SIngapore Low Cost - partners with Ryanair

[Trader]

Singapore Airlines to team up with owners of Ryanair on Asian no-frills carrier

By ALEXA OLESEN

The Associated Press

12/9/03 12:43 PM

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Singapore Airlines said Tuesday it has partnered with the owners of European budget airline Ryanair to launch a no-frills Asian airline next year.

The new carrier, which is to be called Tiger Airways, will be launched in the second half of 2004 and will operate a fleet of single aisle aircraft on flights of four hours or less, Singapore Airlines Chief Executive Officer Chew Choon Seng at a press conference. The type of aircraft has yet to be decided.

Singapore Airlines and its parent, the Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd., will own a majority stake in Tiger Airways.

Irelandia Investments, the investment vehicle of the Ryan family which owns Dublin-based budget airline Ryanair, and Indigo Partners, a group of U.S. investors, will partner with Singapore Airlines on the venture, Chew said.

Chew said a lack of experience with the "low-cost carrier business model" prompted Singapore Airlines to pair up with the Ryan family, adding that the Ryans have the "right experience, know-how and successful track record for this business model."

Ryanair has maintained double-digit growth in passengers and sales in recent years as it expanded rapidly in Europe, where it now operates hubs in more than a half-dozen cities from Stockholm to Frankfurt.

Its formula is to use low-cost, often far-flung regional airports and to offer no extra services, such as transferring bags or offering meals.

Indigo Partners is a Phoenix, Arizona-based private equity firm headed by the former chairman and chief executive of America West Airlines, William Franke.

Singapore Airlines will hold a 49 percent stake in Tiger Airways, Chew said.

For months the city-state's flagship carrier has said it was considering launching a budget carrier to stave off emerging domestic rivals and competition from new budget airlines in Indonesia and Malaysia.

ValuAir, a fledgling Singapore budget carrier set up by former Singapore Airlines executives, plans to launch by June 2004 and has already begun hiring pilots and staff.

[Guest Smokin_Joe]

Nothin really about this deal per se but I just gotta say that Singapore is my favorite international airline....and I've been flying on a few, including our own AC, Luft, BA, Thai, Emirates and Gulf. The service is absolutely amazing. Even sitting back in goat class, you're treating like and actual human being. I was shocked. You get your own little tv, all the grog you can swill, and the sweetest F/A's, (they still call themselves "Stewards and Stewardesses", (isn't that adorable?). From the ticket counter to the baggage carousel, I've never been treated better. With them, it's all about service. Nobody does it better, but they prove that great service is achievable.