Singapore Airlines (SIA) is on the way to taking full control over budget airline Tiger Airways, as its offer for the remaining shares closes Friday, local press reported.

SIA intends to delist and privatize the budget carrier.

Singapore’s national carrier first launched its takeover bid in November, when it owned 55.8 per cent of the shares in Tiger Airways.

By early February its stake had risen to over 90 per cent, and at the end of that month it had reached a level in which it could carry out the compulsory acquisition of Tiger Airways’ remaining shares.

“With full ownership of Tiger Airways, we will be able to fully integrate it within the SIA Group, strengthening Tiger Airways’ future growth prospects,” SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong was reported as saying.

Asia has one of the fastest growing aviation sectors in the world, with commercial aircraft fleets doubling in the past decade.