17 March 2007

Tiger Airways gains Australian FIRB approval for cabotage operation

The Australian reported on 15 March 2007 that Singaporean airline Tiger Airways, which already operates Singapore-Darwin air services and is about to start operating to Perth, has received approval from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) to establish a domestic low-cost airline, Tiger Airways Australia. In the jargon this will be what is called a ninth freedom operation, something that very few countries permit - Australia and New Zealand are notable exceptions.

Tiger Airways, established in 2004, is owned by Singapore Airlines (49%), a private equity firm, Indigo Partners (24%), the founders of Ryanair (16%) and Temasek (11%).

The airline intends to operate Airbus A320 aircraft and will now decide on a base airport and seek safety certification.

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