Singapore Airlines refutes reports it is sending executives to help Tony Davis rescue Tiger

EXCLUSIVE: The Herald Sun had reported that SIA was sending executives to meet with CASA, but SIA has told SBR that was incorrect.

According to Singapore Airlines’ Public Affairs Vice-President Nicholas Ionides, their executives are not being sent to Australia to help with Tiger Airways issues. He added: “SIA is a shareholder in Tiger Airways but Tiger Airways is independently managed and operated.”

The move to induct Chin Yau Seng, a former CEO of SIA’s wholly owned subsidiary SilkAir, should not even be regarded as SIA trying to take control of Tiger Airways, according to analysts.

“Tiger and SIA management have always emphasized the operational independence of the 2 carriers, though Tiger has benefited from SIA's presence as a major shareholder, in terms of access to SIA's network of suppliers and contacts. The move to induct Mr. Chin in the current environment is evidence of continued support from SIA and is a move to beef up management expertise of Tiger before the meetings with CASA,” Suvro Sarkar, aviation analyst at DBS Vickers Securities said.

“It is too speculative at this point whether the Board will decide to pursue further management changes but we cannot rule it out. At the moment though, we construe the move as positive shareholder support rather than anything (even taking over management),” he added.