Some 800 employees of Tigerair Taiwan have reasons to cheer ahead of Chinese New Year, after the budget airline rewarded them with an average of 10.8 months of bonus.

The fat bonus was announced by the company’s chairman Chen Han-ming during a board meeting on Jan 15, reported Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

Mr Chen said he approved a proposal to give each employee four months’ worth of pay, NT$20,000 (S$850) in standard bonus, and between NT$50,000 and NT$80,000 in performance-based bonus. This was on top of what the company had already dished out in August and December 2023.

Top employees were said to have received as much as 14 months of bonus for their hard work in 2023.

Mr Chen thanked his staff for weathering the storm with the airline during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

With the return in demand for air travel, Tigerair Taiwan posted a new high in consolidated sales of NT$12.6 billion in 2023 – a jump of close to 850 per cent from 2022.

In December 2023, Mr Chen already hinted about the generous bonus in a letter to his employees.

He said the year-end bonus would score “10 out of 10” in terms of sincerity and satisfaction. Many then speculated that their bonus would add up to 10 months of their monthly wage.

In 2013, Tigerair Taiwan was formed as a joint venture between China Airlines and Singapore’s low-cost carrier Tigerair. In 2017, Tigerair Singapore was merged into Scoot.

Other airlines in Taiwan have also rewarded their staff with big bonuses.

China Airlines announced a five-month bonus for its staff on top of a one-time cash reward. Eva Airways said it would issue a year-end bonus worth six months of pay – the highest in the company’s history, reported Taipei Times.