SINGAPORE. Singapore Airlines has announced that it will join an increasingly competitive low cost airline market in southeast Asia with the launch of Tiger Airlines. The Singapore national carrier will team up with one of the world’s most experienced and successful budget airlines, Irish company Ryanair, to start the new service.
The announcement comes on the heels of a successful initial public offering by Australian low cost carrier Virgin Blue. Virgin Blue was started by Virgin Atlantic boss Richard Branson, who has said he is making plans to expand across Asia. A recently-announced deal will set up a parallel company to Malaysia’s two-year-old low cost airline AirAsia in Thailand, through a joint venture with the family of Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
