China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday said that its low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan (台灣虎航) returned to profit last month, following the ending of the subsidiary’s partnership with a Singaporean peer.
Tigerair Taiwan, a joint venture between CAL and Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd, became the Taiwanese carrier’s wholly owned subsidiary after it bought back a 10 percent stake held by its Singaporean partner for an undisclosed amount in December last year.
The low-cost carrier has been struggling since it began operations in 2014.
“Tigerair Taiwan will be operated as an independent brand, and we believe that the change would bolster the company’s image among consumers,” Tigerair Taiwan chief financial officer and spokesperson Hansen Lin (林俊男) said.
Lin attributed the company’s recent turnaround to scrapping loss-making routes and adding flights to popular destinations.
The company has been cutting back routes to destinations further than four hours flight time from Taiwan in favor of flights of between two and three hours, which suits the low-cost carrier model, Lin said, adding that among new destinations that are to be introduced this year are Jeju Island and Daegu in South Korea.
Sales from travel agencies increased last month, Lin said, adding that backpackers were previously the company’s major source of revenue.
He said he expects the company’s average passenger load factor to improve to 80 percent by the end of this year, from its present 70 percent.
Meanwhile, Mandarin Airlines (華信航空), another CAL subsidiary focusing on regional and domestic flights, is to see a significant expansion of its fleet this year, CAL chairman Ho Nuan-hsuan (何煖軒) said.
Mandarin Airlines is to form a second fleet this year, with aircraft procurement slated to be completed in the first half, Ho said.
“We will not be looking for new aircraft, as there are many used jets on the market right now,” Ho said, while declining to confirm if the company is eyeing the assets of shuttered TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空).
“Mandarin Airlines has a fleet of six jet airliners and we are looking to dispose of them and lease aircraft suitable for short-haul flights of about two hours,” Ho said.
Ho gave an upbeat outlook on CAL, saying that newly added direct flights to Europe have been running at near full capacity.
However, the company has pushed back the launch of direct flights to London to near the end of this year due to delays in the delivery of its new Airbus SAS A350 jets, Ho said.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS