Tigerair plans aggressive sale offers

The limited-period discount will be floated again this month, Robert Yang, commercial director, Tigerair, informed a gathering of journalists at his office in Singapore last week. Yang said, “Number of seats we sold, during that week, went up by 18 per cent. So, we are re-launching the offer.”

With Rs10 as the base fare, the to-and-fro ticket rounds up to Rs7,499 (including taxes), but the offer is valid only for trips beginning next year, his team added.

“By slashing down ticket prices, we are no way compromising on the services we offer. If a passenger needs food onboard or water, he/she can pay for it in flight or book it in advance”, said Mr Yang, adding, “We are a no-frill carrier and want to offer reasonable travel options, absolute value for money. And, passengers, these days are intelligent. They go for cheaper options, whenever available, and even plan their trips in that period.”

How much business do these concessions bring in? Mr Yang said, “It’s not everywhere or everytime that we do well. We had to shut down our Indonesia operations. Yes, we are struggling. But ensuring market presence (with such packages) is important. We don’t want to people just to access Singapore through Tigerair, but use our network of carriers to 50 destinations in 13 Asia-Pacific regions.”

Indian operations, with 37 weekly flights to six cities, have still fared well. Mr Yang explained, “We have seen break-even in India. That’s because we see huge traffic from Chennai. Cochin has a lot of attractions for tourists. In Bengaluru, people are always looking to fly for work or recreation. At the moment, Hyderabad and Trichy are underserved, so we have a lot to tap in there.”