Hong Kong Express Airways

Hong Kong Express Airways Limited is an airline based in Hong Kong, with its main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline operates scheduled passenger services to 19 destinations in seven countries across Asia, including code shares with its sister airline, Hong Kong Airlines. It has an all Boeing fleet of narrow-body aircraft and a confirmed joint order, with Hong Kong Airlines, of 51 narrow- and wide-body aircraft with Airbus. The airline was incorporated on 10 March 2004 and was owned by Macau casino entrepreneur Stanley Ho. It became Hong Kong's fourth passenger airline when it received a revised air operator's certificate in July 2005. The same month, the airline took delivery of its first 76-seat twinjet Embraer 170 and became the Asian launch operator of the regional jet. The airline's initial use of its first Embraer 170 was on charter services to Taichung on 3 September 2005, followed by scheduled passenger services to Guangzhou on 8 September. On 3 August 2006, HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, announced a finalized agreement to acquire a 45 percent stake in the airline and the approval was received on 16 September. The airline became a sister airline with Hong Kong Airlines (formerly CR Airways), which HNA Group also owned a 45 percent stake. Since the beginning of 2007, the airline went through some major expansions and changes. These include the replacement of its four Embraer 170s with the introduction of the next generation Boeing 737-800. The introduction of scheduled passenger services to 15 new destinations across Asia as well as the introduction of a new brand identity and Chinese name.

History
was Hong Kong Express Airways Limited was incorporated on 10 March 2004. The airline owned by Macau casino entrepreneur Stanley Ho. In July 2004, Hong

Kong's helicopter operator Heli Hong Kong officially announced plans to commence fixed-wing operation via Hong Kong Express, to become Hong Kong's fourth passenger airline. It was planning to introduce regional jet services to secondary cities in mainland China and was in negotiations with Bombardier and Embraer for the lease of several 50- or 70-seat regional jets. In April 2005, the airline was granted permission to transport passengers, cargo and mail from Hong Kong to selected destinations in China and permitted to apply for traffic rights to serve 15 Chinese cities. The next month, it received approval to operate scheduled air services to five

cities in China, including Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Ningbo. The airline had its Air Operator's Certificate varied in July 2005 for the operation of Embraer 170 aircraft.[6] The same month, it took delivery of its first of four 76-seat twin-jet Embraer 170, leased from General Electric Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS), and became the Asian launch operator of this regional jet. Two more aircraft were delivered in 2005, with the remaining delivered in May 2006. The airline's initial use of its first Embraer 170 was on charter services to Taichung, Republic of China (Taiwan), on 3 September 2005; after it received approval from Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council on 30 August. Taiwanese carrier Mandarin Airlines, who also filed an application to operate the same charter flight route, was unable to gain approval from the Hong Kong Administration. It was reported that Hong Kong's refusal was because it was dissatisfied that the Taiwanese government used the charter flight route as a political campaign instrument. The first scheduled passenger services began to Guangzhou on 8 September 2005, with services to Hangzhou and Ningbo following in October and December, respectively. On 19 November 2005, Hong Kong Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) granted the airline additional licences to operate scheduled services to 16 destinations in mainland China, as well as Koh Samui, Okinawa, Siem Reapand Taichung. Scheduled passenger services to Chiang Mai and Chongqing were inaugurated on 22 June 2006 and 31 July 2006, respectively. It was the first non-stop service between Hong Kong and northern Thailand's hot spot, Chiang Mai, with a twice weekly service on Thursdays and Sundays. On 3 August 2006, HNA Group, the parent company of Hainan Airlines, announced a finalised agreement to acquire a 45 percent stake in Hong Kong Express; this followed an earlier purchase of 45 percent holdings in CR Airways in June. Under the terms of the agreement, the airline would remain a Hong Kong registered airline and there would be no changes to the current operations. Analysts said that the HNA Group had the weakest international network amongst all the mainland airlines. By purchasing both Hong Kong Express and CR Airways, it would enable Hainan Airlines to expand internationally via its junior partners from Hong Kong.[16][17] On 16 September 2006, the airlines announced its receipt of approval to sell a 45 percent stake to HNA Group, as well as the purchase of Boeing 737 narrow body twin-jet aircraft. It was anticipated that it would receive the new aircraft later in 2006, while the number of aircraft ordered was yet to be confirmed. The airline inaugurated scheduled passenger services to Chengdu on 16 November 2006. This was following by Xian in April 2007, Guiyang in July 2007, Bangkok in September 2007, and Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur and Yangon in November 2007, in addition to the resumption of services to Nanjing on 17 July 2007. The airline took delivery of its first of seven Boeing 737-

