Tiger Airways has flagged that it will announce new bases in Australia over the coming year as the budget carrier rose to a profit during the three months to September 30.
“We are talking to airports and state governments right now with a view to announcing some more bases in the coming year,” Tiger Airways Group CEO Tony Davis said during a conference call after the carrier’s profit announcement.
The airline group recorded a net profit of S$14.1m (A$11m) for the quarter, compared to a loss of S$2.3m (A$1.8m) recorded over the same period in the previous year. Revenue over the same period increased by 35 per cent to S$143.5m (A$111.6m), which was aided by a 25 per cent increase in passenger numbers, resulting in loads increasing two percentage points to 87 per cent.
Tiger currently has bases at Melbourne Tullamarine and Adelaide Airports, and will start flying from its Avalon base later this month, and by the end of the year it will operate 12 A320s in Australia. It is expected that the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Cairns may be likely targets for a new base given Tiger already has a significant presence or has boosted services to those ports recently.
Meanwhile, Tiger is currently in the process of establishing a new airline joint venture with Thai Airways International, which will be called Thai Tiger and be based in Bangkok.
