel market, said chief executive officer Chong Phit Lian.

As the economic slowdown forces companies to trim excesses and cut travel spending, many small and medium sized businesses especially are moving away from full-service to low-cost airlines, Ms Chong said.

In the last few weeks alone, the airline has signed on more than 20 corporate clients.

Jetstar now services close to 100 companies.

Ms Chong said the airline will focus on tailoring its service to meet customer needs.

For example, business travellers are allowed one complimentary change to the itinerary, unlike other customers who have to pay a fee to revise travel plans and flight timings.

So far, Jetstar's business has been holding up, she said adding that in the first nine months of the year, the airline carried more passengers than during the same period last year.

Ms Chong did not have the traffic figures readily available.

Jetstar which currently flies to 14 destinations, including many capital cities in the region like Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok, is gearing up for its foray into the East Malaysian market.

It will start four weekly flights to Kota Kinabalu from Dec 2 and fly to Kuching from next March.

The additional flights follow the recent liberalisation of Singapore-Malaysia air links.

At Changi Airport Terminal 1 on Wednesday afternoon, Ms Calin Tan, 40, a manager in a labour supply company who had just come back from a one-day trip to Bangkok was pleasantly surprised when told she was the lucky fourth million passenger.

She and her husband, businessman Andrew Goh, 41, received $4,000 worth of Jetsar Asia travel vouchers.

Published October 23, 2008

Jetstar Asia sees opportunities in slowdown
It has received good response to its corporate packages for regional flights

By VEN SREENIVASAN

(SINGAPORE) The global financial crisis and the resultant economic slowdown provides opportunities for value-based carriers.

At least, that is what the folks at Jetstar Asia are counting on.

The discount carrier's chief executive, Chong Phit Lian, said that her airline has been successfully courting cost-conscious companies with corporate travel packages for regional short hauls. 'We have started signing up corporate accounts directly, and the response has been very good,' she said. 'Besides much lower ticket prices, we are also suited for corporates as we fly to virtually all the capital cities around the region, with the exception of Vietnam, where our destination is the commercial capital Ho Chi Minh.'

Also, unlike the no-frills carriers, Jetstar and its sister carrier Valuair provide simple snacks and drinks on board, allocated seats and flexibility on itinerary changes.

'We are already seeing quite good corporate traffic on our Jakarta, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur services,' she said.

Indeed, many corporations, especially in the battered financial sector, have been slashing corporate travel budgets and telling their senior staff to travel coach class on short-haul flights.

Jetstar, which is controlled primarily by Qantas and Temasek Holdings, flies to 14 regional destinations, which include Taipei, Bangkok, Manila. From Dec 1, it will ramp up its Singapore-Kuala Lumpur service to 19 flights a week, from seven flights now. And on Dec 2, it will start inaugural flights to Kota Kinabalu, followed by flights to Kuching next March.

Ms Chong said that passenger traffic on Jetstar and Valuair had increased year-on-year in response to additional capacity by way of a seventh A320, but was still below target.

System-wide load was in the low 70 per cent level, compared with the mid-70 per cent last year.

The airline is looking to add two more planes within the next 12 months as utilisation rates pick up in tandem with new routes and more services on existing routes.

Ms Chong said that the impending recession could be a boon for airlines such as Jetstar as leisure travellers opt for short-haul regional holidays and business travellers downgrade to cheaper flights.

She did not give any indication of whether OrangeStar Investment Holdings, under which Jetstar and Valuair are held by Qantas and Temasek, had turned in profits yet. But she said that operating cashflow was positive, and there was no need for new fund raising.

OrangeStar was recapitalised some three years ago after burning the initial cash of some $100 million within a year of operation.

But in a surprising move, Qantas has written down its investment in OrangeStar in its latest financial statement.

'Since December 2006, the investment in OrangeStar Investment Holdings ceased to be equity-accounted as losses reduced the value of the investment to below zero,' Qantas said in its preliminary financial report for the year ended June 30. The report, without naming OrangeStar, also hinted that its Singapore investment posted a loss of A$100,000 as at June 30.

Recently, Jetstar also severed an 'operational merger' with its Australian sister group, Jetstar Australia, just over a year after the arrangement was put in place.

Nevertheless, Jetstar Asia seems confident that the current economic slowdown and regional air liberalisation would stand it in good stead.

Jetstar Asia yesterday received its four millionth passenger, Ms Calin Tan, who flew in from Bangkok with her businessman husband, Andrew Goh.

Also, unlike the no-frills carriers, Jetstar and its sister carrier Valuair provide simple snacks and drinks on board, allocated seats and flexibility on itinerary changes.
since when? I thought after the merger, its been B-O-B for all flights?
Ms Chong said that passenger traffic on Jetstar and Valuair had increased year-on-year in response to additional capacity by way of a seventh A320, but was still below target.
I thought they've always had 7?

The airline is looking to add two more planes within the next 12 months as utilisation rates pick up in tandem with new routes and more services on existing routes.
great news! Although the 'how' is a bit worrying. I mean if they choose to order from Airbus for new ones, they would only get it like when? 2016 or something? I seriously doubt its coming from Qantas..
Oh and since the article didn't specifiy that the 2 jets would be 320s, does anyone think they could be aiming for other types? Like longer ranged ones... A330 (not really available though), A319 or maybe even look for older 763ERs? I think they'd do pretty well flying to Japan/Korea, Shanghai/Beijing (not going to happen for now..) or even Australia if they flew direct to MEL/SYD (and not via darwin at 4am!).

Targeting the corporate sector IS interesting.

At a time where Singapore Airlines is reporting that loads are down, and the fact that people still need to travel, means that this is a very good market to target.

It could change 3K's overall strategy. Instead of feeding Qantas passengers to exotic destinations (BL and JQ can do that now), it could aim for business-orientated destinations. This would probably account for why 3K is overall reducing frequencies of its leisure destinations.

Business destinations, like Shanghai or Tokyo Haneda (to take advantage of the agreement that comes into play next year). India is highly unlikely since QF has a comfortable agreement with Jet Airways and Australia- Japan traffic is not working too well means 3K may have a chance. I checked with Airbus website, an A320 can do 5600km quite comfortably.

I know, I know. China with its 3K restrictions. Things have changed, airlines are now flying regular charters between Taipei and China, things can be renegotiated.

Targetting corporate sector is a extremely good move. This sector really helps to sustain many airlines including SIA and Silkair at least.

Very good battlefield between SIA, Silkair and Jetstar Asia!

Winners of the battlefield are passengers.

Finally things are starting to fall in. The last piece will be the additional of new planes - crucial piece to survival and expansion of the airlines.

They have traveller base, flight routes, management and branding in place.

With Jetstar Pacific coming "take-over" flights on Singapore-Vietnam flights, Jetstar Asia can gear to concentrate on other flights - adding new flights...

The last sector - Jetstar Asia has not approached is the group of premium passengers - the ones who are willing to pay more for services on the planes - core of base in Silkair, SIA and all major airlines.

ddes, if you want planes quickly, you can always lease them. Although I have no idea how fast you can get a leased plane these days.

ddes, if you want planes quickly, you can always lease them. Although I have no idea how fast you can get a leased plane these days.

With credit crunch, airlines would start to ground many planes. So it is very easy to get lease agreements - those airlines would resort to lease their planes to other parties to finance their own operations.

It is cheaper to lease than to buy new planes. Because airlines can control the operational costs by returning the planes back once the performance of the routes fail.

If Jetstar Asia is buying new planes, we can presume that new funds are already secured.

If Jetstar Asia is leasing planes, we can presume there are more planes available for leasing.

Business traveller on the radar

Slowdown in global economy has led budget carrier Jetstar to target this group

Leong Wee Keat
weekeat@mediacorp.com.sg

AS AIRLINES around the world brace themselves for more turbulence, one budget carrier has found comfort from an unlikely source: Business travellers.

And Jetstar Asia’s efforts at targeting this group who, not too long ago, tended to opt for full-service airlines, seem to have paid off.

Over the past two weeks,25 companies — mainly small and medium enterprises — have signed on with the airline as corporate clients, said its chief executive Chong Phit Lian.

Jetstar hopes to increase its current base of around 100 corporate clients by at least three times over the next six months by offering incentives, such as one free change in flight timing. Currently, passengers who require a change in flight plans on most carriers usually have to pay more.

Rival Tiger Airways, however, has no plans to target business travellers, even though the budget carrier has seen “an anecdotal increase in those wearing suits and ties” on its flights, said spokesman Matthew Hobbs.

“When you add frills or special services for any travel group, you add more people in the back office and that means you drive up your costs,” Mr Hobbs said. “What Tiger is aggressive in, is to have an attractive cost base which would mean lower fares.”

