Tiger Airways to Start Flying to India from Singapore...

skinnylatte · Jun 5th, 2007, 13:32

Just thought I'd shared the good news.

http://www.tigerairways.com/about/pr..._20070604.html

"Tiger Airways has been granted the rights to fly between Singapore and Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Trivandrum, Kolkata and Kozhikode. The airline is now in the midst of planning its flight routes and is in talks with airports and suppliers at these destinations. Tiger Airways will be announcing its initial route network to India once discussions have concluded, which the airline expects to take place fairly soon. The airline is confident that the growing demand for international low fare air travel by a fast expanding Indian economy will ensure the success of these routes."

My two cents' worth, as an amateur watcher of Asian budget airlines: Tiger is a no-frills budget airline operating out of Singapore's Budget Terminal. As most of you know, Jetstar (the other main budget carrier operating out of Singapore) was unable to gain much traction from its operations on the Singapore-Kolkata and Singapore-Bangalore routes, despite very attractive fares.

After Jetstar pulled out, only Singapore-Chennai-Singapore is served by a 'budget' airline: Air India Express. Flights into all other destinations from Singapore are pretty expensive at this moment, at a minimum of S$700 with taxes (nearly 20 000 INR), occasionally even going up to close to S$1000 during the school holidays, with the major players being Thai, Singapore Airlines, Air India/Indian Airlines, Sahara and Jet. One way tickets into India are not really possible (one way tickets from Singapore to anywhere are not really possible; they are, but usually cost more than return tickets); and open jaw tickets where you fly into one city and back to Singapore from another are too expensive too. At this point in time, unless you are flying into Chennai, it makes more sense to go to Bangkok to fly to India.

The airports that Tiger has gained rights to fly into make it obvious that they are challenging the monopoly of SilkAir, the regional subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, better known for absurdly expensive tickets to other parts of Asia. SilkAir currently flies in to Trivandrum and Cochin. This is reminiscent of an earlier battle -- before Tiger began flying to Vietnam and Cambodia, the only flights from Singapore to these places were around S$700 too, on SilkAir; these days it is laughable to think of going to Vietnam or Cambodia for more than S$200, with taxes, return. There are no direct flights from Singapore to Goa. Tiger has already made many 'firsts' by flying to 'less important' destinations -- by connecting Singapore to Krabi, it made travel to the southern beaches of Thailand possible without first going to Bangkok; by flying to Udon Thani, it made travel to Laos immediately cheaper, as you can cross into Laos directly from Udon Thani. As far as I know, they have not pulled out of any routes.

So.. while it's not my favourite airline -- I do fly it very often, and I can't wait for the day I can finally have decent fares to India.. again!

kshastry · Jun 5th, 2007, 17:06

3 destinations in Kerala alone? I really wonder whether there is that much traffic between Kerala and Singapore to justify this. If it was Gulf, then it was a different story altogether. Had they been smart, they would have fought for Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. All these places have big new airports coming with lot of pax and cargo potential.

Flying LCC into India is indeed a challenge. JetStar didn't had decent loads out of Bangalore. But Singapore Air whose fares were sky-high, almost always went full (and ditto even today). Thats largely because of North American and Australian connections that Singapore Air provides. Tiger can't provide connections beyond ASEAN.

Hopefully Tiger is smart enough to realize this and they won't burn their tail.

skinnylatte · Jun 5th, 2007, 17:14

Yes, it's puzzling indeed -- Singapore does have some strong links to Kerala but not as strong as to Tamil Nadu. Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore are already served by the major airlines, including the formidable Singapore Airlines. I reckon the 'formula' of flying in to secondary airports and/or secondary cities has worked for them; they always seem to test the waters first in a country, then add more airports/destinations in that country later. The choice of airports therefore also shows them sticking to their formula of flying short haul flights 'in the region' -- Goa, Kolkata, Cochin, Trivandrum are short enough to qualify for 'in the region' -- Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and even Bangalore are quite far for now.

Or perhaps Tiger has tapped in to that formidable Singapore psyche-- that if Tiger can make it cheap enough, it's good enough to go? (c.f how Singaporeans previously wouldn't have thought about visiting half the destinations on their route map -- but because of excellent one time offers like $1 tickets, the flights are packed.)

Beyond ASEAN -- Tiger can go the other way, down under. South India can now be connected to Australia (northern parts, at least -- Tiger flies to Darwin and Perth), as well as to China, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, and other destinations previously 'harder to reach', via Singapore.

In other news, Air India Express will also fly Singapore-Mumbai and Singapore-Pune in October, adding on to their Chennai and Trichy routes.

whitehorseq · Jun 6th, 2007, 12:51

It is a good news. People from Tamilnadu too fly to Kerala and take Bus or car from Kerala. I have my friends who live in Thirunelveli, Kanyakumari they fly to trivandrum and take taxi and go home. My another friend live in Coimbatore, fly to cochin and go by taxi.

I hope Tiger Airways will sustain their business in India.

Another improtant consideration is, customers can buy in Singapore through online. But customers in India should have a provision to buy ticket through Travel Agent in India. If not they will miss the oppurtunity in Inida.

batistuta · Jun 7th, 2007, 03:42

Second piece of Good news this week after Nokair introduced a low fare flight From Bangalore-Bangkok. I do wish that TIger would fly from Bangalore. But with the cheap fares from Bangalore to Chennai, that should not be too much of a Problem.

LunavadaLad · Jun 9th, 2007, 20:52

Great news was planning to travel Perth Singapore with Tiger so now will be able to travel to India with them.

