Tiger roars into Melbourne
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3 May 2007
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Tiger Airways will establish its Australian headquarters in Melbourne creating over 1000 local jobs, providing extra air services to Victorians and attracting visitors to the State.
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Premier Steve Bracks said Victorians would have unprecedented access to low cost flights connecting them across Australia and the world.
Melbourne will host Tiger Airways’ new Australian head office, facilities for aircraft maintenance and crew training, and its start-up fleet.
Victoria won the right to host Australia’s newest low-cost airline thanks to its excellent aviation facilities, economic climate and government support. The deal will further strengthen Victoria’s aviation and tourism industries.
About seventy per cent of Victoria’s tourism growth is expected to come from international markets by 2016, with Asia accounting for 40 per cent of all international arrivals. Tiger Airways perfectly positions Victoria to capitalise on this massive growth.
Tiger will establish new connections across its Australian and Asian network to make Victoria far more accessible to overseas visitors. When Tiger starts flying here later this year over 60 per cent of available seats to and from Melbourne will be on low-cost carriers – the highest proportion of any city in Australia.
Tiger Airways Chief Executive, Tony Davis, said the airline’s decision was a vote of confidence in Victoria.
“We had to determine the best location for an Australian base for our airline and Melbourne was a clear winner”, Mr Davis said.
Tiger was particularly attracted to Victoria because of its skills base, the flexibility offered by Melbourne Airport, the State’s approach to marketing and major events and the positive approach to the negotiations by the State Government and Melbourne Airport.
Tiger Airways currently flies from Singapore to South East Asia, China, Darwin and Perth and is the fastest growing low cost Asian-based carrier.
It is an independent subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, with other shareholders including the family of Ryanair founder Dr Tony Ryan.
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