Tiger secures funds for new aircraft

Tiger secures funds for new aircraft

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines Ltd.'s low-cost carrier affiliate, Tiger Airways, said on Thursday it had secured full funding for four new passenger planes it has ordered.

The aviation capital arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland will fund Tiger Airways' purchase of four Airbus A320 planes on a sale and lease back basis, which involves the airline selling the four aircraft to the bank and leasing them back on long-term operating contracts.

The airline did not provide further details about the funding structure.

The four aircraft, which will be delivered in 2006 and 2007, are part of a recently announced order by Tiger Airways for a total of eight new A320 aircraft from Airbus, which have a combined list price of over US$500 million.

Tiger Airways said it intended to triple its fleet from the current four aircraft by the end of 2007 to enable the airline to fly four million to five million passengers a year from its current half-a-million passengers. -- AP