Jun 5th, 2007, 13:32	#1
skinnylatte kungfu fighting dhaba wallah Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 269	Tiger Airways to Start Flying to India from Singapore... Just thought I'd shared the good news. http://www.tigerairways.com/about/pr..._20070604.html "Tiger Airways has been granted the rights to fly between Singapore and Chennai, Cochin, Goa, Trivandrum, Kolkata and Kozhikode. The airline is now in the midst of planning its flight routes and is in talks with airports and suppliers at these destinations. Tiger Airways will be announcing its initial route network to India once discussions have concluded, which the airline expects to take place fairly soon. The airline is confident that the growing demand for international low fare air travel by a fast expanding Indian economy will ensure the success of these routes." My two cents' worth, as an amateur watcher of Asian budget airlines: Tiger is a no-frills budget airline operating out of Singapore's Budget Terminal. As most of you know, Jetstar (the other main budget carrier operating out of Singapore) was unable to gain much traction from its operations on the Singapore-Kolkata and Singapore-Bangalore routes, despite very attractive fares. After Jetstar pulled out, only Singapore-Chennai-Singapore is served by a 'budget' airline: Air India Express. Flights into all other destinations from Singapore are pretty expensive at this moment, at a minimum of S$700 with taxes (nearly 20 000 INR), occasionally even going up to close to S$1000 during the school holidays, with the major players being Thai, Singapore Airlines, Air India/Indian Airlines, Sahara and Jet. One way tickets into India are not really possible (one way tickets from Singapore to anywhere are not really possible; they are, but usually cost more than return tickets); and open jaw tickets where you fly into one city and back to Singapore from another are too expensive too. At this point in time, unless you are flying into Chennai, it makes more sense to go to Bangkok to fly to India. The airports that Tiger has gained rights to fly into make it obvious that they are challenging the monopoly of SilkAir, the regional subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, better known for absurdly expensive tickets to other parts of Asia. SilkAir currently flies in to Trivandrum and Cochin. This is reminiscent of an earlier battle -- before Tiger began flying to Vietnam and Cambodia, the only flights from Singapore to these places were around S$700 too, on SilkAir; these days it is laughable to think of going to Vietnam or Cambodia for more than S$200, with taxes, return. There are no direct flights from Singapore to Goa. Tiger has already made many 'firsts' by flying to 'less important' destinations -- by connecting Singapore to Krabi, it made travel to the southern beaches of Thailand possible without first going to Bangkok; by flying to Udon Thani, it made travel to Laos immediately cheaper, as you can cross into Laos directly from Udon Thani. As far as I know, they have not pulled out of any routes. So.. while it's not my favourite airline -- I do fly it very often, and I can't wait for the day I can finally have decent fares to India.. again!

Jun 9th, 2007, 20:52	#6
LunavadaLad Junior Train Guru Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 157	Great news was planning to travel Perth Singapore with Tiger so now will be able to travel to India with them. __________________ If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay home. ~James Michener

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Jun 5th, 2007, 17:06	#2
kshastry Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 155	3 destinations in Kerala alone? I really wonder whether there is that much traffic between Kerala and Singapore to justify this. If it was Gulf, then it was a different story altogether. Had they been smart, they would have fought for Hyderabad, Bangalore and Ahmedabad. All these places have big new airports coming with lot of pax and cargo potential. Flying LCC into India is indeed a challenge. JetStar didn't had decent loads out of Bangalore. But Singapore Air whose fares were sky-high, almost always went full (and ditto even today). Thats largely because of North American and Australian connections that Singapore Air provides. Tiger can't provide connections beyond ASEAN. Hopefully Tiger is smart enough to realize this and they won't burn their tail.

Jun 5th, 2007, 17:14	#3
skinnylatte kungfu fighting dhaba wallah Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 269	Yes, it's puzzling indeed -- Singapore does have some strong links to Kerala but not as strong as to Tamil Nadu. Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Bangalore are already served by the major airlines, including the formidable Singapore Airlines. I reckon the 'formula' of flying in to secondary airports and/or secondary cities has worked for them; they always seem to test the waters first in a country, then add more airports/destinations in that country later. The choice of airports therefore also shows them sticking to their formula of flying short haul flights 'in the region' -- Goa, Kolkata, Cochin, Trivandrum are short enough to qualify for 'in the region' -- Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and even Bangalore are quite far for now. Or perhaps Tiger has tapped in to that formidable Singapore psyche-- that if Tiger can make it cheap enough, it's good enough to go? (c.f how Singaporeans previously wouldn't have thought about visiting half the destinations on their route map -- but because of excellent one time offers like $1 tickets, the flights are packed.) Beyond ASEAN -- Tiger can go the other way, down under. South India can now be connected to Australia (northern parts, at least -- Tiger flies to Darwin and Perth), as well as to China, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, and other destinations previously 'harder to reach', via Singapore. In other news, Air India Express will also fly Singapore-Mumbai and Singapore-Pune in October, adding on to their Chennai and Trichy routes.

Jun 6th, 2007, 12:51	#4
whitehorseq Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Earth Posts: 6	It is a good news. People from Tamilnadu too fly to Kerala and take Bus or car from Kerala. I have my friends who live in Thirunelveli, Kanyakumari they fly to trivandrum and take taxi and go home. My another friend live in Coimbatore, fly to cochin and go by taxi. I hope Tiger Airways will sustain their business in India. Another improtant consideration is, customers can buy in Singapore through online. But customers in India should have a provision to buy ticket through Travel Agent in India. If not they will miss the oppurtunity in Inida.

Jun 7th, 2007, 03:42	#5
batistuta Maha Guru Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,727	Second piece of Good news this week after Nokair introduced a low fare flight From Bangalore-Bangkok. I do wish that TIger would fly from Bangalore. But with the cheap fares from Bangalore to Chennai, that should not be too much of a Problem.