Tiger Airways, Asia-Pacific’s fast growing low-fare carrier, has signed a contract with Airbus for an additional 20 A320s, which will take its fleet up to 70 aircraft. This announcement follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for 50 A320s in June 2007, with the first 30 of these orders confirmed in October.
Tiger Airways currently operates a fleet of 12 A320s, with eight more to be delivered by 2010. Tiger Airways A320s will be configured in a 180-seat, all economy configuration
The A320s will be deployed on the airline’s rapidly expanding Asia-Pacific network that currently extends to more than 25 destinations in eight countries. This includes Tiger Airways‘ new Australian domestic operation, which was launched out of Melbourne in November 2007.
The latest order from Tiger Airways serves to further boost the significance of Singapore as a major market for the entire family of Airbus aircraft. Over the past decade, Singapore carriers have ordered a total of 156 Airbus aircraft comprising of 63 wide-body and 93 single aisle aircraft.
„Tiger Airways has entered an exciting new phase of development, with continued strong growth of operations out of Singapore, the successful launch of services in Australia and a new start-up in Korea on the horizon. The A320 has performed outstandingly for Tiger Airways over the past three years and I am confident that the A320 aircraft matches our long term growth requirements across the Asia-Pacific region,“ said Tony Davis, Chief Executive Officer of Tiger Aviation.
„Tiger Airways continues to demonstrate enormous success in expanding its low-fare airline strategy into a diversity of Asia-Pacific markets and we are proud that a large A320 fleet will play a critical role in these achievements. The A320 is undoubtedly the world’s favourite single-aisle aircraft, offering superb economics and high passenger appeal,“ said John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer – Customers.
The A320 Family, which includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321, is recognized as the benchmark single-aisle aircraft family. Each aircraft features fly by wire controls and all share a unique cockpit and operational commonality across the range. Over 5,600 Airbus A320 Family aircraft have been sold and over 3,300 delivered to more than 200 operators worldwide, making it the worlds best selling commercial jet ever. With proven reliability and extended servicing periods, the A320 Family has the lowest operating costs of any single aisle aircraft. In addition, the latest new cabin design saves on weight and offers the passenger a quieter and roomier experience, as well as significantly larger overhead stowage lockers.
Photo: Airbus
