Tiger Airways targets P5B in revenues on new brand, tourism growth

Tiger Airways Philippines, formerly SEAir, is targeting revenues of P5 billion this year as it flies under a new brand amid bullish tourism targets and the increase of visitors to the Philippines.

The airline also plans to grow its Asian destinations until the Category 2 status on the Philippines is lifted.

"We are confident that this growth can be supported by the bullish tourism targets of the Department of Tourism and then increasing number of travellers from wider segments of the society," said Tiger Airways president and chief executive Olive Ramos.

Ramos noted that this is three times better than the revenues posted by the company in 2012.

The airline also plans to expand its fleet with 25 new planes in the next three to five years.

Currently, Tiger Airways Philippines has five aircraft—three 180-seater A320s and two 144-seater A319s.

"We're looking at adding three to five aircraft a year to our young fleet of five. This will be done through leasing using internally generated cash," Ramos said, noting that they are targeting A320s to concentrate its aircraft maintenance to two aircraft types.

The company official said the refleeting program is an on-going initiative but aircrafts will only come in "once we develop our slots out of Manila."

"As soon as we get slots from Terminal 3 or Terminal 4, we will fly in additional aircrafts. Hopefully we'll be able to get either because we've been requesting that," she said.

The additional slots and aircraft will also allow the airline to add more flight destinations.

"We would like to increase our flights to Singapore, Bangkok, and Hong Kong because there is traffic in those destinations. Once we have new slots, we also plan to launch new destinations," she said.

Ramos added that they are also looking at Korea and Japan. "Once category 2 is lifted then there will be opening there," she said.

Japan and South Korea blocked the entry of Philippine airlines due to the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) Significant Safety Concerns (SSC) rating on the country.

ICAO originally cited 89 points of concern in the country’s aviation regulatory framework that jeopardized the safety of airline passenger, of which some involved are the registration of aviation companies and regulations covering the training of pilots and other industry personnel.

Because of safety and management issues, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) gave the Philippines a Category-2 status in 2007, followed by the European Union in 2010.

With the Category 2 status, the Philippines cannot add new routes to destinations which imposed the rating.  

In August 2012, Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd., through Roar Aviation II Pte Ltd, bought a 40-percent stake in SEAir Inc. for $2.5 million. With the entry of Tiger Airways, the fleet expanded from two to five aircraft.

Currently, Tiger Airways Philippines flies to Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Clark, Laoag, Bacolod, Kalibo, Cebu, Iloilo, Tacloban, and Puerto Princesa. — BM, GMA News