Tigerair beefs up fleet, launches new routes

MANILA, Philippines - Tiger Airways Philippines, a unit of budget carrier Cebu Air Inc. (Cebu Pacific), is beefing up its fleet as it pursues new domestic routes in the second half of the year.

The low cost carrier is set to take delivery of an additional Airbus A320 in December to beef up its existing fleet of four A320 aircraft.

Tigerair Philippines is set to launch its Manila-Davao, as well as its Manila-General Santos routes on Nov. 28 and its Cebu-Davao as well as Cebu-Cagayan de Oro route on Nov. 29.

Tigerair Philippines would use an Airbus A320 for the new routes.

The airline would fly daily between Manila and Davao as well as five times a week between Manila and General Santos to cater to passengers visiting Mindanao.

On the other hand, Tigerair Philippines is set to fly two times a week between Cebu and Davao, as well as between Cebu and Cagayan de Oro as part of efforts to strengthen its Cebu hub.

The airline currently flies to Cagayan de Oro via Manila.

Lawyer Leilani de Leon, Tigerair Philippines chief legal and corporate affairs of Tigerair Philippines, said the airline now operates over 230 weekly flights to one international and 10 domestic destinations.

It currently flies to Hong Kong, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, General Santos, Iloilo, Kalibo, Manila, Puerto Princesa and Tacloban.

 “Tigerair Philippines, through its network made wider with Cebu Pacific, remains driven to cater to its guests’ travel needs, be it for a bigger network or for low fares. With these four new routes, we will be able to serve them in time for the peak travel season in the Philippines,” de Leon explained.

Last March, Cebu Pacific spent $7 million to acquire the 40 percent share of Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd and $8 million for the 60 percent owned by Filipino businessmen in Tigerair Philippines.

The budget airline is in the middle of a $4 billion massive refleeting program involving the acquisition of close to 50 aircraft. It currently operates over 2,200 flights per week with 50 aircraft to 26 international and 34 Philippine destinations.