The Singapore Commentator

Everybody seems to want to get in on the budget-carrier bandwagon.

Star Cruises, Valuair announce pact
Star Cruises is taking a more than 20 percent stake in Valuair, making it largest shareholder of the low-cost carrier. The deal is part of a second round of fund-raising by Valuair which is currently also in advanced talks with two other potential investors...

Valuair and Star Cruises say they will coordinate operations and jointly market fly-cruise packages from Singapore. Mr Chong said: “They need passengers also to fill their seats. So our cruise passengers, the in-bound passengers will need to fly into Singapore because as we grow we can no longer depend on domestic passengers to fill our big ships. So it works well for both parties.”

I can see the benefits of cooperation between an airline and a cruise ship operator, but an equity stake normally suggests some sort of integration of operations as well. Otherwise, the funds might be better deployed elsewhere.