Singapore budget airline Tiger Airways has announced it is planning to expand into the Australian domestic market by the end of the year, competing with incumbents Qantas and Virgin Blue.

The airline has helped revolutionise travel in Southeast Asia with its low-cost offerings and said it planned to do the same in Australia.

Chief executive Tony Davis said the airline had lodged applications with Australian regulators and he received a positive reception from government officials during a series of meetings in Canberra on Thursday.

"They certainly see that competition is good for consumers," Davis told ABC radio.

"I think they can see that additional air services, particularly at the affordable fares that Tiger will be bringing into the market, will help stimulate tourism, both domestic and international, and obviously the economic benefits of increased competition."

Davis said Tiger was ready to operate as soon as it received the necessary approvals from Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

"We expect to start services sometime later this year," he said. "We're engaging fully with the authorities to make sure that we go through that process in a proper manner.

"And we've got five new Airbus A320s ready to bring into Australia as soon as we complete that process."

Tiger, which began flying in 2004, is owned by four shareholders including Singapore Airlines which has a 49 percent stake, and state-linked Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings with 11 percent.

Irishman Tony Ryan, founder of the wildly successful Ryanair, also has a 16 percent stake in the airline.

Tiger already flies to the Northern Territory city of Darwin and will launch services to the West Australian capital Perth next month.

Davis said the airline, which carried 1.2 million passengers last year, could generate up to 1,000 jobs in Australia.

He expected Australians to embrace the airline's cheap fares and no-frills service.

"We keep the product very simple and that means significantly lower airfares," he said.

Tiger will need to create an Australian-based branch, to be called Tiger Airways Australia, before it can operate Down Under.

Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation managing director Peter Harbison said Tiger had the potential to undercut Qantas and Virgin Blue on routes between major Australian cities.

"The thing with Tiger is that it is genuinely a very low-cost carrier whereas Qantas is certainly not and Virgin Blue has started to move upwards in terms of cost as well, so there may be a bit of soft underbelly there," he said.