Tiger Airways secures French agency's backing to purchase 9 aircrafts

Total number of owned aircraft in fleet will increase to 11 through deal with StanChart.

Tiger Airways Holdings Limited and Standard Chartered Bank have obtained approval from the French Export Credit Agency (ECA), Coface, to support the purchase of nine Airbus 320 aircraft. Standard Chartered Bank is mandated as the Lead Arranger for the ECA financing relating to these aircraft. The transaction is currently in the documentation phase and is expected to close upon delivery of each aircraft, according to a Tiger Airways report.

The nine aircraft are scheduled to be delivered over the next 6 months through until March 2011. This will bring the total number of aircraft owned by Tiger Airways to eleven. Tiger Airways obtained its first ECA-backed financing with Coface for two Airbus 320 aircraft which were delivered in January and February 2010 for which Standard Chartered Bank was also the Mandated Lead Arranger.

From now till March 2011, which is the end of its current financial year, Tiger Airways will also return two older aircraft that are currently leased. This means that it will be operating a fleet of 26 aircraft, of which 11 (42%) will be owned with the remainder on operating leases. Owning aircraft, rather than leasing them, allows Tiger Airways to further reduce its operating costs and pass the savings to customers in the form of the lowest possible airfares.

Tony Davis, President and Group CEO of Tiger Airways Holdings, said, “We are grateful to Coface for continuing to provide strong support to Tiger Airways. We also thank Standard Chartered for helping Tiger Airways secure even more cost effective aircraft financing deals, which will enable us to reduce our costs and fares even further. As we continue to expand our fleet we also look forward to realising economies of scale in other aspects of our business.”

Philippe Touati, Managing Director, Head of Local Corporates Business, Origination and Client Coverage, Standard Chartered Bank, added, “Standard Chartered Bank is pleased to play a part in Tiger Airways’ development. With our capabilities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, we are keen to support fast growing companies in our markets.”
Sarah Pirzada Usmani, Regional Head of Structure Export Finance, Standard Chartered Bank, said, “Standard Chartered Bank is very honoured to partner with Tiger Airways yet again for its ECA-backed aircraft financings. Tiger Airways’ continued appointment of the Bank as its Mandated Lead Arranger testifies to a strong and trusted partnership. Standard Chartered, with its strong capabilities and network in Asia, looks forward to more opportunities to support Tiger Airways in its growth plans.”