SINGAPORE: Tiger Airways carried 1.2 million passengers in 2006, up 75 percent from the year before.

The low-cost carrier was benefiting from a boom in travel demand.

Tiger embarked on an aggressive expansion of routes last year, spreading its wings to three cities in China, among others.

The budget carrier started flying in September 2004 with just two aircrafts and three destinations.

Today, it has a network covering 17 destinations and a fleet of nine planes.

Tiger is majority owned by Singapore Airlines, which has a 49 percent stake.

Investment company Temasek Holdings owns 11 percent. - CNA/so