Tigerair Singapore (2003–2017): History and Merger into Scoot

Tigerair Singapore no longer flies under its own name. It merged in 2017.

Tigerair Singapore was Singapore's first low-cost carrier, flying from Changi from 2004. After years of rising losses, parent Singapore Airlines folded it into Scoot, and the Tigerair name disappeared from Singapore's skies on 25 July 2017.

How it started

Tiger Airways Singapore was incorporated on 12 December 2003, according to Wikipedia. Ticket sales began on 31 August 2004 and the first service, to Bangkok, ran on 15 September 2004. The founding shareholders were Singapore Airlines (49%), Bill Franke's Indigo Partners (24%), Tony Ryan's Irelandia Investments (16%) and Temasek Holdings (11%). The model was the Ryanair-style, low-cost approach, flying Airbus A320s from Changi.

The heyday

Growth was quick. By September 2005 the airline had carried more than 500,000 passengers in its first year, with four aircraft and nine routes. On 26 March 2006 it became the first airline to use Changi's new Budget Terminal. In 2006 it carried 1.2 million passengers, up 75% on the year before. The same year it became the first Singaporean low-cost carrier to win Chinese permits to fly to Haikou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Perth followed in March 2007.

The airline sometimes took over routes that Singapore Airlines or SilkAir had dropped, such as Macau and Krabi. It stayed focused on destinations within about five hours of Singapore. Its fleet grew from nine aircraft in the year to March 2009 to 27 in March 2015, and it carried about 5.1 million passengers in that year. It joined the Value Alliance of low-cost carriers in May 2016.

Why it merged

Growth was not matched by profit. Wikipedia's business table shows operating losses of S$59.0 million in the year to March 2014 and S$39.9 million in the year to March 2015, while passenger growth slowed to 1.4% in the latter year. The sector was also hit by rising oil prices and intense competition. World Airline News reported a widening quarterly loss for the quarter to September 2014, followed by Singapore Airlines taking a majority stake. In November 2015 Singapore Airlines offered to buy out the remaining shareholders of Tiger Airways Holdings.

Meanwhile Singapore Airlines had launched Scoot in 2012, and routes overlapped. Mothership notes that SIA, Tigerair and Scoot all flew to Bangkok, and all four group airlines flew to Kuala Lumpur. Both budget carriers were placed in one holding company, Budget Aviation Holdings. On 4 November 2016 the group announced that Tigerair would join Scoot as a single airline under the Scoot brand, with a single air operator's certificate.

The last flight

According to Business Traveller, the last Tigerair flight left Singapore for Tiruchirappalli at 2305 on 24 July 2017. The merger took effect on 25 July 2017. Wikipedia lists that date as the end of Tigerair's operations.

What happened next

Brand and codes: Scoot took over Tigerair's IATA code TR, replacing TZ, and its ICAO code TGW, replacing SCO.
Routes: Scoot added Tigerair destinations including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, Tiruchirappalli and Lucknow. Business Traveller put the combined network at 65 destinations in 18 countries. Tigerair itself had served 38 destinations from Singapore.
Fleet: Wikipedia's fleet table shows 2 A319-100s and 21 A320-200s, with a stated total of 31. The table is internally inconsistent, so the final fleet size is unclear. The A319s are noted as transferred to Scoot.
Staff: Crew were to wear new Scoot uniforms.
Other Tigerair airlines: Tigerair Australia and Tigerair Taiwan were not part of the merger. According to Wikipedia, Tigerair Taiwan bought the Tigerair brand ownership in January 2022.

Fact file