Tiger Airways to Resume Bangalore and Add Cebu Route

Although the ongoing grounding of its Australian division is dominating the news, Tiger Airways has confirmed plans to expand its network from its main base in Singapore. The low-cost carrier is to reintroduce flights to the Indian city of Bangalore this winter, offering a four times weekly service on the international route as well as adding a link to Cebu in the Philippines.

Tiger Airways suspended its flights between Singapore and Bangalore in October 2010, but still accounts for around a 16 per cent share of the 183,000 O&D passengers that travelled on the route in the past year. It will compete directly with Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Air India on the route and based on historic information is expected to offer average fares between 30 and 50 per cent cheaper than its rivals.

The Singapore – Cebu route will be launched on September 7 and operated four times weekly. An estimated 116,000 O&D passengers travelled on the route in the past year, up 63.9 per cent on the previous 12 month period. Cebu Pacific Airways currently dominates the market (56 per cent) but has seen its share decline by around 13 per cent in the past year as Air Philippines has entered the market. It has carved out a 23 per cent share of the market with its five times weekly flights, while SilkAir now has an 18 per cent share (down from 28 per cent last year). The arrival of Air Philippines has seen average one-way fares fall from $216 to $188 and the addition of Tiger Airways’ four times weekly service will certainly impact yields still further.

Schedule:

Singapore – Cebu
TR2782 SIN0830 – 1210CEB 320 235
TR2782 SIN1310 – 1700CEB 320 7
TR2783 CEB1240 – 1630SIN 320 35
TR2783 CEB1300 – 1640SIN 320 2
TR2783 CEB1740 – 2120SIN 320 7

Singapore – Banglaore
TR2652 SIN2145 – 2340BLR 320 x246
TR2653 BLR0040 – 0725SIN 320 x357