You never heard of this S’pore entrepreneur, but he once bought out Temasek’s stake in a budget airline

Dennis Choo is a travel industry veteran who’s spent decades building connections across airlines & tourism networks

In the 1990s, the airline industry underwent a dramatic shift. Across Asia, deregulation and rising middle-class demand were transforming air travel from a luxury into something far more accessible.

Budget airlines were beginning to emerge, promising cheaper fares and simpler service models. Traditional carriers still dominated major routes, but a new generation of low-cost airlines was challenging the status quo.

For many entrepreneurs, it was an opportunity.

One of them was Dennis Choo—a Singaporean travel industry veteran who had spent decades quietly building connections across airlines and tourism networks.

While his name rarely appeared in headlines, Choo would eventually make one of the boldest moves in Singapore’s aviation scene: buying out Temasek Holdings to take majority control of Jetstar Asia.

But his story began long before that.

It all started with a small travel agency

In 1972, Choo founded Holiday Tours & Travel Group (HTT Group) as a modest airline ticketing agency in Singapore.

At the time, travel agencies played a critical role in airline distribution. Before the era of the Internet, booking flights typically meant visiting an agent who handled ticketing, reservations, and itineraries.

Choo saw opportunity in this system and, over the years, expanded into parallel verticals, diversifying his business across tours, airline representation, cruise operations, and hospitality.

Holiday Tours eventually started acting as a General Sales Agent (GSA) for several international carriers in the region, handling sales, marketing, and distribution in markets where airlines lacked a strong local presence.

More importantly, the group cultivated deep relationships with airlines, giving Choo unique insight into how carriers operated behind the scenes. In 1984, these ties were formalised when Qantas acquired a majority stake in HTT Group’s holding company. Company ownership information from the airline’s 2025 financial report shows that Qantas now holds a significant stake in the group (about 75%).

This helped cement Choo’s reputation within the travel industry. It also gave him something even more valuable: insight into how airlines worked behind the scenes.

Moving from selling seats to owning airlines

By the early 2000s, the aviation landscape in Asia was changing rapidly. Low-cost carriers (LCCs) were gaining momentum, inspired by models like Southwest Airlines in the United States and Ryanair in Europe.

Singapore’s aviation sector began seeing new entrants in 2004. Alongside established players like Singapore Airlines, several budget carriers were launching to tap into regional demand.

First to take off was Valuair, a Singapore-based low-cost airline launched in May that year, backed by a group of local investors and led by former Singapore Airlines executive Lim Chin Beng.

But unlike many LCCs of the time, Valuair offered perks such as free hot meals, assigned seating and generous baggage allowances while still charging fares significantly lower than full-service airlines—a model that would ultimately struggle in an intensifying aviation scene.

It made the airline more expensive to operate than the leaner low-cost carriers that were entering the market, including Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia. Both were backed by deep-pocketed investors—Singapore Airlines and Qantas, respectively—bringing intense price competition to the region.

On top of this, Valuair faced rising fuel costs and limited regional traffic rights, making it difficult to maintain profitability.

Left with few options, the airline turned to consolidation as a solution.

In Jul 2005, Valuair agreed to merge with Jetstar Asia, forming a new holding company called Orange Star, whose shareholders included Qantas, Temasek, and private investors in Singapore, with the former two holding the largest stakes—approximately 45% and 33.5%, respectively. The two airlines continued operating as separate brands under the same parent company.

Choo would come into the picture in 2009.

Despite the merger and additional funding, Valuair’s operations continued to face challenges, and the airline was ultimately struggling to remain profitable. Furthermore, Temasek’s decision to take an 11% stake in rival Tiger Airways had created an awkward dynamic—Qantas found itself sharing an ownership structure with an investor that was simultaneously backing its direct competitor.

This led to a restructuring of Orangestar, creating an opportunity for new investors.

The restructuring resulted in the creation of Newstar Investment Holdings, a new holding company to consolidate ownership of Jetstar Asia. Through his wholly-owned private investment company, Westbrook Investments, Choo acquired a 51% majority stake in Newstar, including Temasek’s shares, while Qantas retained a 49% minority stake.

And just like that, the man who had spent decades selling other airlines’ seats was now in control of two major low-cost carriers in the region.

Overseeing the development of two low-cost carriers

As chairman of Jetstar Asia, Choo oversaw the development of the airline, as well as Valuair, as regional low-cost carriers.

Operating out of Singapore’s Changi Airport, both airlines connected travellers to cities across Southeast Asia, East Asia, and beyond. For many travellers in the region, they became synonymous with affordable flights.

Like most airlines, however, Valuair and Jetstar faced a volatile industry environment.

Low-cost carriers operate on razor-thin margins, and competition in Southeast Asia only intensified over the years with the rise of new players. Eventually, Valuair was fully absorbed into Jetstar Asia in 2014, with its flights and routes integrated under the Jetstar brand.

Jetstar Asia continued operating for more than a decade afterwards—until it reached its final chapter in 2025. It ceased operations on Jul 31, 2025, citing rising costs and mounting competitive pressures.

Beyond Jetstar Asia

Throughout these developments, Dennis Choo has remained a relatively low-profile figure compared with many other business leaders in Singapore, despite his influence in aviation and travel.

Current information on his activities is scarce, but his company’s website still lists him as Group CEO, and under his leadership, Holiday Tours & Travel Group has grown to 10 entities across nine countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region.

With over 150 employees, these operations span China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.

It is an impressive reach, and despite Jetstar Asia eventually closing down, Choo remains a notable presence in the region’s travel and airline sector.

He didn’t get there overnight.

Choo spent 37 years building relationships in the travel industry before making his biggest move—acquiring Temasek’s shares to take majority control of Jetstar Asia, proving that steady experience and long-term vision can open doors in a competitive sector.

Featured Image Credit: Bandaranaike International Airport/ Getty Images