Canberra Airport

Tiger Australia settles in for medium-term with new director but growth restrictions and lower fares

Tiger Airways Australia is settling in for the medium-term with a re-launched network it has built up, which is now approximately one-third of its Jun-2011 pre-grounding size. The immediate future will see former Virgin Blue executive Andrew David take the reigns from Tony Davis, who is leaving the company.

Tiger is also lowering its lead-in fares to pre-grounding levels, but no headline fares of AUD15 inclusive or zero (plus taxes) have been offered yet, and may not be as long as Tiger faces no price undercutting and seeks to build network volume with requisite approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA). Its growth outlook is focused on Melbourne Tullamarine, with service resumption from Melbourne Avalon unlikely in the next year.

Storm and then calm as Virgin Australia posts loss

The re-branded Virgin Australia ended its final year as a middle-market carrier AUD66.6 million (USD69.3 million) in the red, a net pre-tax loss it attributes to one-off events that particularly hit the leisure market and which underscores its strategy to move into the more resilient corporate market as a full-service carrier. Under pressure to justify the change, Virgin is showing early indicators of success with more approaches lined up, including what is arguably the boldest move the industry has seen to capture passengers from competitors.

Tiger Airways returns to fundamentals after reprieve in Australia

Faced with severe regulatory restraints following the lifting of a six-week grounding of services, Tiger Airways Australia is drastically simplifying its operation to focus on a single hub at Melbourne Tullamarine and only serving the popular Sydney route. As the airline returns to the skies on 12-Aug-2011, Tiger will suspend 14 routes and drop 10 destinations. This month Tiger will only operate 14% of its pre-grounding flights, but this represents only 8% of its pre-grounding available seat kilometres (ASK). But the carrier is to remain in Australia - perhaps with a re-brand.

Jetstar still looking into northern Australian hub; states Darwin is too expensive

Jetstar Group CEO Bruce Buchanan stated the airline is still looking into other airport options in northern Australia, despite the Qantas Group recently reaching a new pricing agreement with Darwin International Airport. According to Mr Buchanan, Darwin is one of the carrier’s most expensive airports and it expects it to become even more expensive in the next few years.