800aircraft on 22 January 2007. The introduction of this next generation aircraft would enable the airline to extend its services beyond China to wider East Asia. The Boeing 737-800s are configured with 164 seats across two cabin classes, 8 seats in Business Class and 156 seats in Economy Class. The new aircraft was unveiled with its new brand identity in a ceremony held at Hong Kongs Four Seasons Hotel. The new brand identity included a new look logo, aircraft livery, website, crew uniforms. The new look logo consists of a contemporary and stylised representation of the mythical creature Pi Xiu. On 23 January 2008, the airline was the third Hong Kong carrier permitted, by the Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department, to operate flights to and from Beijing and Shanghai. To facilitate the expansion, it announced a further six Boeing 737-800 would be added to its fleet before the end of the year. Destinations The following destinations are served by Hong Kong Express Airways (as of January 2013):

People's Republic of China

Nanning - Nanning Wuxu International Airport Hong Kong International Airport Hubs Taichung Taichung International Airport Incheon Incheon International Airport

Hong Kong

Taiwan, Republic of China

South Korea

Terminated destinations

China, People's Republic of Guangzhou, Nanjing, Ningbo, Xian Japan Nagoya, Sapporo Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Myanmar Yangon Nepal Kathmandu Philippines Manila South Korea Seoul Thailand Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket

Fleet Hong Kong Express operates five passenger aircraft, fitted with two classes of service (Business and Economy Class). All aircraft are equipped with video broadcasting system with 20 9 inches (23 cm)-wide ceiling- or wall-mounted liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, with two in Business Class and 18 in Economy Class. Hong Kong Express Passenger Fleet (as of 22 February 2012) Aircraft Boeing 737-800 Total Aircraft orders On 21 June 2007, the airline signed an MOU with Airbus to acquire 30 Airbus A320s, 20 Airbus A330-200s and one Airbus Corporate Jet. The order was subsequently confirmed with the signing of a firm contract with Airbus on 12 September 2007; and it will be shared between the airline and its sister airline, Hong Kong Airlines. At the Farnborough Air Show in July 2010, Airbus announced that Hong Kong Airlines had signed a memorandum of understanding to convert orders for 15 A330s to A350s and place an additional order for 10 A330-200s. No engine selection for the additional A330s was announced. Retired Aircraft that have been in service with Hong Kong Express are:

Total 5 3

Orders 0 0

Passengers C Y Total 164

Note

8 156

4 Embraer 170

Loyalty programmes Further information: Fortune Wings Club The Fortune Wings Club is the loyalty programme for Hong Kong Express and its sister airlines, including Grand China Air, Grand China Express, Hainan Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Lucky Airand West Air. Membership benefits include air ticket redemption and upgrade; VIP members have additional privileges of dedicated First or Business Class check in counters, lounge access, bonus mileage and extra baggage allowance

Services Codeshare agreements Hong Kong Express Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (at July 2012): ^operated by the second party

China Eastern Airlines - Kumming, Lijiang^, Xian Hong Kong Airlines Beijing, Shanghai-Pudong^, Shanghai-Hongqiao^, Guilin^, Guiyang^, Haikou^, Hanoi^, Hangzhou, Nanning, Sanya Tianjin Airlines - Tianjin^ Hainan Airlines - Haikou, Sanya, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Mudanjiang^, rmqi^, Qiqihar^, Changchun^

Tiger Airways
Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd (SGX: J7X), operating as Tiger Airways Singapore, is a low-cost airline headquartered in Singapore. It operates services to regional destinations in Southeast Asia, Australia, China and India from its main base at Singapore Changi Airport. It has its head office in the Honeywell Building in Changi Business Park Central 1.[3] Tiger Airways won the CAPA Low Cost Airline of the Year Award for 2006 and 2010.

