Tiger Airways in tie-up with SEAir Philippines

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SINGAPORE : Singapore budget carrier Tiger Airways on Friday announced a marketing deal with a Filipino airline to establish Tiger’s first overseas base and give it a foothold in the Philippines market.

The deal with South East Asia Air (SEAir) gives Tiger a base at Clark Field, a former US Air Force facility north of Manila, Tiger Airways chief executive Tony Davis said.

Under the deal expected to take effect in February, Tiger Airways will lease two brand new Airbus A320s to SEAair which will operate them on domestic and international routes from Clark, using the Tiger Airways brand.

“We are keen to add additional operations in other parts of ASEAN, so this is very much the first step down this road,” said Davis, referring to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“We expect over the coming months and years to be announcing additional partnerships of this nature, and we expect Tiger Airways (to establish) a network of four or five bases across the region over the next two or three years.”

Tiger Airways currently operates daily flights from Singapore to the Philippines through Clark Field.

Two planes travel directly and a third flies via Macau.

SEAir will take over the Macau-Clark leg but the aircraft will still carry the Tiger Airways logo, Davis said.

The two airlines will split the direct Singapore-Clark route.

SEAir will also use a leased A320 to operate domestic flights from Clark Field to the Philippine cities of Cebu and Davao using the Tiger Airways logo, he said.

Bookings on the SEAir flights can be made through the Tiger Airways website.

SEAir is a privately-owned 11-year-old carrier that flies from Clark to tourist destinations across the Philippines archipelago, including Boracay and Palawan.

Ownership of the two airlines will not be affected by the deal, Tiger said.

Tiger also flies from Singapore to Thailand, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Australia.