RBS has upgraded Singapore budget carrier Tiger Airways (TAHL.SI) to “hold” from “sell” and raised its target price to $1.90 from $1.58.

Tiger Airways said on Friday its third quarter net profit rose 60% to $22.6 million due to stronger passenger volumes and higher average passenger fares.

 

RBS said the firm’s passenger numbers grew 13.4% from a year earlier and the average fare per passenger rose by 4.6%, indicating that the airline’s reputation among travellers has been repaired after flight cancellations last year.

 

The brokerage had downgraded Tiger Airways to “sell” last September after the firm suffered a high number of flight cancellations due to pilot shortage, but it has been operating normally since November.

 

At 3:15 p.m., Tiger shares were down 1.7% at $1.74 on a volume of 1.1 million shares.