History
Establishment
Tiger Airways Singapore was incorporated on 12 December 2003 and began ticket sales on 31 August 2004. Services commenced on 15 September 2004 to Bangkok. It operates scheduled international services from Singapore Changi Airport and is a subsidiary of Tiger Airways Holdings, a Singaporean-based company. In 2006, the airline flew 1.2 million passengers, a growth of 75% from the previous year. The airline was the first to operate from the Budget Terminal in Changi Airport in order to achieve operatingcost savings and its cost structure is modeled after Ryanair. Despite regional competition, the airline has reiterated its current intention to remain focused on flying within a five-hour radius from its Singaporean base. Tiger Airways Singapore and its two partners Tiger Mandala and SEAir will begin operating from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 from 25 September 2012 due to the demolition of Budget Terminal for the future Terminal 4 in 2017.

Route Strategy
The airline flew into a period of relative difficulty for the aviation industry with rising oil prices and intense competition from other airlines. The airline held off imposing fuel surcharges as its competitors had done. With Singapore Airlines having a stake in the airline, the airline occasionally fills in the gap when SIA drops its services from certain destinations. Macau, once served by SIA before being taken up by its subsidiary, SilkAir, in 2002, terminated all flights completely by the end of 2004. Three months later, the route was taken over by Tiger Airways with flights commencing 25 March 2005. A similar pattern can be observed in Krabi, where SilkAir suspended services in February 2005 in the wake of the effects of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Tiger Airways resumed direct services to the location from 7 October 2005. In late July 2005, it was announced that the airline would commence flights from Macau to Manila (Clark) on 30 October 2005, a much-heralded move as it may signal the establishment of a secondary base besides Singapore, allowing the airline to expand and diversify risks.

On 21 September 2005 the company produced a report card on its first year of operations, with a total of over 500,000 passengers carried, 5000 scheduled flights flown, and a flight completion rate of 98.7 per cent. 94 per cent of flight departures and 90 per cent of arrivals took place according to schedule. It acquired four aircraft and launched a total of nine routes of which four are flown exclusively by the airline during the year. The airline expected to increase its fleet to nine Airbus A320 aircraft by end 2006, and to carry up to three million passengers a year by then. It also hoped to add six more routes during the year, primarily to destinations in China and India, with flights to Southern China having commenced April. The airline also announced its switch from Singapore Airport Terminal Services to Swissport for ground handling when it becomes the first airline to operate at the newly opened Budget Terminal in Changi Airport on 26 March 2006. Tiger Airways became the first Singaporean low-cost carrier to receive operating permits from the Chinese aviation authorities to fly to the southern Chinese cities of Haikou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in an announcement on 21 February 2006. Ticket sales to these destinations commenced 24 February 2006, with the first flight to Shenzhen taking place on 15 April, to Haikou from 26 April and to Guangzhou from 27 April 2006. The airline has since indicated that the routes were highly popular, with increased flights to Haikou and Guangzhou less than three months since their launch. In June 2006, flights to Danang were suspended. On 20 July 2006, the media reported on the airline's intentions to increase its routes from 15 to 20 and to establish a second base city by the end of the year. Possible growth regions include China, Southern India, Cambodia and Brunei. The airline's plan for a possible initial public offering was also revealed. At the same time, it announced that it saw an increase of 81 per cent in passengers carried in the months of April to June since its move to the Budget Terminal in March, compared to the same period in the previous year. Tiger started services from Singapore to Perth on 23 March 2007. On 25 October 2010, Tiger announced that they will withdraw from Bangalore effective 14 November 2010, citing no reason. Tiger Airways resumed its flights between Singapore and Bangalore from 31 October 2011.

Joint Venture and establishment of Tiger Airways Holdings

Tiger Airways Holdings Limited was established as an airline holding company based in Singapore. It is formed to manage all its operation, including, overseas expansion, fleet management, and route planning. It is the parent company of Singapore based Tiger Airways and Tiger Airways Australia, and holds minority stakes in SEAir and Mandala Airlines.

