Singapore Airlines announced intentions to establish a no-frills, low-cost subsidiary airline for medium and long-haul routes, which will begin operations within a year.
According to SIA, the new airline, yet to be named, will enable the carrier “to serve a largely untapped new market and cater to the growing demand among consumers for low-fare travel.” The carrier will be operated and managed separately though wholly owned by SIA.
Goh Choon Phong, chief executive of Singapore Airlines, said: “As we have observed on short-haul routes within Asia, low-fare airlines help stimulate demand for travel, and we expect this will also prove true for longer flights.”
Details of the new airline’s network and services will be revealed in due course and it is unclear at this stage just how 'no frills' the low-cost subsidiary will be.
Another Asian full-service carrier planning to launch a low-cost carrier is Thai Airways, which announced last year a joint venture partnership with Tiger Airways to establish Thai Tiger (see story here). According to Thai’s recent board meeting results, Thai Tiger will be a “full-service airline, with customers continuing to receive the same benefits such as baggage weight allowance and mileage accrual as they do on Thai.” Thai Airways also owns 39 percent of another low-cost carrier, Nok Air.
For more information, visit www.singaporeair.com