Do you ever wish budget airlines would go farther than mostly Southeast Asia? Well, soon!
Singapore Airlines today confirmed its new low cost carrier, which is sassily named "Scoot" to reflect the new airline's high-spirited, quirky and casual vibe. It's short and snappy, it's got attitude - Scootitude!
Scoot is a medium-to-long haul carrier, targeting flights over four hours. It will start with China and Australia in mid-2012, and expand to include more destinations to come. Scoot will use widebody B777-200 aircraft purchased from parent company SIA. There will be a fleet of four, and they will aggressively add about two to three each year, until they reach 16 by 2016.
A reader commented and asked how this compares to Tiger Airways (SIA owns over 30% of Tiger). Basically, Tiger handles mostly short-haul flights, so there will not be much overlap.
But the biggest appeal will be, obviously, the cost!
Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson revealed that Scoot will offer fares up to 40% less than legacy carriers. It's no-frills, no doubt. But this means guests can choose the elements they want (meals, preferred seating, baggage, etc) and not have to subsidize the choices of others. They will offer two cabins, premium and economy.
The airline will be managed and run independently from SIA. Well, SIA has a great track record, and I hope things like financial strength and safety will continue to be high priority. However, I really do like the youthful, cheery look and cheeky attitude that's quite different from the mothership. They literally shoved a typical corporate suit off the stage to kick off the presentation!
Imagine being able to expand our experiences further afield a lot more often! Budget airfares to Japan? Yes, please!
Scoot will operate from Changi Airport Terminal 2, and flight bookings will commence in early part of 2012. Recruitment will also start in Jan/Feb 2012.
Sign up for updates on its website Flyscoot.com and check out the Facebook page.
hi, thanks for the news, but i am wondering what is the difference would this be as compared to tiger airways?
ReplyDeleteOK Tiger mostly does short-haul flights, so there's not much overlap. Thanks for reminding me, I had wanted to add this detail to the story.
ReplyDeletewhat has this got to do with food blogging?
ReplyDeleteI think you must be new, or have not visited in a long time. I do travel too.
ReplyDeletehi camamberu, i am the first anonymous aka miss c.
ReplyDeletethanks again for the reply, good to see segregation / differences between tiger and scoot.
message to the second anonymous: please read the tagline ""Every Meal An Adventure!" ~ Food & TRAVEL in Singapore, Hong Kong ....." anyhows ... does it matter? it's someone else's blog and she babbles what she likes.