Tiger Airways Australia

Tiger Airways Australia is a full subsidiary owned and managed by Tiger Airways Holdings. On 9 February 2007, Tiger Airways formally announced that it hoped to become Australia's third full-scale domestic airline, competing directly withVirgin Australia and Qantas/Jetstar.] Tiger Airways Australia will use their Australian domestic network to support an expanded international presence with the current gateway of Perth, expanded to include Melbourne. On 16 March 2007 the airline received approval from Australian authorities to establish the new subsidiary, and established Tiger Airways Australia Pty Ltd on the same day. Tiger Airways Australia began operations on 23 November 2007, and its current route network already spans every state in the country. On 31 July 2008 Tiger Airways Australia announced that it would suspend its flights from Darwin on 25 October, citing Darwin International Airport operating and fuel costs, making it the most expensive airport on the Tiger Airways Australia network but did not rule out returning in the future if costs were to decrease.[7] Tiger resumed services to Darwin on Friday 18th, June 2010. On 5 August 2008 the airline announced Adelaide as its second operational base] and begun services on 10 January 2010. On 1 July 2011, Australia's Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) had instructed Tiger Airways to suspend all domestic flights in Australia over safety concerns for one week, until 9 July 2011 due to a serious safety risk. On 7 July 2011, CASA announced that it will apply for an extension of the suspension until 1 August 2011 at the Federal Court in Melbourne. Immediately prior to the announcement of action by CASA in respect to Tiger, Group Managing Director, Tony Davis, sold $1,420,000 worth of shares in the Company At the time the Sydney Morning Herald questioned Tony Davis' belief in the long term, future of the Company. Tiger Airways Australia resumed flights on 2 August 2011 but it is currently operating on a restricted schedule maintaining its hub in Melbourne. Tiger will re-open its second base at Sydney with three aircraft in July 2012. Tiger will also resume flights to Tasmania twice daily from November, taking its Australian destinations to seven and fully utilising its aircraft local fleet, which is set to be expanded from 10 to 11.

Mandala Airlines

Mandala, a partner airline of Tiger Airways is 33% owned by Tiger Airways Holdings. Tiger Airways ventured into the Indonesian market by buying the troubled Mandala Airlines, with the Saratoga Group holding a majority 51.3% and the remaining 15.7% by previous shareholders and creditors of Mandala. Its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) has been reactivated in February 2011 and after 15 months of suspension, flights are expected to resume by April 2012. The restructured airline will adopt Tiger's business model and fly both local Indonesian domestic and international destinations within a 5-hour flying radius. Initial routes have been reported to be Jakarta-Singapore-MedanSingapore-Jakarta and Jakarta-Singapore-Denpasar/Bali-Jakarta. Mandala sport a hybrid livery with the name 'mandala' on the fuselage accompanied by Tiger's stripes on the tail and wingtips. Mandala resumed operations on Thursday 5 April 2012, with one domestic route between its home base Jakarta and Medan, the capital of NorthSumatra. This will be followed by its first international destination when it launches the Medan-Singapore route on 20 April 2012, adding a second Indonesian destination to Tiger's Singapore network after Jakarta. In May, Mandala flew to Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur from Jakarta. Mandala is expected to have a total of 10 fleet (currently 5) by end of 2012. This will be on-par with its other partner airlines, Tiger Airways Australia. Expansion of domestic flights and international flights to pre-Mandala bankruptcy days are expected to be re-instated progressively.

