(Schafer and Victor, 1997). An increase in disposable income since the 1980s has enabled the types of travel that was previously out of reach of the less wealthy individuals in society to become affordable. At the same time, there seems to have been a shift in consumer preferences away from premium types of travel to the low cost travel formats, as evidenced by the huge increase in the number of low cost carriers. Even airlines with premium positioning strategies like Singapore Airlines have found that they have little choice but to enter this market. This might explain the company's recent decision to increase its share holdings of Southeast Asian low cost carrier Tigerair, in spite of its recent lack of profitability (Air Transport World, 2014).