TRAVELLERS who have long complained about the high cost of airfares between Singapore and India can expect some relief.

Budget carrier Tiger Airways has received the all-clear to fly to six Indian cities including Chennai, Kochi, Kolkata and Trivandrum. It will also go where no other Singapore airline has gone before - exotic Goa on India's west coast and the commercial centre of Kozhikode, in the Kerala state.

Tiger Airways, which confirmed in a statement yesterday that it has received the official nod from the Indian civil aviation authorities, expects to start selling tickets in the next month or two.

The Singapore-India market is served mainly by Singapore Airlines and a handful of Indian carriers - Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara.

Singapore low-cost carrier Jetstar used to fly to Kolkata and Bangalore but dropped both routes to focus on other markets.

Depending on the time of travel, return air fares between Singapore and India can come up to about $1,000 including all taxes and surcharges.

Tiger Airways' entry is expected to bring down prices, excluding promotional fares which the carrier may offer from time to time.

Tiger Airways' fares are usually about 25 to 40 per cent cheaper than those of full-service carriers.

The carrier is also expected to ease congestion on packed flights. Between January and November last year, more than 1.83 million passenger trips were made between Singapore and India - a 21 per cent rise from a year earlier.

For Tiger Airways - a venture between SIA, Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings, the founders of Irish low-cost airline Ryanair and United States-based marketing and business strategy consultancy Indigo Partners - the planned expansion into India comes at a time when it is preparing the launch of a new Australian domestic carrier. Tiger Airways Australia is expected to take to the skies by year-end.

The expanded network will offer new and exciting opportunities for travellers, chief executive Tony Davis said in the statement.

'The firm's dual strategy of a major expansion in Asia and establishing the first truly low-fare airline in Australia will create new opportunities to link travel between key Australian cities such as Melbourne, Darwin and Perth with points across Asia,' he said.

Tiger Airways, which carried 1.5 million passengers in the 12 months ended March 31, has a fleet of nine Airbus jets and will take delivery of 11 more planes by 2010.

SIA subsidiary SilkAir, which is the only airline that flies between Singapore and Kochi as well as Trivandrum now, does not expect to be affected when Tiger Airways enters the market.

Spokesman Renu Nair said: 'The majority of our passengers on these flights originate from outside Singapore, primarily from the US and Australia.'

karam@sph.com.sg