Tiger teams up with Scoot but gains seen to be muted

Australia's lethargic operation still a major drag.

In a widely expected move, Tiger Airways (TGR) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with Scoot to market joint itineraries from 2 Oct 2012.

 Customers will now be able to travel from Australia (Sydney and Gold Coast by Scoot) to TGR’s destinations (Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur via Singapore by Tiger) using a single itinerary.

TGR currently only offers flights from Perth to Singapore (vice versa) with the bulk of its Australian operations catering to mainly domestic travel.

In the later phases, the two airlines will have joint itineraries originating from South East Asia.

According to OCBC Investment Research, while this partnership leverages off TGR’s recent move to Terminal
2 following the closure of the Budget Terminal and could potentially provide valuable lead-in customers in later stages, TGR’s immediate recovery still hinges on Tiger Australia, which is currently facing operational challenges.

"As such, we deem the impact of this partnership to be muted," it said in a report.