Tiger Airways is negotiating a deal to acquire 40% of Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAir). SEAir is a small airline headquartered in Manila, Philippines.

Tiger Airways was already an investor in SEAir, but now seeks to increase its holding to 40% through acquisitions from foreign shareholders. Over time, SEAir will adopt Tiger’s business model and offer low-cost fares to domestic and international destinations within a 5 hour flights from the Philippines.

In a statement, Tiger CEO Chin Yau Seng said: “We are pleased to welcome a new Cub to our family and look forward to nurturing its growth with our Filipino business partners. The investment in SEAir is in-line with our strategy to develop the business into a pan-Asian one, one that will enable us to leverage on the strength of our Singapore base and scale up the size of our business across the region.”

Tiger Airways seems enormous growth potential for the air travel in the Philippines, a country of 90 million people, and is anticipated to announce new SEAir routes in the near future.