SEAir (South East Asian Airlines)

SEAir, a partner airline of Tiger Airways is 40% owned by Tiger Airways Holdings. In November 2010, Tiger announced a partnership with Filipino carrier South East Asian Airlines (SEAir) which would see Tiger leasing its two Airbus A319 aircraft to SEAir to open up new international routes out of SEAir's base in Clark International Airport. The DG-coded flights are to be operated

by SEAir's pilots and cabin crew using the leased aircraft which would be repainted into SEAir's livery. Seats on these flights would be marketed by Tiger in addition to SEAir's own website. The first route under this Tiger-SEAir Partner Airline Programme was Clark-Singapore, which saw SEAir taking over Tiger's own TR-coded flights on this route. Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok were subsequently added. It was then expanded to include domestic jet flights from Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport to Cebu and Davao but ticket sales were stopped abruptly due to a cease and desist order imposed by the Filipino Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) following protests from Filipino carriersPhilippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Zest Airways, and Air Philippines. The ban was subsequently lifted in November 2011 after the regulator determined the partnership was not breaking local cabotage laws, with SEAir planning to launch the domestic flights by May 2012. Meanwhile two new destinations from Clark have been added under this partnership, namely Kalibo in the Philippines and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo. The flights are planned to commence in May 2012 following the withdrawal of the Clark-Macau route which is no longer bookable on the websites of both airlines. Flights to Malaysia were made possible after the CAB awarded SEAir the rights to fly 2,520 weekly seats between Clark and Kuala Lumpur; 1,260 weekly seats to Kota Kinabalu; 540 weekly seats to Kuching; another 540 seats to Penang; and another 540 seats to Langkawi. In February 2011, Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd, parent of Tiger Airways increase the shares to 40%. As of May 2012, SEAir commences flights from Clark to Kota Kinabalu, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kalibo and these are marketed via Tiger Airways website and call centres. Future routes could includes Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Puerto Princessa.

Abandoned overseas ventures

Incheon Tiger Airways
On 5 November 2007, Tiger Airways announced that it would be starting a Korean-based budget airline. Incheon Tiger Airways was to have been a joint venture between Tiger Aviation and Incheon Metropolitan City, flying to destinations in Japan, China, Mongolia and the Russian Far East. The airline was to be based in South Korea's Incheon Airport and planned to begin services by 2009; however, the project was abandoned in December 2008.

Thai Tiger Airways

Tiger Airways and Thai Airways International was planning an airline based in Thailand, where Thai Airways International and Tiger Airways will own 51% and 39% respectively of the newly formed airline, while RyanThai will hold the remaining 10%. Operations are expected to begin in the 1st quarter of 2011. Tiger Airways has dropped its plan to form a Bangkok-based low-cost joint venture with Thai Airways after failing to get the

necessary investment approvals from the Thai government. As a result, Thai Airways International, Tiger Airways and Ryanthai decided not to proceed with the incorporation of Thai Tiger Airways.

Destinations
Tiger Airways currently flies to destinations within an approximate five-hour radius from Singapore to 28 destinations in ten countries around the region. Thailand is its first market with four cities served (Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and Hat Yai), taking advantage of the open skies agreement between Singapore and Thailand. Aviation agreements have prevented the airline from flying to neighbouring Malaysia except Kuala Lumpur which started in February 2008. In September 2006, further liberalisation saw Tiger granted rights to fly to Kuching, Miri and Sibu in a bid to boost tourism in Sarawak. In January 2011, Tiger launched flights to Taipei in Taiwan. The capital city of Taiwan is Tiger's sixth destination in Greater China, after Guangzhou, Haikou, Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen. Recent network expansion has focused on the Indian subcontinent and the Philippines. Flights to Bangalore were reintroduced along with the addition of Kochi in India, Cebu and Davao in the Philippines, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Tiger Airways also consider to fly from Visakhapatnam in India, but due to the local airport time restrictions, it shifted to Hyderabad. It has been announced in early July 2012 that Tiger airways would be flying five days a week to Hyderabad, India starting 28 September 2012. Tiger Airways started flying to Manila, Cebu and Davao in 2011 but the Davao route was suspended in 2012. Tiger Airways with its Philippines partner airline, SEAir also flies to Clark International Airport. Flights to Kalibo from Clark are also sold from Tiger Airways website. With the addition of an Indonesian partner airline, Tiger's footprint is set to grow as a new route from Medan to Singapore was launched, operated by Mandala Airlines. Subject to government approval, Mandala would also be able to operate flights from more Indonesian cities like Bali to Singapore and Jakarta to South East Asia.

