Competition heats up in Taiwan budget airline sector

2014-09-25

Taiwan low-cost carriers Tigerair Taiwan and V Air are competing for the country’s budget travel market, offering daily and weekly flights to nearby destinations such as Singapore and Thailand.

Tigerair will make its maiden flight Sept. 26 for Singapore and open routes to Bangkok and Chiang Mai in mid-November, while V Air expects to launch operations to the two Thailand cities in the fourth quarter of this year. The airlines also plan to set up Japan and South Korea routes in the first quarter of 2015.

“We are extremely pleased to see Tigerair get underway this week,” said Jean Shen, director general of the Civil Aeronautics Administration. “The new airline, along with V Air, augurs well for the development of Taiwan’s low-cost airline industry.”

According to Shen, the advent of Tigerair and V Air is testament to Taiwan’s robust budget airline sector, which already has 13 low-cost foreign carriers flying into the country.

“These foreign airlines account for 7.2 percent of the local market,” she said, adding that they include AirAsia of Malaysia, Jetstar of Australia, Peach Aviation of Japan, Scoot of Singapore and T’way Airlines of South Korea.

Established in December 2013, Taipei City-headquartered Tigerair is a joint venture of Taiwan-based China Airlines Co. Ltd. and Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd. V Air, established in January, is wholly owned and operated by Taipei City-headquartered TransAsia Airways.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222094&CtNode=413)