Tiger Airways Adds Mackay Link from Melbourne

Budget carrier Tiger Airways Australia has announced network growth from North Queensland with the resumption of a former link from Melbourne to Mackay and an operational extension for its existing flights between Melbourne and Cairns, which will now operate through the southern winter schedule into 2013.

The new Melbourne – Mackay route will be launched on December 18, 2012 and will operate on an up to four times weekly basis. The extended Melbourne – Cairns offering will means flights will continue from December 15, 2012 through to the end of March 2013. Tiger Airways says its network plans will safeguard jobs at Cairns and create around a further 20 positions at Mackay Airport in ground handling roles to facilitate the new service.

The decision to introduce the new flight to Mackay, a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about 970 kilometres north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River, followed a recent online poll where Tiger Airways could vote where they would like the airline to fly. “We’ve had a tremendous response from all around Australia on our online voting poll which has been running for the past five weeks. The most overwhelming demand has been for Tiger’s return to Mackay, currently in the top spot as the most voted for destination.” said Andrew David, Chief Executive Officer, Tiger Airways Australia.

“As an airline that evolves based on demand, we’re thrilled to be confirming our return to the region with four weekly return services providing over 1,400 seats weekly through Mackay airport. Mackay is among Australia’s fastest growing regions, it is a key tourism destination in its own right and a fantastic gateway to the Whitsundays. We have also witnessed a strong demand for great value fares year round from the fly in, fly out (mining) sector,” he added.

Tiger Airways will be the sole operator on the route. It had previously operated flights between Melbourne and Mackay from November 2007 but suspended flights last year when it faced its operational problems with the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority. According to traffic statistics, an estimated 63,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in 2008 and 2009 with Tiger Airways Australia holding around a 62 per cent share of this demand. Last year, estimated O&D demand had slipped to around 57,000 passengers as the carrier cuts its own operations and ended the only direct link between the two cities. In the first half of this year approximately 18,000 O&D passengers flew between Melbourne and Mackay with the majority flying with Virgin Australia via Brisbane.

The Melbourne – Cairns route was reintroduced by Tiger Airways Australia in May 2012 having previously been flown between September 2010 and September 2011. It currently has a daily flight and is one of four airlines competing on this route. The table below details these operators and their proposed capacity this month.

Tiger Airways Australia has a 15.8 per cent share of the total seat capacity, a long way behind the market leader, Jetstar Airways which dominates this market with a 51.9 per cent capacity share. In 2011, an estimated 492,000 O&D passengers travelled on this route, up 9.1 per cent.

The budget carrier now reestablished itself as the fourth largest domestic operator in Australia following its operational issues last year. It has a 4.6 per cent share of the total domestic seat capacity this month, some way below third placed Jetstar Airways (19.0 per cent), second placed Virgin Australia (27.2 per cent) and market leader Qantas (30.1 per cent).

However, Andrew David has reiterated that the airline intends to unveil further network expansion plans soon as it continues to ramp up domestic services. “We would like to thank everyone who has already voted for their favourite destination for Tiger to fly to next. The support has been very encouraging and we will be reviewing the viability of services to all the top rated destinations from the online voting poll which will conclude some-time this month,” he said.