MELBOURNE – Tiger Airways has wasted little time in pushing its claims for more international routes out of Australia following decisions this week by Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar to prune international routes.
Tiger Airways boss Tony Davis said the decision by the Qantas group to cut back on Jetstar services to Malaysia adds “to the carnage the Australian international tourism industry is facing at the hands of the national carrier”.
Davis said Tiger was being urged by state and territory governments to take up the slack caused by Qantas cutbacks.
Tiger says it is meeting with the Australian government to discuss its plan “to assist the Australian tourism industry and to seek permission to launch international services”.
Davis said the A$22 million Australian export tourism industry was too important to ignore, and Qantas and Jetstar should not be protected from competition in international markets.
