Cut-price carrier Tiger Airways is likely to bring the Ryanair model of flying into cheaper, regional airports to Australia when it gets the go-ahead to operate Down Under, said chief executive Tony Davis.

Tiger Airlines, which is backed by Singapore Airlines and Ryanair founder Tony Ryan, last week announced it had applied for government clearance to begin operating in Australia's domestic market before the end of the year.

Davis was coy on the routes Tiger will operate in Australia, saying he did not want to tip off the competition, but said it would amount to a "comprehensive network".

"At this stage we're not revealing the route network that we're going to propose," he told ABC Television.

"We're going to keep that close to our chest for the time being but, as the regulatory process goes on, we'll be able to reveal more in the coming months."

Davis said the new airline would look at flying into small centers rather than just major cities, similar to the operations of Ryanair in Europe and Tiger services in Asia.

"Well, certainly the success of people like Ryanair in Europe has been that they could go into secondary airports, to go to regional airports and really create new markets and create new opportunities," he said.

"We'll certainly look at the major cities but we're also keen to bring the advantages of low cost airfares into the regional communities."

He said Australia, where domestic flights can be lengthy and expensive, did not have particularly low fares and Tiger would use the stripped-back approach of Ryanair to keep costs down.

"It's about having a single aircraft type, it's about operating to regional airports and getting lower fees to use those airports, and it's about giving consumers choice to purchase additional services if they require them," Davis said.