Airfare war gets seriously up and away
Geoff Easdown in Business Daily says that Jetstar and Tiger Airways have launched their much anticipated air war with pockets deep enough to continue hostilities for months to come.
The war of attrition kicked off yesterday when Tiger released its one-way $79.99 fare from Melbourne to Darwin, which was undercut moments later by Jetstar by 99c, but the chance for Australians to fly at these prices won’t come until December but, BusinessDaily was told yesterday that both carriers were battle ready for what looms as a take-no-prisoners dogfight.
Jetstar begins the fight as the proud child of Qantas, while Tiger enjoys the full backing of the investment arm of the Singapore Government.
Tiger has been buying new aircraft, the very same fuel efficient A320 Airbus as flown by Jetstar and last week Tiger placed a firm order for 30 new A320s at the Paris Air Show and signed a build option for another 20 aircraft.
A spokesman for the Tiger confirmed yesterday that a number of the new aircraft would eventually join the Australian operation, with Tiger intending to launch in December with only five aircraft and, because of the small fleet, it will have limited ability to compete head-to-head with the 25-strong fleet of its Qantas-backed rival.
But, unlike its unfortunate and shortlived predecessors – Compass 1 and Compass 2, Impulse Airlines and the motor racing entrepreneur Paul Stoddart’s OzJet – Tiger will not contemplate a quick surrender. To do so would be a loss of face and the ultimate disgrace for an Asian-owned business.
At Jetstar headquarters yesterday the message was that Tiger had to be taken seriously, with Simon Westaway, Jetstar’s corporate affairs head saying, “They recently announced a big aircraft order, and they also have very strong financial backers via the investment arm of the Singapore Government.”
With Tony Davis, Tiger Airways chief executive, unavailable for comment yesterday, he was in Singapore for meetings, enroute to Melbourne from the Paris Air Show, but in a statement announcing the launch offers, which also includes a bargain Melbourne-Singapore return fare via Darwin of $499 taxes included, Mr Davis said Australians could finally enjoy “real low fare, reliable travel” between the Northern Territory and Melbourne.
Report by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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