Tiger Airways Returns to Australian Skies

The Australian offshoot of Asian low-cost carrier Tiger Airways was given the green light to resume flights after the enforced five week grounding. However, the airline’s wings have been severely clipped as it will be restricted to operating just 18 sectors a day (nine return flights) for the remainder of August. The budget carrier had its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) revoked by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) on July 2 due to concerns that serious safety issues posed an imminent risk to air safety.

The agency has completed a subsequent thorough investigation into safety issues within the carrier and confirmed this week that it had developed a new set of conditions to impose on its AOC, addressing key areas of operational importance. “To continue to operate Tiger Airways Australia must comply with the conditions while they are in place,” it said.

According to CASA these conditions cover a number of operational and management areas, including pilot training and proficiency; pilot rostering and fatigue management; currency and revision of operational manuals and related documents; improved change-management processes and the appointment of additional qualified personnel in key positions and amendments to the airline's safety management system.

CASA's Director of Aviation Safety, John McCormick said that through recent simulator training Tiger Airways Australia had demonstrated to CASA it can comply with the conditions on its AOC and meet the necessary safety requirements. "On that basis, CASA now believes allowing Tiger Airways Australia to resume operations is acceptable," he said. “However, CASA will be closely monitoring the operations of Tiger Airways through scheduled surveillance and regular spot checks. We will also be meeting regularly with the airline to review ongoing safety performance and compliance with the conditions on the airline's operations."

The airline has confirmed that it has immediately resumed ticket sales and was due to start flights on August 10, initially between Melbourne (Tullamarine) and Sydney. Additional destinations comprising Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth will be added to the network in the following days although there will be a simplified flight program concentrating on the most popular and profitable routes due to CASA’s operational restriction. The agency confirmed that any increase in operations in the future will be subject to its approval.

Prior to its suspension Tiger Airways Australia operated more than 450 weekly flights on 42 routes with a fleet of ten Airbus A320s. The table below shows its network in mid-June this year, just two weeks ahead of its grounding. Upon its restart it will reduce its fleet to eight aircraft, it confirms, although with just 18 sectors a day it will mean utilisation will be very low.