Why Tiger is hopeful of clawing back losses from its 2 associate airlines

May passenger numbers up 36.4%.

According to OCBC, Tiger Airways (TGR) carried 629K passenger in May, up 36.4% YoY, mainly on the back of TGR SG’s continued strong performance into the new quarter (1QFY14).

Passenger traffic for TGR SG grew 18.9% YoY although passenger load factor (PLF) fell marginally by 0.2ppt to 84.0% following a slightly larger increase in capacity growth (+18.6% YoY).

Here's more from OCBC:

Nonetheless, we are encouraged by the eighth straight consecutive month of YoY passenger traffic increases for TGR SG, and maintain our optimism that PLF should stay stable as TGR SG enters the busier Jun holidays.

As we are in the dry season for Indonesia and entering the summer holidays for the Philippines, we are hopeful that TGR's two associate airlines, Mandala and SEAir, will be able to capitalise on the increased travel and taper their operating losses.