Tigerair discontinues Manila to Phuket flights

Budget carrier Tiger Airways Philippines on Monday announced it will temporarily discontinue its Manila to Phuket, Thailand flights for lack of passengers.

 

The airline's last flight to Phuket was on Dec. 15, three months after its launch, as load factor was less than 50 percent, vice president for commercial operations Jose Laurente Jr. told reporters.

Load factor is the percentage of passengers to seats on a flight.

 

“We have reviewed this and have found it to be non profitable route,” he said, noting that a load factor of 80 percent was needed to make a destination profitable.

  

However, he said the route will be reviewed to see if if reviving the operations next year will be feasible, adding the Manila-Phuket service was was launched during the lean season.

 

The company official also said Tigerair's flights to Tacloban were also stopped after Typhoon Yolanda barreled through the central Philippines on Nov. 8

 

Meanwhile, Tigerair is eyeing Manila to Macau flights and Clark, Pampanga to Incheon, South Korea and Tokyo flights in the first quarter of 2014, Laurente said. — DOR/JDS, GMA News