Tiger Airways Chief Executive Officer Tony Davis announced the expansion program will revolve around the acquisition of eight new Airbus A320 aircraft with IAE International Aero V2500 engines.
Davis said a faster and newer fleet of aircrafts would give the airline company a better rate of utilization that would save operating costs, thereby, providing better service to its customers.
"Our core business strategy is all about enabling budget-conscious travelers fly more often by keeping tight control on our costs and maximizing capacity utilization – and IAE’s V2500 engines help us deliver this strategy," Davis said.
Reliability is the reason for the choice of IAE, Davis said. "The engines have proven reliable and cost-effective. IAE has provided a level of customer support that will allow us to successfully expand our network and provide savvy travelers with an even wider choice of destinations," he explained.
IAE is a multinational aero engine consortium whose shareholders comprise of Pratt & Whitney, Rolls-Royce, the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation and MTU Aero Engines.
The transaction is valued at US$136 million and the engines will be covered by a long-term Maintenance Support Agreement. This allows Tiger Airways to enjoy manufacturer-backed maintenance programs, rather than support from third parties.
The purchase of eight new A320 aircraft from Airbus is estimated to over US$500 million. The fleet expansion will allow Tiger Airways to treble its fleet from the current four aircraft by end 2007 and enable the airline to fly between four and five million passengers a year.
These eight new aircraft will be delivered during 2006 and 2007.
On the other hand, IAE President Mark King said the deal was further confirmation of the V2500’s appeal to low-cost airline operators around the world, especially in the Asia Pacific region.
"We’re delighted to be associated with the rapid growth of Tiger Airways. They have operated four new V2500-powered A320s since the start of their operations in September last year and have appreciated the world-class reliability, class-leading fuel burn and overall cost-effectiveness," King said.
Tiger Airways is Singapore’s largest and most popular low fare airline and currently flies to 10 cities in six countries (Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Macau SAR, the Philippines and Indonesia). Flights to Krabi, Tiger Airways’ 11th destination across Asia Pacific, commenced on 7 October 2005 while pan-regional flights between Macau and Manila (Clark) start on 30 October 2005.