Jetstar’s Ms Chong, however, had a different view.
“If there is a solution we can provide without adding a lot of trouble, why not? It is business,” she said. “It is in response to a need.”
Mr Frank Koh is one business traveller who made the switch in May from full-service airlines to Jetstar.

“Lower cost is partly one reason. The flight timings and service are pretty good too,” said the chief executive of Advancement Consulting Group who flies to regional destinations weekly.

Both budget carriers expect more business travellers to switch from flying full-service carriers in the coming months.

Tiger expects business travel growth on the Singapore to Kuala Lumpur route while Jetstar has identified four growth destinations in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City.

Looking ahead, Ms Chong said Jetstar would also approach corporate travel agents to ask businesses to consider flying on budget carriers for off-site meetings or for reward trips.

Speaking to reporters as the carrier welcomed its four millionth passenger yesterday, Ms Chong said the number of passengers carried grew for the first nine months of this year, compared to the same period last year. This double-digit percentage increase, due partly to increase in capacity, however fell about “two to three percentage point” short of Jetstar’s internal expectations, said Ms Chong. Jetstar declined toreveal the exact figures.

Ms Chong expects the year-end holiday spike to boost passenger numbers for the budget carrier. Despite the economic gloom, Ms Chong said low-cost carriers offering lower fares might appeal to families who need to go on their holidays.

“You probably spend less travelling on a budget carrier to a regional destination,” she said. “Instead of going to Disneyland in Tokyo, you now go to Disneyland in Hong Kong. In any case, you still can take the same number of rides.”

Leasing A320s is a tad difficult because the aircraft is a good performer. If one wants to resort to leasing A320s, odds are that the aircraft will be poorly maintained or really old such as the case when JQ received former Spirit Airlines' Airbus A321s.

It's easy to attract premium passengers, 3K could explore the jetBlue model but let's not get ahead of ourselves with a single promise of hope from the airline.

I pulled this out from airlineroute.blogspot.com

Looks like LCCs are already making their mark on the SIN-KUL sector.


SIA new Kuala Lumpur schedule tweak

As of 23OCT08 Amadeus timetable update, Singapore Airlines has further tweaked its schedule on Singapore - Kuala Lumpur route from 01DEC08. On Selected days, existing SIA service will be operated by SilkAir. Original plan called for SIA 4 Daily and SilkAir 4 Daily.

SQ106/107 on Day 67 becomes SQ5324/5323 (MI334/333)
SQ116/117 on Day 67 becomes SQ5328/5327 (MI338/337)

This means that on Day 67, SIA is only operating 2 Daily flights to Kuala Lumpur

http://www.airtrading.com/s_a320.gif
This is for sales and leasing worldwide.

Source: http://www.airtrading.com/a320.htm

AirAsia to add one more frequency to Singapore

SEPANG: AirAsia Bhd is adding one more additional frequency to Singapore from its Kuala Lumpur hub, due to an overwhelming response from its guests, the low-cost carrier said yesterday.

With the new addition, AirAsia will now have a total of seven daily direct flights from Kuala Lumpur-Singapore starting Dec 1, 2008.

In a statement yesterday, AirAsia said to celebrate the new frequency, it was offering free seats and waiving the fuel surcharges. Passengers will have to bear the taxes and administration fee.

This offer is available exclusively online at www.airasia.com for the booking period from Oct 23 to Oct 28 for the travel period from Dec 1 to July 31, 2009.

AirAsia regional head of commercial Kathleen Tan, said: “We have been steadily building up our presence in the Lion City, having only recently announced four additional frequencies from Kuala Lumpur and new daily flights from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching to Singapore in October alone."

"There are robust demands between the two major cities and tourist gateway in the region. Since its inception last February, we have recorded over 90% load. We are confident that this new additional frequency will do just as well."

Jointly, the AirAsia group will have a total of 101 flights weekly to Singapore from various points in the region which include 49 flights weekly from Kuala Lumpur, seven weekly from Kota Kinabalu, seven weekly from Kuching, seven weekly from Phuket, 28 weekly from Bangkok and three flights weekly from Pekanbaru, Indonesia.

-theedgedaily.com

Leasing A320s is a tad difficult because the aircraft is a good performer. If one wants to resort to leasing A320s, odds are that the aircraft will be poorly maintained or really old such as the case when JQ received former Spirit Airlines' Airbus A321s.

It's easy to attract premium passengers, 3K could explore the jetBlue model but let's not get ahead of ourselves with a single promise of hope from the airline.

jetBlue model sounds good! Similar to Virgin Blue (ironically JQ's arch enemy), where they also cater to slightly more premium passengers, cost a bit more than Ultra LCCs, but still way less than a full cost airline. Now, wouldn't you say its about time that PTVs get installed? =P Work with mediacorp for 'live' tv or mob-tv like on-demand tv shows, or even US/HK/Taiwan/Korean based tv stations for their programs and movie distributors for movies (PPV). It would be a good selling point since no other asian LCC has 'em, and would be an alternative source of revenue, especially on longer flights. I'd imagine that the auntie who just spent 5 days overseas on holiday would want to catch up on her channel 8 7pm drama serials on a 4 hour flight, no? Okay, thats getting abit ahead of ourselves...

JQ doesn't have alot of Perth-based aircraft. It only flies to Melbourne Avalon, Melbourne Tulamarine


Jetstar have very Quietly canned all Adelaide and Perth flights out of Avalon. All have been transferred to Tullamarine, and all retimed. All new flight times basically match the Tiger ones. Of course with TT doing well on ADL/PER runs, JQ just can not have this!

I wouldn't have a clue if its involved in the whole Jetstar International expansion from Perth, but they have announced PER-CNS, PER-ADL. Amazing promo fares also..

Jetstar Asia celebrates 4th birthday with 44,444 free seats

Jetstar Asia celebrates its fourth year in Singapore with a host of promotions including free seats and special fares.

44, 444 free seats to 11 destinations like Kuala Lumpur, Macau and Bangkok are up for grabs from October 28 to November 3, with Citibank card holders getting priority bookings today and tomorrow.

Bookings must be made on www.ilovejetstar.com and is valid for travel between January 5 and June 30, 2009.

Flights to Bali, Hong Kong, Taipei and Manila will also be priced from $14.44 to $44.44 as part of this anniversary promotion.

In addition, the Singapore-owned budget carrier will be offering S$4,444 worth of complimentary hotel stays.

To qualify for a full reimbursement of hotel accommodation, passengers simply have to book their hotel stays on www.ilovejetstar.com together with their free flights.

The hotel bookings are to coincide with the promotion and travel period of the free seats bookings.

Ms Chong Phit Lian, Chief Executive Officer, Jetstar Asia/ Valuair said, "These treats are our way of saying thank you to all Jetstar Asia's passengers. We look forward to many more good years and being of service to many more satisfied passengers."

For other anniversary promotions, please visit www.ilovejetstar.com

-Asiaone

In ilovejetstar.com, they've really gone all the way with their 4th anniversary celebrations... Looks crazy.

Oh dear! Not to be superstitious and all, but so many 4s! Especially for an airline.. sheesh.. maybe I'm just old fashioned

Well, 2008 hasn't been a very good year at all. 08-08-08 was a media fiasco. Naming the Boeing 787 did nothing to improve the luck of the plane that is being delayed for almost 15 months and counting. Airbus A380 also resulted in a 20 month long delay. And okto looks like a joke too. Okto is Greek for 8.

Perhaps embracing life as it is, embracing the problems and troubles is the right way to go??

Maybe Asians have got it wrong on 8 being a lucky number eh?

Well, some Malays like 4 because empat (4) rhymes with dapat (gets). Just FYI.

4 or no 4, its great publicity. Something to note though, in all the newspaper ads and even in ilovejetstar.com, there was no mention of jetstar Asia like they do in normal ads, its all just Jetstar. Hints or re-warming ties? (or am I just reading too much into it)
http://www.jetstar.com/~/media/images/logos/logo.ml http://www.jetstarasia.com/im/logo.jpg
Jetstar VS Jetstar Asia

The brand is bigger than individual airlines.

Thursday, October 30, 2008, 12:00 Hrs [IST]
Tiger Airways considering Hyderabad - Aviation Outlook Asia
Charmaine Fernz | Singapore

The low cost carrier of Singapore, Tiger Airways that currently operates out of two destination in India ie Bangalore and Chennai would soon be considering a third destination. Currently the airline operates one daily flight with an Airbus A320 from both destinations. Says a source from the airline, We have been low profile in the market primarily because we have few services and do not want to increase the demand without capacity. In addition to the two destinations, we would also be considering Hyderabad as the third South Destination in India."

The airline more than promoting outbound traffic from India very aggressively promotes inbound traffic to Indians in Singapore, a better alternative to Singapore Airlines and Air India, thereby offering value for money airfares. The only hurdles to the carriers growth is the endless rules and regulations within the Indian Aviation industry.

