Tiger Airways Holdings Limited () was a Singapore-based

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

for a group of

low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

s operating in the Asia-Pacific region. It was formed in 2007 to allow for easier management of the airline subsidiaries, as well as any future expansion, without having to focus on operational issues, leaving those to the airlines themselves. In 2016,

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA) is the flag carrier airline of the Republic of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Singapore Changi Airport. The airline is notable for highlighting the Singapore Girl as its central figure in ...

purchased the company and it was delisted from the

Singapore Exchange The Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) is a Singaporean investment holding company that provides different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is also a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian ...

Group companies

Tigerair (Tiger Airways Singapore)

Tigerair was incorporated on 12 December 2003 and began ticket sales on 31 August 2004. Services commenced on 15 September 2004 to

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

. It operates scheduled international services from

Singapore Changi Airport Singapore Changi Airport, commonly known as Changi Airport , is a major civilian international airport that serves Singapore, and is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia. As one of the world's busiest airports by international passen ...

and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tiger Airways Holdings. In 2006, the airline flew 1.2 million passengers, a growth of 75% from the previous year. The airline was the first to operate from the Budget Terminal in Changi Airport in order to achieve operating-cost savings and its cost structure is modeled after

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family ...

. Despite regional competition, the airline has reiterated its current intention to remain focused on flying within a five-hour radius from its Singaporean base. Following

, acquiring Tiger Airways Holdings, the Tigerair brand was retired with operations merged into

Scoot Scoot Pte Ltd, operating as Scoot, is a Singaporean low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It began its operations on 4 June 2012 on medium and long-haul routes from Singapore, predominantly to various airports t ...

, its sister budget airline.

Shareholders

Tigerair was listed on the

in February 2010. As at 18 June 2014,

, holding 40% of the issued shares, is the only substantial shareholder (i.e. holding at least 5% of the issued shares) of Tiger Airways Holdings.

Financial performance

The following table shows the financial performance of Tiger Airways Holdings.

Operating performance

Regional Partners

Due to the reorganization of Tiger Air into

Budget Aviation Holdings Budget Aviation Holdings is a Singapore-based holding company for a low-cost carrier operating in the Asia-Pacific region, consisting of Scoot Scoot Pte Ltd, operating as Scoot, is a Singaporean low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiar ...

, the following partners have either taken full ownership of the Tiger Air branding or cancelled operations.

Regional affiliate partnership ventures

Tigerair Australia

Tiger Airways Australia was formed as the Australian affiliate of Tiger Airways. In February 2007, Tiger announced that it hoped to become

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's third full-scale domestic airline, competing directly with Virgin Blue and

Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...

Jetstar Jetstar Airways Pty Ltd, operating as Jetstar, is an Australian low-cost airline (self-described as "value-based") headquartered in Melbourne. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by airline Virgi ...

. Tigerair Australia planned to use its Australian domestic network to support an expanded international presence through the gateway of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, expanded to include

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. On 16 March 2007 the airline received approval from the

Foreign Investment Review Board The Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB), "examines proposals by foreign persons to invest in Australia and makes recommendations to the Treasurer on those subject to the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975 and Australia's for ...

to establish the new subsidiary/ Tiger Airways Australia began operations on 23 November 2007. In July 2008 Tiger announced that it would suspend its flights from Darwin on 25 October, citing Darwin International Airport operating and fuel costs, making it the most expensive airport on the Tigerair Australia network but did not rule out returning in the future if costs were to decrease. Tigerair Australia resumed services to Darwin on Friday 18 June 2010. On 5 August 2008 the airline announced

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

as its second operational base and began services on 10 January 2010. Tiger resumed flights on 2 August 2011, after it was grounded for safety issues, on a restricted schedule maintaining its hub in Melbourne. Tiger Airways Australia re-opened its second base at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

with three aircraft in July 2012. In October 2012,

Virgin Australia Holdings Virgin Australia Holdings Limited is the holding company that owns and operates Virgin Australia, Virgin Australia International Airlines and Virgin Australia Regional Airlines. It previously operated Pacific Blue Airlines, Tigerair Australia a ...

(parent company of competitor Virgin Australia) announced its intention to purchase 60% of Tiger Airways Australia. The deal was completed in July 2013, after the airline had changed its name to Tigerair Australia. In October 2014, Virgin Australia Holdings announced plans to acquire the remaining 40% stake in Tigerair Australia for $1. Virgin retained the Tigerair name and acquired the brand rights for Tigerair to operate to some international destinations from Australia. It ceased in March 2020.

Tigerair Taiwan

Tigerair Taiwan is a Taiwanese affiliate and was set up as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between

China Airlines China Airlines (CAL; ) is the state-owned flag carrier of the Republic of China (Taiwan), and one of its two major airlines along with EVA Air. It is headquartered in Taoyuan International Airport and operates over 1,400 flights weekly (inclu ...

and Tiger Airways Holdings. China Airlines holds a 90% stake in the new carrier, while Tiger Airways Holdings holds the remaining 10%. The carrier is based at

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is an international airport serving Taipei and northern Taiwan. Located about west of Taipei in Dayuan District, Taoyuan, the airport is Taiwan's largest. It was also the busiest airport in Taiwan before t ...

and currently has 6 aircraft. It was the first Taiwan-based LCC to start operations and the only LCC in the country that are still flying (The other being

V Air V Air () was a Taiwanese low-cost airline based in Taipei active from 2014 through 2016. It was a Franchising, franchise subsidiary of TransAsia Airways serving flights to Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Cambodia from its base at Taiwan Taoyuan ...

