Tigerair Australia to resume international flights

TIGERAIR A320-232 VH-XUH (CN 6749)         File Photo

Virgin Australia has moved one step closer to potentially deploying its low-cost carrier unit Tigerair Australia on international flights. Australia’s International Air Services Commission (IASC) has approved Virgin Australia’s application to vary a number of its traffic rights agreements to include a condition permitting Tigerair Australia to utilise the allocated capacity.
The applications, made in August, covered Virgin Australia’s traffic rights for the Cook Islands, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
At the time, the company said the applications were “part of streamlining the economic regulatory arrangements underpinning our international operations”.
The IASC approved the requests on November 30, noting in its decisions there was “public benefit arising from the proposed use of the capacity” by Tigerair Australia on the above routes.
“The Commission has come to the view that Tiger International is reasonably capable of obtaining any licences, permits or other approvals required to operate on and service the route; and of using the capacity allocated under the determination,” the IASC said.

LEFT - TIGERAIR B737-838 VH-VUD (CN 34015)   File Photo
RIGHT - TIGERAIR B737-838 VH-VOY (CN 33996)                      

Tigerair Australia previously operated international flights in 2016 and 2017.
In March 2016, the airline started flights to Bali from Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth with Boeing 737-800s, taking over flights previously operated by Virgin Australia.
Less than a year later, in February 2017, Tigerair Australia was forced to withdraw from Bali after reaching an impasse with Indonesian regulators over its operating permits to serve the popular Indonesian tourist destination.
Since then, its focus has been on expanding in the Australian domestic market and pressing ahead with a fleet transition from Airbus A320s to Boeing 737-800s.


VIRGIN AUSTRALIA RAISED TASMAN ROLE FOR TIGERAIR AUSTRALIA FOLLOWING END OF AIR NEW ZEALAND-VIRGIN AUSTRALIA

VIRGIN AUSTRALIA B737-8FE VH-YIZ (CN 40702)

Virgin Australia raised the prospect of Tigerair Australia being deployed on trans-Tasman routes after Air New Zealand announced it was walking away from its alliance with the Australian carrier in favour of going it alone in the trans-Tasman market.
Air New Zealand said it April one of the reasons for terminating the seven-year joint-venture, which officially ended on October 28 2018, was to deliver a more consistent customer experience with its own aircraft.
Since then, it has signed a codeshare agreement with Qantas for access to Australian domestic destinations it does not fly to. There was no code sharing or coordination on trans-Tasman services and the arrangement did not require regulator approval on either side of the Tasman.
Meanwhile, Virgin Australia has scheduled new flights to Auckland, Queenstown and Wellington – including a seasonal Newcastle-Auckland service – while Air New Zealand has boosted its schedule to Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney.



Story sourced from here, photos are mine.
http://australianaviation.com.au/2018/12/virgin-australia-gets-green-light-for-tigerair-australia-to-go-international/?inf_contact_key=824c67fd840a5720c61b58e60ec175c51cb76092f9a649807b85ec4a5ad8f3e9