Tiger Airways

Back in November I mentioned the launch of Tiger Airways, a new low-cost flight carrier to be launched in December 2007. I booked two flights with them, one in Januray to Noosa and another in March to Adeliade.

Our flight to Noosa was orginally scheduled to be a morning flight. But the night before we checked the flight and it had changed to an early afternoon flight. That change was fine, as the flight was booked before Tiger launched their service. But we had to check in 2 hours before the flight. That was also ok as we were staying at Lauren’s parents and they are close to the airport. We were able to check in, return to their place and chill for another hour.

At 11:30am we arrived to do the security check-in and waited in line to board. But at 11:50am we were told it would be a delay of 15 mins and then at 12:10pm, told it would be another 20 mins delay. We finally boarded the plane at 12:30pm.

The plane is a brand new Airbus A320-200, which is built for short domestic flights. All seats are economy class, with a capacity of 180 passengers. There is one lane with 3 seats on each side of the plane. I believe Tiger has a total of 8 planes for Australian domestic flights. As with most low cost carriers, any snack, food or drinks have to be bought. The flight was smooth and trouble free, no issues with luggage.

On return from Noosa to Melbourne, our scheduled flight was a 1:30pm flight. That was changed to 1:50pm and we didn’t board until 2:25pm. But we still arrived at the same arrival time. Again no problems with flight, but we did have to wait longer for our luggage.

I think the main problem is their small fleet of planes. One plane may go from Adeilaide to Melbourne to Noosa and back to Melbourne. You need time to check systems and fix any problems that arise; and that is the reason for the delays. Also the 2 hour check in on domestic flights is because they use the same staff to check your tickets/bags as well as check your boarding pass.

Overall the flight experience was fine, no issues with it. The delays although annoying were tolerable because of the price. Lauren commented, for business purposes she would not take Tiger. But for vacations and the price savings it offers, it is very good alternative to Virgin Blue and Jet Star.

We will be using Tiger in March to visit Adelaide for the long weekend and at $100 return for the two us, you can’t beat it. Taking a car would take more time and be more expensive for fuel.