Singapore Airlines is hatching plans for a low fare long haul carrier to compete with Far East rivals such as Air Asia and Qantas offshoot Jetstar.
SIA said it intends to establish the new no-frills, low-fare airline operating wide-body aircraft on medium and long-haul routes.
Go ahead for the new subsidiary, which is expected to launch within a year, follows “extensive review and analysis”.
“It will enable the SIA Group to serve a largely untapped new market and cater to the growing demand among consumers for low-fare travel,” SIA said.
The airline will be wholly owned by SIA, but will be operated independently and managed separately.
The airline’s CEO Goh Choon Phong said: “We are very excited about what our new low-fare subsidiary will offer to consumers. We are seeing a new market segment being created and this will provide another growth opportunity for the SIA Group.
“As we have observed on short-haul routes within Asia, low-fare airlines help stimulate demand for travel, and we expect this will also prove true for longer flights.”
Goh added: “At the same time we remain fully committed to the further growth of SIA, which will continue to offer the highest-quality products and services to our customers.”
More details will be announced by the new airline’s management team “in due course,” including its branding, products and services, and route network.
SIA already owns Silkair, which operates short-haul flights across Asia. Its prices are more expensive than budget airlines such as Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways, but are cheaper than flights on SIA.