China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday announced it is to set up a low-cost carrier venture with Tiger Airways Pte of Singapore and plans to launch operations in the fourth quarter next year.
The joint venture, which has a paid-up capital of NT$2 billion (US$67.33 million), is to run a budget airline under the brand Tigerair Taiwan, which is licensed by Tiger Airways and based at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
NORTHEAST ASIA
Photo: Yao Chieh-hsiu, Taipei Times
Tigerair Taiwan aims to be a no-frills carrier providing international air travel services across Northeast Asia, including Japan, South Korea and the second-tier and third-tier cities of China.
“China Airlines’ knowledge of the Taiwan market, coupled with Tiger Airways’ expertise in the no-frills sector, should stimulate demand in the civil aviation market here,” CAL chairman Sun Hung-hsiang (孫洪祥) told a press conference.
CAL is not the only airline in Taiwan planning to enter in the low-cost carrier market.
Last month, TransAsia Airways Corp (TNA, 復興航空), which mainly serves passengers on regional and cross-strait routes, said it would establish a budget airline subsidiary within one year to meet rising demand.
The company, which mainly serves passengers on regional and cross-strait routes, said it planned to invest between NT$2 billion and NT$3 billion to operate the subsidiary.
Sun said CAL and Tiger Airways are submitting an application for regulatory approvals from the Ministry of Economic affairs and the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), aiming to operate as quickly as possible.
In addition, the launch of Tigerair Taiwan will help increase CAL’s sales performance and profitability, Sun said, as CAL holds a 90 percent share in the new carrier, with its Singapore partner taking the other 10 percent.
Sun expressed optimism that Tigerair Taiwan will “absolutely” turn profit after three years of operation, with the company aiming to break even in its first year of operation.
INITIAL THREE PLANES
Tigerair Taiwan plans to buy three Airbus SAS’ 320 series aircraft, with the fleet expected to total 12 planes in 2016 or 2017.
The new joint venture is to allow Tiger Airways to extend its presence into new untapped markets in Northeast Asia, chief executive officer Koay Peng-yen (郭炳炎) said.
Tiger Airways Holding Ltd currently operates a fleet of 50 aircraft to over 50 destinations, from its bases in Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Australia, while CAL operates a fleet of 75 aircraft to 109 domestic and international destinations in its network.
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
RSS