Tiger Airways now flies to more than 25 destinations across 9 countries in Asia-Pacific on a fleet of brand new Airbus A320 aircraft.

No more ads, but 'free seats' to stay for Jetstar Asia birthday promo
Thu, Oct 30, 2008
AsiaOne
>by Adrian Lim

4th anniversary! 44, 444 free seats! Fares from $0.

Airline advertisements which scream zero-dollar seats and rock-bottom prices are set to be a thing of the past in Singapore come November 1.

Starting next month, the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) will require travel agents and airlines to advertise full fares so travellers know right away how much their air ticket or holiday will cost, reported The Straits Times last week.

Advertisement in a local newspaper on Oct 29

Jetstar Asia is likely to be the first airline affected by the new ruling, as the ASAS guidelines kick in during the budget carrier's 4th anniversary promotions, which run from October 28 to November 3.

The deals offered include 44, 444 free seats, and special fares to destinations like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta from $0.

The locally-owned budget carrier has told AsiaOne that it will not run any more advertisements for this campaign from November 1, but will continue to have free seats and fares listed at $0 on its website till the promotion ends.

Mr Raphael Saw, Head of Commercial, Jetstar Asia said: "We don't want to confuse the consumers, so we will stop the ads from November 1, but the fares on the website for this promotion will stay."

Mr Saw said that planning for this anniversary offer started one-and-a-half months back, but the new ruling was only conveyed to the industry two-weeks ago.

Jetstar Asia does not expect sales to suffer because of this halt in advertising during the offer period. Mr Saw said that sales have been moving fast and the promotional website ilovejetstar.com has been receiving many hits.

"We fully embrace the full price listing. In the future, what will be communicated in advertisements will be the same as the website," he added.

Starting next month, the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) will require travel agents and airlines to advertise full fares so travellers know right away how much their air ticket or holiday will cost, reported The Straits Times last week.
Finally!!! No more $0 flights (with $500 tax!) Hope this includes all travel-related ads...

Does it include airline advertising from their websites. Like as in TR does, will they have to advertise "all in fares" on thei SIN homepage now???

Does it include airline advertising from their websites. Like as in TR does, will they have to advertise "all in fares" on thei SIN homepage now???

Now on their website...

Hmm... in the newspapers, Airlines are advertising all-in fares and so are Coach companies for SIN-KUL/PEN return rides... but apparently not travel agents... I saw a 2 page ad in WeekendToday that advertised non-inclusive fares (6D/5N $800 to sydney? yeah right...)

Out of Curiosity, does Tiger Airways Singapore advertise. Do they advertise in newspaper and so on regualry?

Yeah, actually Tiger Singapore frequently advertises on the newspaper but its a "blink-and-you-miss-it" thing.

I was at T1 this morning and realized 3K is back to using Jetstar on the huge display boards and check-in screen. Have they gotten married again?

Changi's LCD TVs still show the "Jetstar Asia" designation.

I notice Tiger downunder undertalking a servere advertising campaign of late(radio, paper, and just getting their name around the place..). So thanks for the Singapore knowledge there "ddes".

Not easy to always cope for other airlines down here in MEL when Jetstar have billboards all over the place, 50 tv ads a day, newspaper ads everyday. So tiger better try hard to keep up here in Melbourne.

In Singapore, Tiger actually advertises far less than 3K and its ads are usually TINY, black & white and hidden among other ads somewhere in the review section of The Straits Times. Tiger's ads have always shown one one price (SGD0.05) in large font with the Tiger strips background... as opposed to Jetstar who regularly advertise on the Today free Newspaper with ads taking the bottom quater of the front or front few pages in bright orange. Jetstar always display different prices for most of its destinations, instead of Tiger's one price of 5 cents. In its recent 4th anniversary celebrations, it even took the entire first and 2nd page of a newspaper in full color!

Looks like Tiger are getting minimal bookings with Jetstar having the $0 sale and all.

Tiger calls Jetstar ads “misleading”

With newly enforced advertising standard laws in Singapore forcing airlines to
more clearly advertise taxes and surcharges, Tiger has accused Jetstar of non-compliance.

From Saturday the 1st of November, Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) guidelines stipulate that all airlines must advertise fares inclusive of taxes and surcharges.

Despite this, Jetstar continues to advertise their $0* sale fares through its website.

“Tiger Airways has always said that it would comply with any requirement to show fully inclusive fares, provided that any such requirement applied to all airlines,” said Tony Davis Tiger Airways CEO.

“By failing to do so, Jetstar are seeking to mislead consumers and distort competition in a manner that treats the new requirements with contempt.”

Jetstar has defended leaving the sale up, saying that the fare was launched before the ruling came into effect.

If any travel company fails to comply with the new rulings, the ASAS has the right to ask media owners to withdraw the ads from air

I think it will be harder for Jetstar to generally comply because its booking system is very integrated with BL/3K/VF/JQ and even QF. Just book a non- 3K/VF sector and the hidden charges start popping up.

But this new ruling has really shed new light on Tiger's general pricing.

I think many passengers, like me, are giving second thoughts to Jetstar, once perceived as an expensive low cost airline. But now, I see that this is not the case and that Jetstar's prices are generally only very slightly more expensive than Tiger's.

I did a dummy booking of SIN- PER return. Tiger charges SGD 701 without including check-in baggage charge or food. Jetstar charges SGD 771 with hot meals and blanket and more luggage allowance.

Jetstar drived TR out of Darwin basically, do you think that JQ will drive TR out of Perth? Tiger already canned the 2daily option, and are back to a single daily. Tiger might be cheaper in sales sometimes, and have a lower cost base, just Jetstar really do get their name and brand out there much more than Tiger does.

Tiger really needs to spend a tad more on brand awareness. Even AirAsia, Jetstar and even Lion Air are advertising more than Tiger.

As an LCC, Tiger has lost the advantage that a typical low cost carrier has; the claim of zero dollar fares, which in itself, is possible to create news on its own.

Now that Singapore has "reset" that and demanded inclusive fares to be advertised, the airline has lost its "advantage".

JQ can drive TR out of PER, once they do that, TT will go.

Tiger Airways - Why do fuel surcharges exist?

Tiger Airways has never had a fuel surcharge and has wondered why other airlines have needlessly implemented them. As such Tiger Airways is calling for other so-called low cost carriers to immediately remove this arbitrary charge.

Steve Burns Chief Operating Officer of Tiger Airways said “Tiger Airways has never had a fuel surcharge so we don’t need to reduce it by token amounts. What has amazed me is that other airlines that had no hesitation in immediately increasing their fuel price went up have not immediately removed them once it has dropped by 60%”

Instead of implementing an unfair fuel surcharge across all customers Tiger Airways empowered travellers to make a choice about how much baggage they required and therefore only pay for what they use through baggage upsize.

Steve Burns said “if you want to take your whole wardrobe on holidays with you then we won’t stop you. But we do ensure that other travellers aren’t paying for the weight of your bags.”

Steve Burns added, “Our focus on keeping costs low has ensured that Tiger Airways continues to offer low low fares. For example this week we have 33% off our fares for destinations across our network. So not only do we not whack you with a fuel surcharge we are consistently giving you low low fares.”

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 12-Nov-08

Tiger eyes Hyderabad as third Indian destination news
30 October 2008

Singapore: Singapore-based low cost carrier, Tiger Airways, currently operating services to two Indian destinations, Bangalore and Chennai, may be mulling launch of services to a third city in the country. This, according to airline sources, is very likely going to be Hyderabad, another metro in the southern part of the country.

The Singapore Changi airport-based carrier currently operates one daily flight to both Chennai and Bangalore with an A320.

The airline has been positioning itself aggressively to Indians traveling out of Singapore as a viable alternative to full service carriers, such as Air India and Singapore International Airlines.

Tiger Airways now flies to more than 25 destinations across 9 countries in the Asia-Pacific region with a fleet of brand new A320 aircraft. Located at its hub in Singapore's Changi Airport, Tiger is currently the largest low-cost airline operating out of Singapore in terms of passengers carried.

Tiger Airways stopped its Manila (Clark)- Macau service already? It's not bookable and neither is it on the route map.

I think they need the planes to go to east malaysia.

I think they need the planes to go to east malaysia.

Yes. This is right.

Tiger Airways to launch daily flights between Singapore and Kota Kinabalu
Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Tiger Airways is to increase its flights to East Malaysia with the commencement of a daily flight service between Singapore and Kota Kinabalu from 1 March 2009. With the new service, Tiger Airways will operate 14 flights a week between Singapore and East Malaysia, with a daily service to both Kota Kinabalu and Kuching – services between Singapore and Kuching start on 20 November 2008.

Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore said, “Since 2004 we have been asking the governments of both countries to allow Tiger Airways to link Singapore and East Malaysia with our low fare services. Today we celebrate the positive steps that Singapore and Malaysia’s governments have taken to liberalize air travel between the two countries. The introduction low, low fares by Tiger Airways will provide an important economic booster to trade and tourism between the two cities and stimulate further economic growth.”

Due to the recent route opportunities that are presenting themselves in East Malaysia, Tiger Airways has decided to cancel its operations between Manila (Clark) and Macau from 16 November 2008. This move does not affect flights between Singapore and Manila (Clark) and Singapore and Macau which will continue to operate.

Tiger Airways currently operates 13 flights a week between Singapore and Macau, and 7 flights a week between Singapore – Manila (Clark) and will be applying to increase services on both routes.

This is really confusing news but...

Tiger Airways to expand its Singapore Fleet in 2009 with two A319s
Monday, 24 November 2009

Tiger Airways has announced plans to expand its fleet in Singapore with the addition of two Airbus A319s in 2009.

Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore said, “Given the rate of liberalisation occurring in the ASEAN region, Tiger Airways is quickly taking 2 more brand new aircraft into its Singapore based fleet.

“The beauty of having smaller A320 family aircraft is that we have a plane that is 98% the same as our A320s but with less seats and a lower operating cost. This is the perfect aircraft for route development and ensures that the airline is in the right position to exploit new opportunities as they are presented.”

The A319 has been successfully operated with low fare airlines across the world such as Easyjet and Spirit in the US.

Rosalynn Tay said “the A319 is a proven low fare aircraft type. With these additional aircraft we have the opportunity to aggressively expand our paw print to more destinations with our famous low low fares.”
Tiger Airways is currently recruiting pilots, cabin crew and support staff to be based in Singapore and is encouraging those interested to find out more information at www.tigerairways.com .

Congressional franchise makes Seair optimistic
Written by Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo
Sunday, 23 November 2008 22:20

LEISURE carrier Southeast Asian Airlines Inc. (Seair) has just been granted a franchise to operate domestic and international routes by the Philippine Congress.

The franchise is expected to boost Seair’s value, making it more attractive to potential buyers, according to an airline official and a legislator who coauthored a bill granting the franchise.

Seair owners, led by the foreign partnership of Iren Dornier and Nikos Gitsis and the Filipino group of Tomas Lopez Jr., have been trying to negotiate for a buyout of their shares with prospective investors, after their talks with Filipino-Chinese businessman Alfredo Yao fell through in May. Dornier and Gitsis own 40 percent of Seair while the rest of the shares are owned by Lopez’s group. Yao wanted to merge the operations of Seair with that of Zest Airways, formerly Asian Spirit, which he acquired in March 2008.

As this developed, a Seair official said the airline is still on an expansion mode and unaffected by the current global economic crisis which is seen dampening tourism worldwide. In its October 2008 report, the World Tourism Organization projected global tourism growth slowing down to a range of zero percent to 2 percent for 2009, from a revised growth of 2 percent to 3 percent in 2008. Average tourism growth from 2004 to 2007 was 7 percent.

Interviewed over the weekend, Seair president Avelino Zapanta said the law granting the carrier’s congressional franchise was recently signed by Sen. Manuel Villar, “among his last acts as Senate President,” and is now in Malacañang “awaiting the signature of President Arroyo.”

He said the Senate virtually adopted House Bill (HB) 3788, coauthored by Reps. Eleajandro Jesus Madrona, Ferjenel Biron, Teodoro Locsin Jr., et al.—who comprise the House Committee on Legislative Franchises—which is “more complete than that of the Senate’s bill.”

Through Committee Report 97, HB 3788 was endorsed for approval by the Senate Committee on Public Services, chaired by Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, on August 28, “without amendment, taking into consideration Senate Bill (SB) 2376.” The latter was coauthored by Senators Ponce Enrile and Juan Miguel Zubiri. SB 2376 is likewise a proposed legislation granting Seair the “franchise to establish, operate and maintain domestic and international air transport services, with Clarkfield, Pampanga as its base.”

Seair’s congressional franchise has a term of 25 years upon the law’s effectivity.

Meanwhile, in a text message from London, Locsin said the congressional franchise “gives Seair permanency,” such that its operations cannot just be indiscriminately cancelled by any government agency without due cause.

This was echoed by Zapanta, who said the franchise gives the airline “a sense of legitimacy; that we’re not operating like a colorum anymore.” Colorum is a Filipino term usually applied to jeepneys and buses which do not have the license to ply certain routes. While it flies without a congressional franchise, Seair has a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), allowing the carrier to operate scheduled flight services.

Locsin added that with the franchise, the airline “can also borrow [loans], as well as sell its equity at a premium.”

Asked about the advantage of having a congressional franchise, considering that Seair has been operating and expanding since 1995, Zapanta explained that while “some banks will probably consider that [an airline’s franchise] before extending a loan, until you sell that airline, that value [of having a congressional franchise] is not actually manifested. It strengthens your value.”

The airline executive agreed that now that Seair has acquired its franchise, its owners could demand a higher price from potential buyers. When Yao group’s offered to buy out Seair’s owners, the latter were only offered $2 million (worth P84.63 million in May) in cash. With the congressional franchise, industry analysts estimate that Seair owners can now command even “three times that amount.”

Zapanta said the congressional franchise also gives the airline tax incentives such as duty-free importation of capital equipment and income tax holidays.

Locsin, meanwhile, said the franchise would enable Seair to continue flying, fostering competition among the airlines. “I believe that when you have more competition in the industry, it can only result in better service for the airline travelers.”

Meanwhile, Zapanta said Seair remains optimistic about the local and regional tourism market despite projections that the global financial crisis will slow down international travel beginning next year. “We’re bullish and even expanding our routes. We recently were allowed to operate in Singapore, for instance.”

On November 28, the airline will commence flights to Kota Kinabalu; in April 2009, Singapore and Macau; August 2009, Bangkok and Hong Kong, as well as Cebu and Davao; and in September 2009, “we’re looking at Inchon, Kuala Lumpur and Kaohsiung,” he added. All new flights will be out of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, which has more liberal aviation policies.

He stressed that the regional flights are “basically a Seair operation,” but using two aircraft, Airbus 320s, leased from Tiger Airways, a budget carrier based in Singapore. On July 31, the CAB approved the lease agreement between Seair and Tiger Air, two years after both carriers signed it. Local airlines had been opposing the agreement, saying it was a prelude to granting fifth freedom rights to Tiger Air, which they claimed would fly local destinations using Seair.

Fifth freedom rights allow an airline to pick up passengers from one country, transport them to another country, pick up passengers there, and fly to yet another country, like Philippine Airlines’s Manila-Vancouver-Las Vegas-Manila route.

Under the terms of its congressional franchise and in accordance with provisions in the Philippine Constitution on public utilities, Seair is also mandated to offer at least 30 percent of its outstanding capital stock to the public, “within five years from commencement of its operations.” But under the rules of the Philippine Stock Exchange, a company may list its shares in the market after three years of continued profitability. However, in certain instances, this requirement has been waived, as in the case of mining companies and small and medium enterprises.

In May this year, Seair owners rejected the offer of Yao to purchase 60 percent of the airline, because they felt it was a very low price for their shares. While the agreement between both groups was for Yao to purchase Seair for $3.75 million (P158 million then), the actual cash involved would only be $2 million.

Airline’s additional flight to S’pore
by Angela Sargunan

newsdesk@thesundaily.com

DUE to overwhelming response from its guests, AirAsia will be adding one more frequency to Singapore from its Kuala Lumpur hub.

With this addition, the largest and leading low-cost carrier in Asia will now have a total of seven daily direct flights from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore commencing Dec 1.

To celebrate this new frequency, AirAsia is offering free seats and waiving the fuel surcharges (terms apply), so guests will have to bear the taxes and administration fee only.

The offer is available exclusively online at AirAsia’s website www.airasia.com for the travel period from Dec 1 till July 31.

"We have been steadily building up our presence in the ‘Lion City’, having only recently announced four additional frequencies from Kuala Lumpur and new daily flights from Kota Kinabalu and Kuching to Singapore in October alone," said AirAsia commercial regional head Kathleen Tan.

"There are robust demands between the two major cities and tourist gateways in the region. Since its inception last February, we have recorded over 90% passenger load.

"We are confident that this additional flight will do just as well. We have over 108 routes and 60 destinations – the most extensive network compared with other budget carriers in the region.

"Our guests could benefit from our vast network to travel to other regional Asean cities or connect the long-haul sectors serviced by AirAsia X to Gold Coast, Perth, and Melbourne in Australia or to Hangzhou, China," she added.

In total, the AirAsia group will have 101 flights weekly to Singapore from various points in the region.

It includes 49 flights weekly from Kuala Lumpur, seven flights weekly from Kota Kinabalu, seven flights weekly from Kuching, seven flights weekly from Phuket, 28 flights weekly from Bangkok and three flights weekly from Pekanbaru, Indonesia.

