Tigerair and Cebu Pacific join forces
Tigerair is selling its 40% stake in Tigerair Philippines to Cebu Pacific as part of a strategic alliance between the two low-cost carriers.
Both parties will collaborate commercially and operationally on international and domestic air routes from the Philippines.
The carriers say, “The alliance will enable both parties to leverage their respective strengths and harness synergies to enhance their network coverage, flight frequencies and customer service, and jointly market their routes using interline arrangement.”
Subject to regulatory approval, the interline partners will jointly operate common routes between Singapore and the Philippines.
Group CEO of Tigerair Koay Peng Yen said, “Tigerair and Cebu Pacific share a vision for both airlines to join forces and create the largest budget airline network between Asia and the Philippines. This partnership with Cebu Pacific is consistent with our asset-light strategy, and builds upon our other alliances. We also look forward to achieving greater cost savings from the coordinated operations while providing more travel options and greater convenience for our customers.”
President and CEO of Cebu Pacific Lance Gokongwei said, “This strategic alliance will allow both Cebu Pacific and Tigerair to leverage our extensive networks spanning from North Asia, ASEAN, Australia, India, all the way to the Middle East. Our customers can expect an even wider range of travel options, and seamless travel connections while enjoying our trademark low fares.”
To enhance the integration of operations, each carrier will brand itself as partner of the other airline, while Tigerair Philippines will initially continue to operate under the Tigerair brand upon completion of the divestment.
Both Tigerair and Cebu Pacific websites will be used as sales and distribution platforms to market all routes operated by both airlines.
As part of the strategic alliance, Cebu Pacific will acquire 100% ownership of Tigerair Philippines, including the 40% stake of Tigerair.
Tigerair Philippines currently operates an average of 118 flights per week with five aircraft to 11 domestic and international destinations, from its bases in Manila and Clark. Cebu Pacific currently operates an average of 2,200 flights per week with 48 aircraft to 24 international and 33 Philippine cities in its network.
The carriers says that by combining their resources, Cebu Pacific will be able to provide services to high growth markets including Australia and India. Tigerair will be able to fly more passengers to additional cities in Cebu Pacific’s extensive network in the Philippines and North Asia. This arrangement will allow both airlines to deploy capital more efficiently.
Tigerair is also in the process of extending its strategic alliance with long-haul LCC Scoot. The carrier has also agreed a strategic alliance with India’s Spicejet and is setting up an LCC joint venture in Taiwan with China Airlines.
