Air Transport

^{by Nicholas Ionides in Singapore}

Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tiger Airways expects to establish an associate airline in another Asian country before the end of this year, while also growing its operation at home through the launch of more routes.

Tony Davis, chief executive of the carrier – in which Singapore Airlines holds a 49% stake – says the establishment of a second base “will definitely be this year”. Davis has for more than a year been looking to partner with other companies to set up an associate carrier in another country and said previously that it will come in 2006 or 2007.

“We have got three more aircraft being delivered before the end of the year that we can use towards the new base once we establish that,” says Davis, declining to say where the base may be.

Tiger, as of last week, when it added three new services to southern China, is operating on 16 routes with a fleet of six Airbus A320s, two of which have only just been added. It has six more A320s on order. “The only outstanding challenge for Tiger now is establishing a base outside Singapore,” says Davis. He adds that the airline will have 20 routes from Singapore by year-end to points in eight countries and territories.

Other than SIA, the airline is 11%-owned by Singapore government investment arm Temasek Holdings, 24%-owned by US-based Indigo Partners and 16%-owned by the family of Ryanair founder Tony Ryan.