Updated: 10:49AM Mon, 24 Nov 2008

This is really confusing news but...

Tiger Airways to expand its Singapore Fleet in 2009 with two A319s
Monday, 24 November 2009

Tiger Airways has announced plans to expand its fleet in Singapore with the addition of two Airbus A319s in 2009.

Rosalynn Tay, Managing Director of Tiger Airways Singapore said, “Given the rate of liberalisation occurring in the ASEAN region, Tiger Airways is quickly taking 2 more brand new aircraft into its Singapore based fleet.

“The beauty of having smaller A320 family aircraft is that we have a plane that is 98% the same as our A320s but with less seats and a lower operating cost. This is the perfect aircraft for route development and ensures that the airline is in the right position to exploit new opportunities as they are presented.”

The A319 has been successfully operated with low fare airlines across the world such as Easyjet and Spirit in the US.

Rosalynn Tay said “the A319 is a proven low fare aircraft type. With these additional aircraft we have the opportunity to aggressively expand our paw print to more destinations with our famous low low fares.”
Tiger Airways is currently recruiting pilots, cabin crew and support staff to be based in Singapore and is encouraging those interested to find out more information at www.tigerairways.com .
I believe this is simply a mistake on the reporters part. AFAIK, the 2 A319s are going to Tiger Australia (MSN3757 &3801) for their new based which requires lower capacity aircraft due to potentially lower demand or because they serve smaller airports. There are currently 9 Singapore registered Tiger 320s(9V-TAA to I) and 3 Aus Registered A320s. Tiger Singapore is set to expand with 1 more A320. (MSN3734 future 9V-TAJ)
On November 28, the airline will commence flights to Kota Kinabalu; in April 2009, Singapore and Macau; August 2009, Bangkok and Hong Kong, as well as Cebu and Davao; and in September 2009, “we’re looking at Inchon, Kuala Lumpur and Kaohsiung,” he added. All new flights will be out of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark, Pampanga, which has more liberal aviation policies.

He stressed that the regional flights are “basically a Seair operation,” but using two aircraft, Airbus 320s, leased from Tiger Airways, a budget carrier based in Singapore. On July 31, the CAB approved the lease agreement between Seair and Tiger Air, two years after both carriers signed it. Local airlines had been opposing the agreement, saying it was a prelude to granting fifth freedom rights to Tiger Air, which they claimed would fly local destinations using Seair.
This agreement has dragged on for some years now, and involves SEair operating Tiger-liverly aircraft and with Tiger Singapore transfering its SIN-Clark and Clark-Macau flights to SEAir. The two A320s will also operate domestic flights to Daveo and Cebu in Tiger colors under SEAir codes but are technically Tiger-branded. This was the partnership deal (that everyone thought has fallen through) in the Philippines that Tiger was talking about in 2006 but Authorities did not approve the lease deal until recently because of the flights being marketed as Tiger flights operated by SEAir.

I'm not sure how this 'lease deal' would work, but my guess is that the single Clark based Tiger 320 will directly (in april 09) go to SEAir and maybe another new 320 will be transferred when Tiger gets it in August 09. But I think SEAir and Tiger may 'share' aircraft, meaning SEAir would not get 2 fixed aircraft, but would operate Singapore registered 320s that can be used and exchanged by either Airline when needed, makes more sense from an operational point of view...

It seems like plans may have changed regarding the placement of the Airbus A319s because 2 A320s are going to Adelaide instead as this recently pulled article shows...

Which is quite expected since although TT is not making money, it is seeing quite high loads in Australia with its price-setting fares.

Tiger Airways to take delivery of A320 to launch Adelaide base

Tiger Airways Australia will be taking delivery of two new Airbus A320 aircraft to launch its base in Adelaide in early 2009 . The A320s replace previously announced A319s due to the response to the recently announced Tiger Airways routes from Adelaide to Perth, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne and Alice Springs.

New services between Adelaide and Canberra will also operate from Mar-09, taking the initial Tiger Airways route network from Adelaide to 6 destinations.

The larger A320 aircraft will result in 200,000 additional seats a year for South Australia. This additional capacity will give even more Australians access to the Tiger Airways low fare revolution sweeping across Australia, as well as creating more jobs and economic benefits for the South Australian economy.

Tony Davis, CEO and President of Tiger Aviation said at the South Australian Investment Symposium that “South Australia is a perfect place for Tiger Airways to grow its low fare airline. We have seen our business model warmly embraced by the South Australian community with strong forward sales and as a result we will now establish our base in Adelaide with 2 larger A320 aircraft that have 180 rather than 144 seats. That’s 25% more seats or in other words an additional 200,000 low fare Tiger Airways seats a year for South Australia.”

In celebration of this announcement Tiger Airways has released more free seats between Adelaide and Hobart, Alice Springs, Gold coast and Melbourne just pay airport charges and tax from AUD20.64 for Adelaide routes. Just pay airport charges and tax of between AUD20 to AUD27 only depending on the route.

Tony Davis said “ In securing a new Tiger Airways operating base in Adelaide, South Australia has unlocked substantial additional benefits both in direct terms through job creation, more access to key markets and lower fares for consumers and through indirect downstream jobs in industries such as tourism.”

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 21-Nov-08

It seems like plans may have changed regarding the placement of the Airbus A319s because 2 A320s are going to Adelaide instead as this recently pulled article shows...

Which is quite expected since although TT is not making money, it is seeing quite high loads in Australia with its price-setting fares.

Tiger Airways to take delivery of A320 to launch Adelaide base

Tiger Airways Australia will be taking delivery of two new Airbus A320 aircraft to launch its base in Adelaide in early 2009 . The A320s replace previously announced A319s due to the response to the recently announced Tiger Airways routes from Adelaide to Perth, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne and Alice Springs.

New services between Adelaide and Canberra will also operate from Mar-09, taking the initial Tiger Airways route network from Adelaide to 6 destinations.

The larger A320 aircraft will result in 200,000 additional seats a year for South Australia. This additional capacity will give even more Australians access to the Tiger Airways low fare revolution sweeping across Australia, as well as creating more jobs and economic benefits for the South Australian economy.

Tony Davis, CEO and President of Tiger Aviation said at the South Australian Investment Symposium that “South Australia is a perfect place for Tiger Airways to grow its low fare airline. We have seen our business model warmly embraced by the South Australian community with strong forward sales and as a result we will now establish our base in Adelaide with 2 larger A320 aircraft that have 180 rather than 144 seats. That’s 25% more seats or in other words an additional 200,000 low fare Tiger Airways seats a year for South Australia.”

In celebration of this announcement Tiger Airways has released more free seats between Adelaide and Hobart, Alice Springs, Gold coast and Melbourne just pay airport charges and tax from AUD20.64 for Adelaide routes. Just pay airport charges and tax of between AUD20 to AUD27 only depending on the route.

Tony Davis said “ In securing a new Tiger Airways operating base in Adelaide, South Australia has unlocked substantial additional benefits both in direct terms through job creation, more access to key markets and lower fares for consumers and through indirect downstream jobs in industries such as tourism.”

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 21-Nov-08

As a frequent Tiger flyer down in Melbourne, this was obvious news in the coming. Load factors across many routes here are frequently 99% full(There is always 2 or 3 seats, but never sold out!), and Tiger wouldn't want to miss out on opportunites when capacity is there.

Melbourne-Gold Coast/Sunshine Coast are really booming routes at the moment

3K has returned to Pattaya!!

For a few days now, it has been flying to Pattaya's U-Tapao Airport as with many of the international airlines including Singapore Airlines. Tiger Airways has completely cancelled its flights to Bangkok till December 1 at the earliest, choosing not to offer a reduced schedule to U-Tapao.

3K has returned to Pattaya!!

For a few days now, it has been flying to Pattaya's U-Tapao Airport as with many of the international airlines including Singapore Airlines. Tiger Airways has completely cancelled its flights to Bangkok till December 1 at the earliest, choosing not to offer a reduced schedule to U-Tapao.

U-tapao at the moment cannot handle more flights - limited landing slots due to limited facilities and equipments to handle more planes and passengers.

So many major airlines bring in bigger jets ranging from A330 to Boeing 777.

Tiger Airways continued to add in more flights at other Thai airports - Same for Silkair, Jetstar and SIA.

I wonder if it is a coincidence but Jetstar was the first unofficial international flight to land in Suvarnabhumi when it opened in 2006 and now, Jetstar was the first airline to use the U-Tapao when the demonstration happened.

U-tapao at the moment cannot handle more flights - limited landing slots due to limited facilities and equipments to handle more planes and passengers.

So many major airlines bring in bigger jets ranging from A330 to Boeing 777.

Tiger Airways continued to add in more flights at other Thai airports - Same for Silkair, Jetstar and SIA.
I believe the problem isn't landing slots (I mean u can land a plane every what? 2 minutes?), but rather the airports lack of facilities to handle passengers. (security, check in, etc) So whether you have 3 A320s or 1 777, if they have the same no. of pax, its not much of a difference.

Oh and SIA seems to be able to turn every situation into a publicity opportunity... I think it would be a good idea to send the 380 there (given the very laxed schedule they fly, i bet they could spare 3 or 4 hours to make UTP return). This way, they'd probably even get non-SIA pax on board and earn money by ticketing them on SQ from SIN to their final destination too... Or they could tie up with Thai, their fellow star alliance partner by flying Thai pax out... ($$$)

Okay, I should stop dreaming.... heh...
I wonder if it is a coincidence but Jetstar was the first unofficial international flight to land in Suvarnabhumi when it opened in 2006 and now, Jetstar was the first airline to use the U-Tapao when the demonstration happened.
Probably a case of Jetstar being proactive... btw, I don't think 3K was the first flight out, I thought CX, MH, KE got there before them...

Oh and does anyone know if other 3K flights got disrupted due to the rescue flights? I heard the last 3k BKK-SIN flight didn't get out, meaning they have one jet still stuck at BKK? And since the rescue flights were stuck on the UPT tarmac for hours on hours waiting for pax... surely other 3K flights were affected given their limited fleet?

I believe the problem isn't landing slots (I mean u can land a plane every what? 2 minutes?), but rather the airports lack of facilities to handle passengers. (security, check in, etc) So whether you have 3 A320s or 1 777, if they have the same no. of pax, its not much of a difference.



Limited facilities always lead to limited landing slots despite ample spaces for more planes to park. Thai authorities know their flaws and they did their very best to send angry travellers home.

Extremely frustrating for all parties. Communications can break down due to low tech equipments at U-tapao air base. Several planes were reported to fly out half empty.

MAS plane had been turned back KL recently after the thai authorities could not cope with increasing crowds at airport and alot of planes on the ground. Obviously, Thai authorities are not prepared to face such situations.

This is why many other airlines choose not to add the burden. This also explains why many major airlines have one or two landing slots at U-tapao, with bigger jets only.

Many european airlines have upgraded their jets to bigger ones at other existing operational Thai airports and add more flights there. So Asian carriers did the same.

Unfortunately, Thailand does not invest heavily in rail infrastructure - that would definitely help to cope with crowds at least.

This really gives us valuable lessons. Authorities should be well-prepared to launch any contingent plans in event of important infrastructure being disabled.

Oh and does anyone know if other 3K flights got disrupted due to the rescue flights? I heard the last 3k BKK-SIN flight didn't get out, meaning they have one jet still stuck at BKK? And since the rescue flights were stuck on the UPT tarmac for hours on hours waiting for pax... surely other 3K flights were affected given their limited fleet?

Total of 88 stranded jets (Thai and all foreign carriers) have left Suvarnabhumi Airport yesterday.

Bangkok - Civil Unrest
JETSTAR ASIA LATEST UPDATE (Singapore, 29 November 2008, 5:15pm)
Extract from Jetstar Asia website

Jetstar Asia's flight 3K513 and 3K514 are delayed.
Saturday, 29 November 2008 evening flights are delayed.

The delayed flight schedule is:
Singapore – Utapao 3K513 9:15pm – 10:35pm
Utapao – Singapore 3K514 2:20am – 5:55am

We advise all passengers to only show up at U-Tapao International Airport after they have confirmed their reservations with Jetstar Asia.


Limited Flights from U-Tapao
Extract from Singapore Airlines website

In an effort to help clear some of the build-up of customers affected by the closure of Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, Singapore Airlines is operating a twice-daily service between U-Tapao and Singapore. U-Tapao is located approximately 200 kilometres from Bangkok. At this time, flights will be operating on a twice-daily basis from U-Tapao up till Wednesday, 3 December. A decision will be made in due course on operations beyond Wednesday depending on the situation and continuing demand.

Flights are planned to depart U-Tapao at 14:00 and 19:00 local time. However, facilities at U-Tapao are very basic and the airport is heavily congested, so customers should be prepared for lengthy delays. We apologise in advance for this inconvenience, but ask for your understanding that the airport at U-Tapao is not designed for movements of this scale

Singapore Airlines will endeavour to move customers in the order in which they were booked to travel; namely from the 26th of November onwards. The Airline seeks understanding from customers that it will not be possible to move everyone whose flights have been affected through U-Tapao, and that constraints at U-Tapao prevent operating more than a very limited schedule. Check-in and security clearance will take longer because of the lack of full-scale facilities at U-Tapao.

CATHAY PACIFIC TO MOUNT SPECIAL FLIGHTS FOR TRAVELLERS STRANDED IN THAILAND AS SCHEDULED SERVICES TO AND FROM BANGKOK REMAIN CANCELLED.
Extract from Cathay Pacific website

Cathay Pacific will mount special flights on 01 and 02 December to Utapao Airport, south of Bangkok, to bring travellers stranded in Thailand back to Hong Kong. Scheduled services to and from Bangkok on 01 December are cancelled.

The airline is sending a 385-seat capacity Boeing 777-300 from Hong Kong International airport in the morning at 09.30 Hong Kong time with scheduled arrival time at Utapao at 11.30 local time to pick up passengers. The return flight is scheduled to depart from Utapao at 13.30 local time and arrive Hong Kong at 17.30 Hong Kong time.

A Cathay Pacific spokesman said: We are trying our very best in very difficult circumstances to bring home as many people as we can, and we will certainly try to do more if conditions in Thailand allow us to do so.

The spokesman reminded passengers that facilities at Utapao Airport, a military airstrip, were severely limited.

Cathay Pacific appealed to passengers to be patient and understanding as staff at the airport were working under very difficult conditions in manually processing ticketing and boarding. Staff have also been working around the clock to cope with the situation.

The spokesman said that because of the limitations at the airport, passengers were strongly advised not to bring check-in luggage. Such luggage may need to be transferred to Phuket for later onward transmission back to Hong Kong, he added.

As a half-amateur aviation enthusiast, I would definitely love to be at U-Tapao right now to see the array of aircraft.

To some extent, Changi will benefit slightly from the situation in Suvarnabhumi. All Qantas/BA flights through BKK have been routed here, the Swiss flight is operating non-stop to SIN.

I think SQ now more than ever, will not be able to deploy the A380 to UTP even if they wanted to. For one, UTP cannot handle the A380 due largely to ground infrastructure problems. Secondly, I would think that SQ would be taking on extra burdens by taking in TG's Kangaroo route passengers which include passengers from connecting flights of Scandinavian Airlines and Austrian Airlines.

U-Tapao airport with a single runway (http://www.utapao.com/images/photo11.JPG)

Nearly 40 empty planes evacuated from Thai airport
Posted: 01 December 2008 1356 hrs

BANGKOK: Anti-government protesters have allowed 37 empty airliners to leave Bangkok's besieged main airport after agreeing to a request by Thai authorities, officials said Monday.

A total of 88 aircraft had been stranded at Suvarnabhumi international airport since demonstrators stormed the terminal and forced it to close last Tuesday, an Airports of Thailand spokeswoman said.

"Thirty-seven aircraft have left Suvarnabhumi since the first aircraft of Siam GA (a regional airline) took off on Sunday evening," the spokeswoman said.

"International airlines will have to contact us to take those stranded aircraft out of Suvarnabhumi."

The spokeswoman said that of the original 88 planes, 29 belong to flag carrier Thai Airways, 16 to Thai AirAsia and 15 to private-run Bangkok Airways.

The remaining 28 aircraft are from various other airlines, 12 of them belonging to the airlines of foreign countries.

No passengers were however allowed to leave through Suvarnabhumi, officials said.

The People's Alliance for Democracy protest movement has refused to leave the airport, and the smaller Don Mueang domestic hub in Bangkok which it has occupied since Thursday, until the government resigns.

About 100,000 travellers have been stranded in Thailand by the protests, with the main exodus point so far being the Vietnam War-era U-Tapao naval base 190 kilometres (118 miles) southeast of Bangkok.

Acting national police chief General Prateep Tanprasert said the agreement to let the empty planes leave Suvarnabhumi was helpful, adding that negotiations with the demonstrators were "progressing."

"There are positive signs such as the releasing of planes and allowing Muslim pilgrims to leave. We may still have a positive end at this stage," Prateep said.

Hundreds of Muslims who were trapped at Suvarnabhumi for days as they headed for the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia were taken to U-Tapao by bus on Sunday.

Foreign passengers began checking in Monday at special desks set up by airlines at hotels in Bangkok and a major convention centre in the capital, as part of a bid to ease the backlog, officials said.

Travellers have also been flying from regional hubs including the southern tourist town of Phuket and the northern city of Chiang Mai, where Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat himself is stranded.

