The agreement will see the two parties join forces to coordinate sales and marketing efforts, significantly growing the distribution channels for Tigerair Australia’s airfares and broad range of ancillary products.
A new three year strategic partnership was announced between Tigerair Australia and Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) to proactively promote the airline’s services and offers to FLT’s vast customer base in Australia.
The agreement, which is the first between FLT and Tigerair, will see the two parties join forces to coordinate sales and marketing efforts, significantly growing the distribution channels for Tigerair Australia’s airfares and broad range of ancillary products.
FLT will gain access to Tigerairs’ full suite of products, including consistently great value airfares and a range of optional add-on products to make the most of the Tigerair experience.
Tigerair Australia CEO Rob Sharp said the partnership provides numerous mutually beneficial sales and marketing opportunities.
“Tigerair consistently provides the best value airfares in market. We provide the seat for the lowest fare possible and then allow our customers to choose what, if any, optional extras they wish to pay for.
“Flight Centre has some 1,500 retail and corporate travel shops and businesses in Australia alone and a dedicated sales team of 7000 people committed to providing the best value airfare and travel deals. Not only does the partnership open up new sales and distribution channels, it also helps drive awareness of the new-look Tigerair product and experience.
“It’s a great time for this strategic alignment as we look forward to the commencement of our first ever direct services from Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide to Bali in March.* At the same time, Tigerair continues to go from strength to strength, delivering on the promises we made to consumers when we rebranded the airline in July 2013.
“We remain focused on providing our customers with affordable fares, combined with on-time flights, industry leading lowest cancellation rates and great customer service. The new look Tigerair is now delivering on all fronts. It’s a fantastic product that will provide Flight Centre customers with more value and choice than ever before,” Mr Sharp said.
Graham Turner, FLT CEO, said the new agreement with Tigerair again highlighted Flight Centre’s commitment to offering travelers the widest choice of airfares.
“Tigerair has developed a solid presence on domestic and (commencing soon) international routes and its offering has become an attractive proposition for our leisure and corporate travel customers,” Mr Turner said.
“We look forward to working more closely with Tigerair to grow the market and help it achieve its aims as it enters its next phase of growth.”
Mr Sharp adds that while the partnership with Flight Centre is a deviation from the original true low cost model which is focused on self-service and direct online bookings via the Tigerair website, it is also reflective of all the changes in the air at Tigerair.
“We are now working with a number of travel agents where it makes commercial sense, which is particularly important for our new Bali services commencing March 23 2016.*
“Tigerair’s great value fares have been proven to stimulate and grow the air travel market in Australia. We see this partnership as win-win for both companies as we both seek to drive incremental demand for our products.”
Tigerair Australia now has a dedicated agency support team to assist travel agents with any queries or make changes to bookings. Soon the airline will introduce real time live chat sessions to help agents assist with sales queries.
* Flights between Australia and Denpasar will be operated by Virgin Australia International providing a Tigerair Australia service and are subject to regulatory approval.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
