http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/8/25/business/6914628&sec=business
Wednesday August 25, 2010
Tiger Airways to suspend some Australian flights
By B.K. SIDHU
PETALING JAYA: Singapore’s Tiger Airways seems to be hogging the limelight recently and yesterday said it will suspend some flights for its Australian division by November this year.
The airline has also been caught red handed for not complying with the rules on reportable incidents for domestic flights in Australia, but Tiger claims that “safety is never compromised.”
Reports from Australia yesterday said the airline would suspend flights between Adelaide and Brisbane and Adelaide and the Gold Coast because the services were under-performing.
Flights would end on Nov 10 and those who have booked on or after that date would be offered a refund.
But the airline was not closing its doors on that route. It could resume flights when demand picks in the same way it opened up the Melbourne-Darwin route recently after suspending it in 2008.
In July, Tiger cut the only direct flights between Adelaide and Hobart. A report said the airline had further restructured operations by shifting some flights into and out of Melbourne to Avalon rather than Tullamarine airport where the airline was based.
Also yesterday, a report said Tiger breached safety rules by failing to report a wing-flap problem on an Airbus A320, a problem that re-occurred eight months later, forcing an unscheduled landing with 125 passengers on board.
In the second incident, a wing began flexing in a metre arc at 35,000 ft as crew tried to deal with the problem.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators said in a report that the problem should have been reported eight months earlier when it was experienced by another pilot, forcing him to turn back and land.
Tiger is saying the symptoms of both incidents are similar, but the problems are unrelated and that ongoing safety was never compromised. The question is, does the ATSB have enough grounds to take Tiger to task?
Tiger, which flies into KLIA daily from Singapore, has also teamed up with Thai Airways to set up a low-cost airline that would compete with AirAsia on some routes.
Thai Tiger Airways would fly domestic and international flights from Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, starting in the first quarter of 2011.
Thai Airways and another Thai entity would hold 51% in the airline and Tiger would hold the remaining 49%.
The airline also has seen its chief executive officer Tony Davis and two of its substantial shareholders, Indigo Singapore Partners and Ryanasia, selling part of their stake at a discount.
The reasons are not known but they sold a total 65.7 million Tiger shares at S$1.90 to a “broad base of institutional investors” via a placement. Tiger is listed on the Singapore exchange.
Tiger is partly owned by Singapore Airlines. Tiger flies to 37 destinations in 11 countries and has a fleet of 19 Airbus A320s, with plans to expand to 68 planes by December 2015.
Wednesday August 25, 2010
Tiger Airways to suspend some Australian flights
By B.K. SIDHU
PETALING JAYA: Singapore’s Tiger Airways seems to be hogging the limelight recently and yesterday said it will suspend some flights for its Australian division by November this year.
The airline has also been caught red handed for not complying with the rules on reportable incidents for domestic flights in Australia, but Tiger claims that “safety is never compromised.”
Reports from Australia yesterday said the airline would suspend flights between Adelaide and Brisbane and Adelaide and the Gold Coast because the services were under-performing.
Flights would end on Nov 10 and those who have booked on or after that date would be offered a refund.
But the airline was not closing its doors on that route. It could resume flights when demand picks in the same way it opened up the Melbourne-Darwin route recently after suspending it in 2008.
In July, Tiger cut the only direct flights between Adelaide and Hobart. A report said the airline had further restructured operations by shifting some flights into and out of Melbourne to Avalon rather than Tullamarine airport where the airline was based.
Also yesterday, a report said Tiger breached safety rules by failing to report a wing-flap problem on an Airbus A320, a problem that re-occurred eight months later, forcing an unscheduled landing with 125 passengers on board.
In the second incident, a wing began flexing in a metre arc at 35,000 ft as crew tried to deal with the problem.
Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigators said in a report that the problem should have been reported eight months earlier when it was experienced by another pilot, forcing him to turn back and land.
Tiger is saying the symptoms of both incidents are similar, but the problems are unrelated and that ongoing safety was never compromised. The question is, does the ATSB have enough grounds to take Tiger to task?
Tiger, which flies into KLIA daily from Singapore, has also teamed up with Thai Airways to set up a low-cost airline that would compete with AirAsia on some routes.
Thai Tiger Airways would fly domestic and international flights from Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, starting in the first quarter of 2011.
Thai Airways and another Thai entity would hold 51% in the airline and Tiger would hold the remaining 49%.
The airline also has seen its chief executive officer Tony Davis and two of its substantial shareholders, Indigo Singapore Partners and Ryanasia, selling part of their stake at a discount.
The reasons are not known but they sold a total 65.7 million Tiger shares at S$1.90 to a “broad base of institutional investors” via a placement. Tiger is listed on the Singapore exchange.
Tiger is partly owned by Singapore Airlines. Tiger flies to 37 destinations in 11 countries and has a fleet of 19 Airbus A320s, with plans to expand to 68 planes by December 2015.