Corporate management
Tiger Airways is wholly owned by Tiger Airways Holdings Limited, a holding company set up in 2007 to manage both Tiger Airways and start-up Australian subsidiary Tiger Airways Australia. Tiger Airways' original founding shareholders were Singapore Airlines (49%), Bill Franke's Indigo Partners (24%); Tony Ryan's Irelandia Investments (16%) and Temasek Holdings (11%) Tiger Airways Holdings Limited is listed on SGX since 2010.

According to the 2012 Annual Report, the main shareholders in Tiger Airways Holdings, as of 15 June 2012, who hold more than 5% shares, are:

Singapore Airlines Limited (32.84%) Dahlia Investments Pte Ltd 7.37%

Financial performance
Tiger Airways Holdings Financial Highlights

Year ended

Revenue (S$m)

Expenditure (S$m)

Operating profit (S$m)

Profit before taxation (S$m)

Profit attributable to equity holders (S$m)

EPS after tax diluted (cents)

31 March 2006

75

NA

(37.4)

NA

NA

NA

31 March 2007

171.2

NA

(14.3)

NA

NA

NA

31 March 2008

231

NA

37.8

NA

NA

NA

31 March 2009

378.0

425.5

(47.5)

(47.6)

(50.8)

(14)

31 March 2010

486.2

460.2

26.0

19.9

28.2

6.6

31 March 2011

622.2

575.0

47.2

57.0

39.9

7.3

31 March 2012

618.2

701.6

(83.4)

(100.7)

(104.3)

TBC

Note: Tiger Aviation Holdings Limited was listed on 22 January 2010. Full financial information may not be publicised prior to that date.

Operating performance
Tiger Airways Operating Highlights (Including all subsidiaries)

Year ended

Passengers booked (thousand)

RPK (million)

ASK (million)

Load factor (%)

Seat capacity (thousands)

31 March 2009

3,167

5,245

6,459

79.4

3,989

31 March 2010

4,872

6,768

7,847

85.1

5,723

31 March 2011

5,968

8,209

9,583

85.8

6,958

31 March 2012

5,465

8,494

10,447

81.5

TBC

Pilot shortage 2010

Tiger suffered a severe crewing shortage that took effect mid-2010. The carrier's attempt to cut wages prompted a mass exodus of captains, leaving the company to cancel half its schedule. As of October 2010, 1 in 3 flights was cancelled every day with the airline turning to Europe for pilots after attempts to lure Indonesian pilots failed due to the Indonesian pilots failing a Singapore CAA exam.

Fleet
As of 30 April 2013, the Tiger Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft: Tiger Airways Singapore Fleet
Aircraft Total Orders Passengers

Airbus A320-200

21

28

180

Total

21

28

All aircraft offer single-class economy seating for 180 seats each. The seat pitch is approximately 72.5 cm for standard rows and 97.5 cm for extra leg room and exit rows. On 21 June 2007, Tiger Airways announced it had signed a letter of intent to purchase 30 aircraft worth US$2.2 billion, with another 20 on option. These would be delivered between 2011 and 2014. On 10 October, Tiger

Airways confirmed the letter of intent signed in June. The new aircraft will be deployed in Tiger Airways' AsiaPacific network and the domestic operation in Australia. On 18 December 2007, Tiger Airways announced that it had taken up the options and made further orders to take their fleet of Airbus A320s to 70 in total.

In-flight
Food and beverage options
Tiger Airways offers food and beverages available for purchase as part of a buy on board programme - Tiger Bites.[48] The menu offers light meals such as instant noodles, soups and sandwiches. Hot and cold beverages as well as liquor are also available for purchase.

Entertainment
An in-flight magazine, Tiger Tales, is provided as free reading material for passengers.

Cabin crew
Tiger Airways has a diverse mix of nationalities in its cabin crew team. They include Australians, Chinese, Filipinos, Hong Kongers, Japanese, Koreans, Malaysians, Romanians, Russians, Singaporeans, Taiwanese and Thais. Announcements are often translated in Mandarin (China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan), Malay (Malaysia), Indonesian (Indonesia) or Filipino (Philippines).