Melbourne Avalon 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.

Tiger Australia looks to future but risks forgetting past

Tiger Airways Australia has a clear message about its future after the end of a six-week grounding: it is effectively starting over with the aim to build a foundation it can expand from without the safety and operational immaturity that resulted from growing capacity but not associated safety support, a past it does not want to talk about. But to achieve its new objective, Tiger must remember and continue to address its mistakes, as doing so is the first step in the long track towards profitability.

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's new North Asia focus leaves room for Qantas Singapore expansion to Europe and India

Jetstar is planning to expand its Singapore-based fleet by 50% over the next six months as the low-cost carrier group looks to North Asia for the next phase of its dramatic expansion. As the largest low-cost airline group in the Asia-Pacific region continues to expand at a rate of about 20% per annum, additional capacity will not be directed west towards South Asia, the Middle East or Europe but primarily to North Asia, where Jetstar sees the most opportunities given North Asia’s very low LCC penetration rate. This strategy could signal growth for the Qantas brand in South Asia and Europe as the group looks at potentially announcing next month the launch of a new Singapore-based full-service carrier.