Tiger Airways Australia has received regulatory approval to operate 32 sectors daily, an increase from the current limit of 22 sectors.

The approval from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia (CASA) takes immediate effect, said Singapore-based Tiger Airways in a stock exchange statement.

With the increase, the carrier plans to introduce an extra daily service on the Melbourne-Perth, Melbourne-Brisbane and Melbourne-Gold Coast routes. It also intends to add two daily services on the Melbourne-Sydney route.

These new services will be rolled out before Christmas, said a spokesman.

On Monday, Tiger Airways reported a fiscal second-quarter net loss of Singapore dollars (S$) 49.9 million ($39 million), down from a net profit of S$14.1 million a year before.

This was mainly due to the six-week grounding of Tiger Airways Australia on safety concerns by CASA, and the subsequent under-utilisation of its domestic fleet. High fuel costs also contributed to the loss.

The low-cost carrier flew around 60 sectors daily before the suspension.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news