Tiger Airways July passenger volume up 12% to 6.1mn

The airline's Singapore unit continues to see healthy demand and added 6 aircraft to its fleet.

From August 2010 to July 2011, a total of 6.1 million passengers chose to fly with Tiger Airways, an increase of 12% over the 5.4 million passengers in the preceding 12 months. Average load factor for the 12-month period to July 2011 was 86%, the same as the previous 12 months.

For the month of July 2011, Tiger Airways carried 358,000 passengers, a 32% decrease compared to the same month last year. The reduction in passengers carried year on year was a result of the suspension of Tiger Airways Australia’s (“TAA”) flights on 1 July 2011. The average load factor for the month was 86%.

Mr. Chin Yau Seng, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Tiger Airways Holdings said, “During the month of July passenger numbers declined as a result of the suspension of TAA’s flights on 1 July 2011 by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia (“CASA”). The suspension of TAA’s flights also led to a year-on-year decline in load factor for the month as July traditionally sees high demand in Australia. As announced today (Wednesday), flights at TAA will gradually resume operations from 12 August 2011, following constructive discussions with CASA to address the concerns raised, according to a Tiger Airways report.

“Tiger Airways Singapore continues to see healthy demand and recently announced the addition of 6 aircraft to its fleet. Tiger Airways Singapore will grow its fleet to 20 Airbus A320 aircraft by March 2012 compared to 14 aircraft in March 2011. The additional capacity will allow us to introduce new services to Cebu and Davao, to reintroduce services to Bangalore, and to increase frequency on existing services," said Mr. Chin.