Following today's announcement that Singapore's Tiger Airways is joining Thai Airways to form a Bangkok-based subsidiary, the betting is on where the low-cost carrier's next base would be.The carrier has previously looked at South Korea (where it still does not fly to) and the Philippines, but both plans fell through and it continued with Singapore and later on Australia.
Here is an idea though - why not Japan? All Nippon Airways (ANA) is looking for a foreign partner to help it form a low-cost carrier, and Tiger's expertise could help the Japanese carrier.
Sure, there will be numerous bureaucratic hurdles to cross, but it could be a win-win situation.
ANA's domestic heft could help overcome the local regulators, and Tiger would be able to help start proper low-cost operations in a country (and region in Northeast Asia) that is starved of low fares.
Tiger's desire to set up "profitable and sustainable" foreign bases could bear fruit in Japan.
on August 3, 2010 11:24 AM | Reply
hmmm... legacy carrier having a hand in an LCC could spell disaster unless it adopts a *hands off* policy on the operations and directions. I doubt it though.
Legacy carriers carry operational baggage on what's deemed "right" and with modus operandi that introduces drag on the supposedly nimble and adaptive LCC processes.
on August 3, 2010 2:31 PM | Reply
Yes, but it may just work if they can come to an agreement about how they want to handle it. The legacy carriers will want to control it, but an airline like Tiger probably carries enough clout to do what it wants to.
on August 5, 2010 9:30 AM | Reply
As you have raised, marriage between legacy and LCC becomes a delicate arrangement.
That said, "tigers and raw sashimi" have a natural affinity.