The Tiger's turnaround: Tiger Airways posts $14.1m profit for Q2
The budget airline’s revenue for the quarter is a $16.4 million improvement over the $2.3 million loss recorded a year ago.
The improvement in Tiger's books can be attributed to higher turnovers, strong passenger growth and strict control of unit costs. Growth in passenger volume outstripped seat capacity growth of 21.9%, while the total Cost per Available Seat Kilometre (CASK) went down 3.1% compared to the previous year.
Tony Davis, President and Group CEO, said: “We are pleased with the second quarter results posted by the Group. Achieving a 10% net profit margin, 35% revenue growth and lower unit costs, on significant capacity growth of 22% is a solid result.
“Forward bookings remain strong, particularly for the peak travel period between December and February. To capitalise on this peak period, Tiger Airways Australia is increasing its fleet to 12 aircraft by the financial year-end.
“The airlines continue to focus on maximising profitability through the generation of additional ancillary revenue streams. In percentage terms, Tiger Airways is currently the fifth highest generator of ancillary revenue globally, and our aim is to be in the world’s top three airlines. During the quarter, we introduced two new ancillary products – boardmefirstTM, our priority boarding service, and our new flexible ticket option. Both products have been popular with our passengers. In addition, we have recently introduced Stripes, a membership programme that provides members priority access to promotions and the lowest fares.
“We continue to work with Thai Airways on the establishment of our low cost business in Thailand, to be called Thai Tiger.
“Finally, we are pleased to have recently won two awards; the Low Cost Airline of the Year award from the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, and the Most Transparent Award in the New Issues Category from the Securities Investors Association of Singapore” said Tony Davis.