Transasia Airways TransAsia Airways (TNA, until January 1992 known by its Chinese-translated name Foshing Airlines;For historical pictures with "Foshing Airlines" on it, see: ) was a Taiwanese airline based in Neihu District in Taipei. Though the company started ...

, which folded in 2016). In 2017, as Tigerair Singapore merged into Scoot, CAPA reports that China Airlines will buy another 10% from Budget Aviation Holdings, leaving China Airlines Group (China Airlines and Mandarin Airlines) the owner of the airline, despite allowed to retain the brand.

Tigerair Philippines

Tigerair Philippines was the Philippines affiliate of Tigerair. The joint venture was announced in November 2010 between Tiger Airways Holdings and SEAir, which saw Tigerair leasing its two Airbus A319 aircraft to SEAir to open up new international routes out of SEAir's base at

Clark International Airport Clark International Airport ( pam, Pangyatung Sulapawan ning Clark; fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Clark; ), known as Diosdado Macapagal International Airport from 2003 to 2012, is an international airport covering portions of the cities of ...

. The DG-coded flights were operated by SEAir's pilots and cabin crew using the leased aircraft which were repainted into SEAir's livery. Seats on these flights were marketed by Tiger in addition to SEAir's own website. In February 2011, Tiger Airways Holdings increased its share in the venture to 40%, however in March 2014, Tigerair disposed of its 40% stake in the airline to

Cebu Pacific Cebu Air, Inc., operating as Cebu Pacific (), is a low-cost airline of the Philippines. Founded in 1988, it is Asia's oldest low-cost airline. It offers scheduled flights to both domestic and international destinations. The airline operates fl ...

, though flights were still temporarily branded as Tigerair Philippines.

Tigerair Mandala

Tigerair Mandala was the Indonesian affiliate of Tigerair. The airline was a joint venture between Tiger Airways Holdings and Saratoga Investama Sedaya. Tigerair ventured into the Indonesian market by buying the troubled

Mandala Airlines Tigerair Mandala (''formerly Mandala Airlines'') was a low-cost carrier headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia and an associate company of the Singapore-based Tigerair Group. The former full service airline repositioned itself as a budget airline/ ...

, with the Saratoga Group holding a majority 51.3% and the remaining 15.7% by previous shareholders and creditors of Mandala. Tigerair Mandala sported a hybrid livery with the name 'mandala' on the fuselage accompanied by Tigerair's stripes on the tail and wingtips. Tigerair Mandala started operations on 5 April 2012, with one domestic route between its home base

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

and

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...

, the capital of North

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

. This was followed by its first international destination when it launched the Medan-Singapore route on 20 April 2012, adding a second Indonesian destination to Tigerair Singapore network after Jakarta. In May 2012, Tigerair Mandala flew to

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

's capital

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

from Jakarta. Before it ceased its operation Tigerair had 35.8% Shares. Tigerair Mandala ceased all operations on 1 July 2014 as it was not able to sustain its operations and the airline's key shareholders decided to cease funding the carrier.

Abandoned regional affiliate projects

Incheon Tiger

On 5 November 2007, Tiger Airways announced that it would be starting a

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

n-based budget airline. Incheon Tiger was to have been a joint venture between Tiger Aviation Holdings and Incheon Metropolitan City, flying to destinations in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

and the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

. The airline was to be based in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Incheon Airport Incheon International Airport (IIA; ) (sometimes referred to as Seoul–Incheon International Airport) is the largest airport in South Korea. It is the primary airport serving the Seoul Capital Area and one of the largest and busiest airports ...

and planned to begin services by 2009; however, the project was abandoned in December 2008.

Thai Tiger

Tiger Airways and

Thai Airways Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, trading as THAI (, th, บริษัท การบินไทย จำกัด (มหาชน)) is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961, the airline has its corporate h ...

proposed forming an airline based in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, where Thai Airways and Tiger Airways would own 51% and 39% respectively of the newly formed airline, while RyanThai would hold the remaining 10%. Operations were expected to begin in the 1st quarter of 2011. Tiger Airways subsequently dropped its plan to form a Bangkok-based low-cost joint venture with Thai Airways after failing to get the necessary investment approvals from the Thai government. As a result, in December 2011

Thai Airways International Thai Airways International Public Company Limited, trading as THAI (, th, บริษัท การบินไทย จำกัด (มหาชน)) is the flag carrier airline of Thailand. Formed in 1961, the airline has its corporate h ...

, Tiger Airways and RyanThai decided not to proceed with the incorporation of Thai Tiger.Tiger Airways drops joint venture with Thai Airways
/ref>

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=September 2019 Airline holding companies Holding companies of Singapore Singaporean companies established in 2007 Singapore Airlines Temasek Holdings Companies formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange Holding companies established in 2007 Singaporean brands