Australian airline Qantas on Monday sent an extra plane to Phuket to bring home hundreds of travellers, while Air France-KLM said it would operate a similar flight.

The French government said a heavy transport plane would fly from the U-Tapao base. Spain has also sent two military planes and a chartered aircraft, which are due to arrive there on Monday.

Police say they will continue to hold talks with the demonstrators but have also issued them with orders to leave under a state of emergency declared at the airports last week by Somchai.

- AFP/yb

Extract from internet:

"Eleven of the remaining 51 aeroplanes belong to foreign airlines including Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Japan's All Nippon Airways and Scandinavian airline SAS, the kingdom's air traffic control agency said."

Daily KL-S’pore flights soar
Tuesday December 2, 2008
By B.K. SIDHU

PETALING JAYA: From yesterday, air travellers on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore route can choose 14 daily flights from low-cost carriers and more than 15 from full-service carriers.

This is a huge jump in choices from a year ago, which saw only Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines plying the route.

In February, low-cost carriers had begun launching limited flights.

But from Dec 1, all airlines in Malaysia and Singapore can launch flights between the two capital cities.

The change has come a month ahead of the liberalisation of the Asean Open Skies for capital cities.

Both AirAsia and Tiger Airways, which are flying seven and three to four flights respectively on the route, are eager to increase the frequencies.

AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes told StarBiz yesterday that he wanted to add an additional flight by next month when the airline took delivery of more aircraft.

“My target is to have 12 daily flights for stage one. Eventually we would like to have 24 flights daily or every half-hourly flight,’’ he said.

The response had been “fantastic’’ for the KL-Singapore route even though it was just day one of the sector’s full liberalisation, he said.

The budget airline sees its load factor averaging 75% on the route.

Tiger Airways chief executive Tony Davis told StarBiz from Singapore that the carrier had seen huge demand for its flights and would increase its frequency to five daily flights from three or four now on weekdays.

“Our loads are very good and we see strong consumer demand. We just saw our 3.30pm flight took off from Singapore to KL and there were only two empty seats out of the 180 seats in the aircraft,’’ Davis said.

National carrier MAS commercial director Datuk Abdul Rashid Khan, believes the Singapore-KL route has always been a springboard for connecting flights from KL International Airport (KLIA) to its global destinations such as outbound traffic from Singapore and likewise, for the return via KLIA.

“We will continue to leverage on (our) partnerships to remain competitive as well as profitable on this route,’’ he said in an e-mail response.

An SIA spokesman, in an e-mail reply said the opening of the sector was good for consumers and the airlines. Competition would force airlines to be more cost effective and innovative in the product and service offerings, he added.

“We offer competitive fares. The Singapore-KL route will now function like most other markets in the region. There will be price competition and fares will vary in line with demand,’’ the spokesman said.

MAS and AirAsia mount seven daily flights each on the route, SIA and SilkAir, four flights each, Tiger, three or four flights and JetStar, three.

Malaysia’s Firefly is still hoping to ply the route from Subang and is still awaiting the Government’s response, according to managing director Eddy Leong.

Singapore - KL flights set the stage in ASEAN open skies - first official concrete action by both governments.

This will be followed by other ASEAN nations to open up their capital cities from Dec 2008 to 2010 due to different internal procedures and political priorities, resulting in taking time to open up unlimited flights.

Malaysia has already gone further than just capital cities opening up flights to Singapore from different states in west and east Malaysia.

Single ASEAN aviation would be eventually implemented in ASEAN vision by 2015.

Singapore - KL flights set the stage in ASEAN open skies - first official concrete action by both governments. Singapore has always supported open skies, and it currently has open skies with Thailand (since 2004) and Brunei (since 2001) - the stage was set then and it was that step that has encourage ASEAN open skies. It doesn't yet have open skies with Malaysia yet though.

I'll bet both countries will not be willing to sign open skies with each other just yet. Sure, a more liberal revised bilateral air services agreement.

But open skies? Is Malaysia really ready for SQ to do SIN-KUL-LHR for example? Is Singapore really ready for D7 to do KUL-SIN-MEL for example?

I can't wait for Open Skies agreements with Vietnam and Indonesia. Those are the next grand prizes that Singapore will be aiming for as far as ASEAN is concerned.

What about the Philippines? It currently suffers from a lack of connectivity to the rest of the world. If SQ could provide enough frequency, it could capture an interesting slice of the philippines market to the mid east (lots of domestic workers and other professionals).

I think SQ's suspension of Amritsar clearly shows their target market. They want the premium market, not the back of the aircraft. Most of the traffic ex Philippines is very low yield VFR (visiting friends/relative) and domestic workers transport. While this will fill the the back of the aircraft, it'll do little for the front and that's also the reason why Philippines sees so few European airlines flying.

I think SQ could aim for the leisure/transport/VFR market but to do that, they would have to expand its fleet physically and in variety in order to adequately send proper aircraft to each destination. Doing this dilutes their traditional core premium business and that is why Silkair and to some extent, Tiger Airways was set up. They have decided the SQ way is a widebody aircraft with PTV plus the reputable SQ brand. But doing so restricts the growth of the airline as it needs to look for the best possible route which will promise good loads on First and Business, therefore their constant appetite for protected routes like HKG-JFK, SYD-LAX and MAD-MEX. Without more of these routes, it will not die but it will not grow either. Till now, Singapore Airlines' main role in aviation is the Kangaroo route and nothing more.

Anyway on KUL, with the damaged reputation of Thailand, I suspect KUL will be reeling in the benefits but once the wounds on Thailand heal, I suspect unless there is a signed Malaysia- Singapore open skies, the route will settle down more and LCCs will cut flights.

Jetstar launches Perth-Singapore services

Jetstar has commenced (02-Dec-08) its new daily Perth-Singapore service, Jetstar’s third international destination from the Western Australian capital to be introduced following the commencement of flights to Bali (Denpasar) and Jakarta in October.

The flight brings Jetstar’s international services from Perth to 14 per week, in addition to the existing double daily flights to Melbourne Airport. The airline’s services will be further bolstered with the commencement of daily flights from Perth to Adelaide from 02-Feb-09 and a three times weekly service to Cairns from 06-Feb-09.

Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan said, “Jetstar is focused on continuing to grow its short haul international flying into Asia from Australia, of which Perth is a vital port. Perth is an important component of our Australian network, encouraging easy and affordable business and leisure travel.”

“We have already flagged our intention to create a hub to Asia from Perth, and this goal remains.”

Mr Buchanan said strong forward bookings showed the Perth-Singapore route had great potential, maintaining its place as the third biggest international route in Australia in terms of traffic.

Mr Buchanan said, “Singapore is the biggest source of South East Asian traffic to Australia, with more than 263,000 visitors for the year ending 2007.”

Perth Airport CEO Brad Geatches welcomed the additional international Jetstar service departing from Perth.

Mr Geatches added, "In October, Jetstar introduced their first international services from Perth to Denpasar and Jakarta and this new route for Jetstar certainly provides more opportunities for Western Australians to travel to more places on low cost carriers. We look forward to seeing further expansion with Jetstar within the Perth market.”

Jetstar’s new services from Perth will be operated with Jetstar’s A320 fleet, offering 177 seats in a single class.

(c) Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. Date posted: 01-Dec-08

Jetstar Asia launches Flights between Singapore and Kota Kinabalu
Wednesday, 3 December 2008

Jetstar Asia has launched flights between Singapore and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. Currently flying to Kota Kinabalu 4 times a week, Jetstar Asia will increase this offering to daily flights starting from 20 December 2008.

“This is a noteworthy moment for us, we are elated to be offering a new travel destination for our passengers. This is also an important milestone in our expansion to Malaysia for Kota Kinabalu is a well known destination with much to offer in eco-tourism. The launch of our flights will make this destination more affordable. Seeing that it is also the year end school holidays, families can consider making their way to Kota Kinabalu for some quality family bonding time,” said CEO of Jetstar Asia and Valuair, Ms Chong Phit Lian.

Assistant Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment of Sabah, YB Bolkiah Hj Ismail added, “As the state capital of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu has a lot to offer; whether you are looking for an adventure filled escapade with family and friends or you are a businessman who likes to catch up with business associates over a game of golf, there is bound to be something which will appeal to any visitor. We have observed a steady increase in the number of Singaporean visitors and expect to welcome more with the commencement of Jetstar Asia flights.”

Set against lush greenery and surrounded by islands with sandy beaches, visitors to Kota Kinabalu can dive or snorkel at one of the five tropical islands of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Park. The more adventurous travellers can even try out white water rafting along Kiulu River or explore lowland rainforest and mangrove swamp on Gaya Island. Holidaymakers who are there for a relaxing getaway can visit the Kinabalu Park, the oldest park in Sabah, and pamper themselves with a therapeutic dip at the Poring Hot Spring.

