Tigerair Taiwan Launches Maiden Flight

WCARN
Tigerair Taiwan officially started operations on Sep. 26, 2014. Photo: facebook.com/TigerairTaiwan 

Tigerair Taiwan (IT) Friday officially started operations with a flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN), marking the maiden flight of Taiwan's first low-cost carrier.
Tigerair Taiwan is a joint venture between Taiwan's China Airlines (CI) and Singapore's Tigerair (TR). China Airlines holds a 90 percent stake in the airline and Tigerair holds the remaining 10 percent.

The budget airline's first flight IT511 took off from Taiwan Taoyuan at 10:20 a.m. with 177 passengers on board, and landed at Singapore Changi Airport at 3:05 p.m. The airline will operate the route on a daily basis, using Airbus A320 aircraft seating up to 180 passengers.

The budget airline also plans to launch services to Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand in November, followed by Da Nang, Vietnam and Tokyo, Japan in early 2015.

Currently, Tigerair Taiwan has one Airbus A320 aircraft. The airline's fleet is expected to expand to a total 12 planes by 2018.

Its rival V Air, a low-cost subsidiary of Taiwan's TransAsia Airways (GE), is set to launch its maiden flight later this year.