More routes are taken away from Tigerair Mandala as the airline continues to struggle to achieve a profit. Are they the last measures to save the airline before its exit from Indonesian skies?
JAKARTA – Tigerair is anything but lucky with its affiliates. The Singapore carrier cancelled in the past joint ventures with India and Thailand, then finally sold last year its Filipino subsidiary to rival Cebu Pacific. Now, in a last effort to save its Indonesian affiliate, Tigerair Mandala continues to shrinken its network. More domestic routes are currently cut to limit mounting financial losses. Indonesian media reported that the airline is now under scrutinity by the Indonesian Civil Aviation Authority which is launching an audit to see if Tigerair Mandala is still financially able to further operate. Since the beginning of the year, rumours of sale for the airline have been constant, despite official statements of the management denying such a step.
The Director General of Civil Aviation for Indonesia, Djoko Murjatmojo, has told the press that he is unclear if Tigerair Mandala has filed the required applications to close domestic routes. The civil aviation will release its report next June. Among the routes being closed since the beginning of the year are flights from Surabaya to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Bangkok; flights from Jakarta to Pekanbaru, Yogyakarta and Singapore. And finally routes from Singapore to Medan and Pekanbaru. Latest closure is the route linking Jakarta to Hong Kong on April 11, 2014.
