Tigerair Quits Bali

[bam71]

I feel sorry for families etc who were booked to travel now and can't afford the new fares on other carriers. Wonder if there will be talk of a class action??

 

[straitman]

Wonder if there will be talk of a class action??

Why would or should there be a class action?

 

[Lemon_Party]

Having tried the Tiger train once to make my own assessment, I have to say it would be of little consequence to me if TT never flew anywhere again. The only positive aspect of Tiger I can possibly see is their existence exerting some downward pressure on pricing on airlines I'd sooner fly...

 

[moa999]

Suspect this puts paid to the Tiger brand in Australia (with Singapore rebranding to Scoot as well).

Indeed with Virgin Group's stake in VAH now under 10℅ I wonder if we could see a rebrand of both airlines - am sure there are substantial brand license fees.

Virgin America (which is likely to disappear after the Alaskan takeover) pays 0.7℅ of Revenue - helluva lot if you aren't making much money.

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/01/30/whats-the-future-of-the-virgin-america-brand-and-w.aspx

 

[yohy?!]

Would be good to see Virgin Blue return, taking advantage of TT's domestic platform - VA could concentrate on the golden triangle, transcon and TT and move further upmarket to properly compete with QF, ceding the leisure/low profit routes to the LCC.

Their international business probably needs to be axed or refocused just to Asian trunk routes.

 

[bullerdude]

Would be good to see Virgin Blue return, taking advantage of TT's domestic platform - VA could concentrate on the golden triangle, transcon and TT and move further upmarket to properly compete with QF, ceding the leisure/low profit routes to the LCC.

Their international business probably needs to be axed or refocused just to Asian trunk routes.

Personally I'd be very sad to see them leave the LAX route... they fly a decent service along with being a great way to get to the US with points tickets or points upgrades!

 

[andrewpf]

Would be good to see Virgin Blue return, taking advantage of TT's domestic platform - VA could concentrate on the golden triangle, transcon and TT and move further upmarket to properly compete with QF, ceding the leisure/low profit routes to the LCC.

Their international business probably needs to be axed or refocused just to Asian trunk routes.

I can only speculate that their flights to LAX must be performing decently, given they've decided to withdraw from East Coast to Abu Dhabi and redeploy the 777 to MEL-LAX.

 

[CPMaverick]

I can only speculate that their flights to LAX must be performing decently, given they've decided to withdraw from East Coast to Abu Dhabi and redeploy the 777 to MEL-LAX.

I agree, I see no rationale to 'refocus' the LAX routes to Asia. Asia is massively more competitive, and VA has a solid partner in DL that can offer a huge amount of connecting flights from LAX.

If anything they could let DL focus on SYD and just fly MEL and BNE to LAX.

 

[yohy?!]

Transpacific is almost certainly loss making given the number of competitors on the route - the sub 1k fares in economy are a strong indicator, don't doubt the VA product is great on the 777 but it's a factor in VA's financial bloodletting and needs to be addressed.

 

[CPMaverick]

Transpacific is almost certainly loss making given the number of competitors on the route - the sub 1k fares in economy are a strong indicator, don't doubt the VA product is great on the 777 but it's a factor in VA's financial bloodletting and needs to be addressed.

I don't agree. How many competitors? QF/AA and UA? That is not high competition, it's only two.

It may not be as profitable as it used to be, but sub 1k economy fares are normal in most markets, even for longhaul flights. HKG/NRT/BKK from LAX are regularly in the 400-500 USD range. That isn't an indicator of profit. It's the PE and J class (plus cargo) that makes the flight profitable. Plus the codeshares sold beyond LAX.

 

[yohy?!]

every airline has a different strategy for making the most profit - there are no general rules on whether premium classes or cargo make the difference, economy as the largest 'inventory' for sale is a very reliable indicator though.

its a safe bet that there is substantial overcapacity on transpacific routes with the 5 carriers operating now which has pushed the fares to all-time lows - which is the real point in how that affects VAs profitability

asian routes are not comparable as they are feeding hubs and can pick up through traffic (also very different cost operating structures) - not the case for Australia

 

[CPMaverick]

every airline has a different strategy for making the most profit - there are no general rules on whether premium classes or cargo make the difference, economy as the largest 'inventory' for sale is a very reliable indicator though.

its a safe bet that there is substantial overcapacity on transpacific routes with the 5 carriers operating now which has pushed the fares to all-time lows - which is the real point in how that affects VAs profitability

asian routes are not comparable as they are feeding hubs and can pick up through traffic (also very different cost operating structures) - not the case for Australia

I don't agree with any of that, but you can have your opinion of course.

 

[yohy?!]

check out VA's 2016 full year results if you like, international losses effectively cancel out all the profits from domestic - something has to give.

 

[bullerdude]

If they did exit international they would need to deal with their "alliance" issue... without the ability to get consistent benefits on partner airlines and easy upgrades it would make it an easier decision to migrate back to Qantas or an alternative alliance.

 

[mrmerc500]

TigerAir's base is Melbourne so they should look at considering the higher priced direct routes to Queenstown & Nadi. If Tigerair could offer a day flight, it certainly would be in a more competitive position compared to Fiji Airways midnight departure from Melbourne. It would complement VA's 3 weekly flights.