AirAsia pioneer talks about more KL-Singapore flights
By Jennifer Chen, TODAY | Posted: 04 December 2008 1054 hrs

SINGAPORE: AirAsia chief executive officer Tony Fernandes was all glee on Monday when the low-cost carrier began the first of its seven daily flights from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur.

The reasons were many. At the top of the list was that his dream of total open skies between Singapore and KL had been realised. He compared the challenge of opening the route — which used to cost about S$400 return on full-service carriers — to “Nelson Mandela fighting for freedom”.

“It was ridiculous that the most expensive route in Asia was KL-Singapore,” he said.

Now, the fares could be as low as S$60 return on budget carriers, which also include Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia. There are some 14 flights daily from Singapore to KL.

The plane that Mr Fernandes greeted on the tarmac on Monday was 85 per cent full, with many Singaporeans on board. From this group, Mr Fernandes met a couple who flew to Kuala Lumpur on their way to Langkawi. Which thrilled him no end.

“Singaporeans certainly don’t think about flying to KL to take a flight,” he said. Indeed, flying to KL allows Singaporeans to tap into a web of budget connections offered by AirAsia and its long haul arm, AirAsia X. Both launched new routes last week — the former to Trichy, Tamil Nadu; the latter to London.

Does Mr Fernandes think Singaporeans will fly to KL to switch planes?

“I think it’s beginning to happen,” he said. “Singaporeans are very savvy. They are very loyal to their wallets. Malaysians, too,” he added with a laugh.

The company recently scrapped its fuel surcharges, which Mr Fernandes admitted was a big risk, but according to him, sales tripled.

“Singaporeans are also adventurous. The young in Singapore want to travel. They want to see Borneo, Siem Reap... We provide that connectivity, so I don’t think it will be hard to convince them.”

Route-wise, short-haul carrier AirAsia has covered all the countries within its range. It will focus on flying to more destinations in China and India. There’s more potential for AirAsia X to go global.

“I’d love to see AirAsia X fly to Africa — KL to Nairobi. And, one day to the States. Maybe my last route will be KL-Rio.”

That’s Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is more than 24 hours by plane away from KL.

But Mr Fernandes is accustomed to dreaming big, taking risks and opening routes to places most people don’t know about. Like Tiruchirappalli, or Trichy, which he had heard about at a funeral. He decided to fly to Trichy because of the town’s religious significance and the fact that a “lot of Indians from Malaysia and Singapore are from there”.

His dream is for the seven-year-old AirAsia to take on Singapore Airlines — though not all of it. “SQ is the best airline in the world without a doubt,” he said. “My aim now is to tell people that we are as good as they are ... in the back end. I think we can be as good in the economy section. That’s my goal before I leave my job as CEO.” - TODAY/rose

Cheaper AirAsia flights?

KUALA LUMPUR: AIRASIA'S budget fares will go even lower with at least a 15 per cent reduction in prices when the airline's proposed low-cost terminal opens in Labu, Negri Sembilan, in February 2011.

A senior AirAsia official said the airline's plan was always to look for a cheaper venue to lower costs as it was paying about RM100 million (S$42.2 million) in airport fees yearly to Malaysia Airports Bhd (MAB).

'MAB is charging us too much. We have been looking for another place for a long time, whether it was to buy or build a new airport,' he told The Star on Saturday.

The official said the current terminal in Sepang was only a temporary measure as it could comfortably handle only 10 million passengers yearly. By March next year, it would reach 15 million.

'AirAsia needs an airport that can handle more than 15 million by 2011,' the official said.

The Cabinet on Friday gave the greenlight for the new RM1.6 billion airport to be developed under a private finance initiative between conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd and AirAsia on a 2,800ha plot in Labu, which is between Nilai and Bandar Enstek.

The new terminal will be large enough to handle some 15 million passengers yearly and will feature a wider array of shops as part of an integrated city in Labu, comprising five townships and facilities for education, health, sports, high technology and entertainment.

Closer to the nation's capital than the current low-cost carrier terminal, a 7km link to the North-South Expressway was also slated to be built, along with an Express Rail Link to KL International Airport.

We will provide shuttles between the main terminal and LCCT. The road and rail links between KLIA and the new LCCT would also be privately financed,' the AirAsia official said.

He also said the cost of operating the new airport would be lowered by incorporating advanced technology and it being run privately without government bureaucracy.

'The airport will be built entirely by us. The latest technology and better retail facilities will mean more money. More money will mean lower airport tax and fares.'

Asked if MAB would be involved in the deal, the official said MAB was not involved in the project but did not discount the possibility that it would be made a shareholder.

According to him, the proposal was brought up by Sime Darby in the first place as they wanted an airport in the centre of a large development project - to turn the area into an Asean community hub. -- The Star/ANN

Congratulations to Jetstar Asia, Skytrax's Asia's Best Low Cost Airline...

http://www.worldairlineawards.com/Awards_2008/Lowcost-08.htm

Tiger Airways scraps plan for new Korean budget airline
By Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 30 December 2008 1338 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore's low-cost carrier Tiger Airways has scrapped plans for a new Korean budget airline.

The new carrier was scheduled to operate from Incheon's international airport.

Tiger Airways said the Incheon Tiger Airways project, a joint venture agreement between Tiger Aviation and Incheon City, was cancelled after consultations with Incheon Metropolitan City.

It said the current climate was not conducive for the launch of a new airline, given the global economic downturn and continued regulatory uncertainty in Korea.

Tiger Aviation CEO, Tony Davis said: "We are clearly disappointed that we will cease preparations for the establishment of Incheon Tiger Airways.

"We have developed an excellent working relationship with our partners in Korea and we are particularly grateful for the support from Incheon City Mayor, Ahn Sang-Soo, during the project."

- CNA/yb

Tiger Airways scraps plan for new Korean budget airline

More Planes for Australia now!. They really need to slow down and expand in MEL/SIN, not left right and centre.

Found this link. Its their First A319. Will be sent to Singapore and registered as 9V-TRA
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/1/0/6/1453601.jpg
Nice Babybus!

Yeah. I agree they need to expand Melbourne and Singapore to the point of AK in KUL. Anything less than the number of destinations served by AirAsia from KUL is unacceptable.

How many destinations does AK serve from KL?

From Wiki, 51 including AirAsia X.

Out of that 51, 31 are international destinations, and 4 are served by AirAsia.

In comparison,

Tiger offers 18 destinations out of Singapore.

Jetstar, including Jetstar, Jetstar Asia offer 19 destinations out of Singapore.

I'm not sure it is fair to compaire AirAsia's operations out of KUL with the large number of domestic services with Tiger & Jetstar's services out of SIN. Strip away the domestic services of AirAsia and how many destinations are they left with? That might be a better comparison... I think.

Anything less than the number of destinations served by AirAsia from KUL is unacceptable.

wow

From Wiki, 51 including AirAsia X.

Out of that 51, 31 are international destinations, and 4 are served by AirAsia X.

In comparison,

Tiger offers 18 destinations out of Singapore.

Jetstar, including Jetstar, Jetstar Asia offer 19 destinations out of Singapore.

AirAsia serves 31 destinations out of KUL.

With the Korean thing failing, there will be pressure on Tiger in SIN and Australia.

Tiger and Jetstar got overlapping destinations. Do we want to count that in? :)

Sorry dom, brain fart and glossed over the 31 international thing.

The other thing about SIN is that there's 3 (now 2) LCCs whereas there's really just one based out of KLIA. Jetstar and Tiger are doing way better than berjaya air and firefly, but I agree, AirAsia is the one to beat to be the best in the region. If Jetstar and/or Tiger got extra jets, where else can they fly (i.e. has the rights, and is profitable) to make up the dozen or so destinations to catch up with AirAsia?

airasia has a very big domestic market, which means that a large number of pax flying out of KUL might have 'connected' from another point in M'sia onwards to an international destination. This means that AK can serve so many destinations profitably because of the significantly larger population in Msia than in SG... Another factor would be the lack of aircraft; 3K has no orders and TR's jets are coming in very slowly, not to mention that the orders have to be split between TT and TR...
Also, I noticed alot of Australian pax (in fact when i was on the OOL flight, most of the pax were Aussies) using KUL as a starting point to explore SEA, if 3K/TR/TT has direct non-stop flights from MEL/SYD/BNE on 330s, that could add traffic.
3K has carved out a slight niche for itself, flying to destinations like Siem Reap, Yangon, CGK, DPS, etc... places that are not well served by LCCs... as well as slightly further tried and proven destinations like Taipei and HKG
3K could expand to serve further destinations like PVG/PEK, Korea/Japan (A330?) and points in India where they know there will be traffic.
TR could expand in Indonesia (when/if open skies is signed), and more point to point in ASEAN countries they missed out...