This article from NYTimes.com has been sent to you by psa188@xxxxxxxxx /-------------------- advertisement -----------------------\ IN AMERICA - NOMINATED FOR 6 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS IN AMERICA has audiences across the country moved by its emotional power. This Holiday season, share the experience of this extraordinary film with everyone you are thankful to have in your life. Ebert & Roeper give IN AMERICA "Two Thumbs Way Up!" Watch the trailer at: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/inamerica \----------------------------------------------------------/ Singapore Airlines to Create Low-Cost Carrier Next Year December 10, 2003 By WAYNE ARNOLD SINGAPORE, Dec. 9 - Surrounded by an increasing number of no-frills upstarts, the full-service stalwart Singapore Airlines said on Tuesday that it planned to create a budget airline called Tiger Airways here next year with the help of the people who started the Irish discount airline Ryanair. Tiger will operate single-aisle aircraft on flights of less than four hours, meaning it could fly anywhere in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong and parts of China and India. Singapore Airlines said the type of aircraft had not yet been chosen. The announcement comes as a number of new discount airlines have begun service in the Pacific Rim, taking a page from Ryanair's book and putting pressure on established airlines like Singapore that have long been able to rely on low competition to attract well-heeled international travelers willing to pay a premium to be pampered. "The pressure is on," said an airline analyst in Singapore. "There are so many low-cost carriers in Southeast Asia." A group of former Singapore Airlines executives is planning to start their own budget airline, Valuair, here next year. Indonesia has two new fledgling carriers, Lion Air and Air Paradise. AirAsia of Malaysia has been so successful that it is setting up a subsidiary next door in Thailand, where a former charter operator, Orient Thai, has started competing for scheduled commercial service. In Australia, Qantas has announced plans to start its own budget airline, Jetstar, next year. Its decision was prompted in part by the success of Richard Branson's Virgin Blue, which after three years of service, has captured an estimated 30 percent of the country's market for air travel and has recently raised 637.5 million Australian dollars ($472.7 million) in an initial public offering Irelandia Investments, the investment vehicle of the Ryan family, will own 16 percent of Tiger Airways, with the Singapore government's investment arm Temasek Holdings taking 11 percent. Indigo Partners, a private investment firm controlled by Ryanair's chairman, David A. Bonderman, and William Franke, a former America West chairman and chief executive, will take a 24 percent stake. Singapore Airlines said that it was limiting itself to a minority stake of 49 percent to try to keep its full-service tradition from interfering with the new airline's success. "The low-cost model requires completely different methods and procedures, marketing approaches and skills," Chew Choon Seng, chief of Singapore Airlines, said in a statement. "It is hard to be both premium full service and low cost, no frills at the same time." Like its discount rivals, Singapore Airlines has benefited from the global upturn in air travel, reporting a net profit of 305.8 million Singapore dollars ($178.5 million) for the second quarter after suffering a first-quarter loss as a result of the slump in travel caused by the war in Iraq and the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome around the region. The surprise rebound prompted the pilots' union at the airline to throw out its leadership for giving in too easily to management's requests for wage and job cuts. Mr. Chew told employees Tuesday that Tiger would complement the premium service that Singapore Airlines and SilkAir offered and that the company would continue to seek to expand both brands. Ryanair will not be involved in Tiger Airways. The new airline will, however, be run initially by the former ground operations director for Ryanair, Charlie Clifton. The question, analysts said, is whether Singapore Airlines and its new partners at Tiger can succeed in building a budget airline in Singapore to compete with rivals operating in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, where costs are much cheaper. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/10/business/worldbusiness/10air.html?ex=1072064842&ei=1&en=f69ea47ff8119771 --------------------------------- Get Home Delivery of The New York Times Newspaper. Imagine reading The New York Times any time & anywhere you like! Leisurely catch up on events & expand your horizons. Enjoy now for 50% off Home Delivery! Click here: http://www.nytimes.com/ads/nytcirc/index.html HOW TO ADVERTISE --------------------------------- For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters or other creative advertising opportunities with The New York Times on the Web, please contact onlinesales@xxxxxxxxxxx or visit our online media kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help@xxxxxxxxxxxx Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company