01 April 2008

Tiger accuses Aussie rivals of Ã¢â¬Åâœdirty tricksÃ¢â¬~

MELBOURNE Ã¢â¬' Tiger Airways has accused its rivals of a Ã¢â¬Åâœcoordinated anti-competitive campaign to undermine its entry into Australia".

It has taken its grievances to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), the countryÃ¢â¬â¢s competition watchdog.

TigerÃ¢â¬â¢s claims of dirty tricks Ã¢â¬' although unspecified Ã¢â¬' are believed to aimed at Qantas and its low-cost offshoot, Jetstar.

Tony Davis, boss of the Singapore-based Tiger Aviation Group said, Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe team has delivered Tiger Airways to Australia on time and under budget.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe group could not be happier with the response of Australian consumers to Tiger AirwaysÃ¢â¬â¢ entry into the domestic market.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœObviously this success is jeopardising the bonusÃ¢â¬â¢ of executives at other airlines so they have been doing their best to disrupt our operation.Ã¢â¬~

Davis said this disruption was Ã¢â¬Åâœmore than the normal cut and thrust of a competitive marketÃ¢â¬~ and as a result Tiger Airways had shared its concerns with the ACCC.

Tiger is directly and indirectly 38% owned by the Singapore Government's Temasek investment vehicle, which has an 11% direct stake in Tiger and majority ownership of Singapore Airlines, which in turn has 49% of Tiger.

Tiger has also responded to reports that competitors have been targeting TigerÃ¢â¬â¢s management pilots in an endeavour to ground the airline.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœAs a company Tiger finds such behaviour despicable,Ã¢â¬~ Davis said.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are familiar with such dirty tricks played against other start-ups in Australia. It is important that our competitors understand, whether they are the national carrier or not, that we are fully committed to the long term success of Tiger Airways in Australia.Ã¢â¬~

It has been speculated that as many as half of TigerÃ¢â¬â¢s cabin crew recently had job interviews for long-haul positions at Qantas.

It is rumoured that around one quarter, or 20, of its flight attendants ended up taking jobs at Qantas.

Tiger confirmed on Friday that its Melbourne-born chief financial officer, Peter Negline, had resigned because he wanted to "do his own thing" after eight months in the job.