A new chapter for Tiger Airways

TWELVE years after its launch, Tiger Airways is coming home as it becomes a fully owned subsidiary of parent group, Singapore Airlines (SIA).

When the budget airline took to the skies in 2004 - with a list of shareholders that included SIA and Ryanair's parent company, Irelandia Investments - SIA kept at arms length. But as Tiger scaled up its presence in the region and found itself stumbling under the weight of loss-making ventures overseas and a capacity overhang at home, SIA had no choice but to step in to save its floundering cub.

When it threw down a general offer for Tiger in November last year, SIA was already a majority shareholder with a stake of nearly 56 per cent. This had enabled it to roll out some initiatives aimed at greater cooperation across its carriers, such as boosting connecting traffic between Tiger and Scoot as well as allowing the redemption of KrisFlyer miles on the two budget carriers.