Tiger Airways and Thai Airways are to jointly launch a low-cost airline that is expected to start operations next year.

Thai Airways and a Thai entity will collectively hold 51 percent of the new airline, while Tiger Airways will hold 49 percent.
Based in Bangkok, Thai Tiger will operate international and domestic flights out of Suvarnabhumi International Airport. It will offer short-haul, point-to-point services within a five-hour flying radius.
Tiger Airways president and chief executive Tony Davis said possible destinations would be revealed at a later date although Cambodia and Vietnam, both increasingly popular with overseas tourists, would seem obvious choices.
Flights are expected to begin in the first three months of 2011.
Piyasvasti Amranand, president of Thai Airways, said: “We believe that this move will provide revenue opportunities for Thai
[Airways] and allow
[it] to be more competitive in the region with the anticipated growth in the low-cost market as a result of continued Asean
[Association of South East Asian Nations] air liberalization policies by 2015, which we expect will lead to growth in air travel in the Asian market”.
According to wsj.com, Thai Airways International PCL said the formation of budget airline Thai Tiger Airways with Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd. is aimed at reversing its falling market share in the domestic and regional markets.
Thai Airways’ regional market share in terms of passenger numbers flying to and from Thailand has dropped to 33 percent currently from 42 percent seven years ago due to the arrival of low budget airlines, Piyasvasti said. Its domestic market share slipped to 50 percent from 82 percent over the same period, Piyasvasti said.
(Source: www.m-travel.com)