Tiger to launch Indonesia venture in April

Tiger Airways Holdings has announced that it will launch Indonesia’s new PT Mandala Airlines in April.

Travel Insurance News - 27/02/2012

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The company, in which Singaporean flag carrier Singapore Airlines currently has a 33 per cent stake, said this week that the April launch would enable Tiger to expand into one of the fastest growing markets for air travel worldwide. According to officials, Mandala Airlines will have a fleet similar in size to its Australian operation by the end of the first quarter of 2013.

Tiger had acquired its 33 per cent stake in Mandala Airlines and leased two of its Airbus A320s to the firm in January; the Indonesian carrier has been amid prolonged struggles in recent months. Now, Tiger has announced that last week it successfully renewed Mandala’s operation license.

Chin Yau Seng, Tiger Airway’s chief executive, said to reporters this week that PT Mandala would take delivery of 10 fresh Airbus A320s over the next 22 months. Two of those planes will replace the void created when the current lease with Tiger’s two jets expires.

Chin said he was not yet ready to comment on the routes that the carrier will be offering from its base in Jakarta but said that the airline will feature both domestic and international routes.

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