travel better, travel smarter

Tag: Scoot

Scoot resuming Berlin flights from 10 Aug

Service will operate via Athens, allowing Scoot to tap on intra-Europe demand as EU opens up

Scoot’s new fifth freedom service between Athens and Berlin will see it tap into the intra-Europe travel market from August 2021.

The service is an extension of Scoot’s current thrice weekly Singapore-Athens service, with the tag-on of the Athens-Berlin leg. The service remains three times weekly, but there are changes to the flight numbers and timings.

The last Singapore-Berlin service was on 20 March 2020, right before the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. That flight departed Berlin Tegel International Airport (IATA: TXL), which has since been replaced by Brandenburg Airport (IATA: BER) which opened just months ago in June 2021.

Full schedule

For those who are interested, this is the schedule of the Singapore-Athens-Berlin service with effect from 10 Aug 2021:

Service	Flight No.	Days of Operations	Depart	Arrive	Flight Time	Aircraft
Singapore – Athens	TR722	Tue, Thu, Sat	0110	0750	11h 40m	B787-8
Athens – Berlin	TR722	Tue, Thu, Sat	0950	1150	3h	B787-8
Berlin – Athens	TR723	Tue, Thu, Sat	1250	1650	3h	B787-8
Athens – Singapore	TR723	Tue, Thu, Sat	1830	1030(+1)	11h	B787-8

At the time of writing, a one-way ticket from Singapore to Berlin in economy starts from S$278, with check-in bags starting from S$75 and pre-ordered hot meals from S$17 each. There is actually no savings from buying the bundles – you just add on the prices of the bag and food that you need.

Given the current Covid-19 related measures, all meals will have to be pre-purchased and will not be available for purchase on board.

For the Singapore-Athens-Berlin service, if you decide to buy the FlyBagEat combo or the ScootPlus seat, you will get one meal service for each sector (i.e. one for Singapore-Athens and one for Athens-Berlin).

Scoot’s network: 25 destinations in August

With the reinstatement of Berlin, Scoot is now operating to 25 cities, as follow:

Country/Territory	Destination
Southeast Asia
Indonesia	Manado Surabaya
Malaysia	Ipoh Kuala Lumpur Kuching Penang
The Philippines	Cebu Clark
Thailand	Bangkok
Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh City*
North Asia
China	Guangzhou Nanjing Tianjin Wuhan Zhengzhou
Hong Kong SAR	Hong Kong
Macau SAR	Macau
Japan	Tokyo-Narita (only to and from Taipei)
South Korea	Seoul (only to and from Taipei)
Taiwan	Taipei
Pacific
Australia	Melbourne Perth Sydney
Europe
Germany	Berlin
Greece	Athens

The full Scoot passenger flight schedule for July and August 2021 is available on Scoot’s website.

Singapore to relax border controls… soon?

Earlier this month, Singapore’s Health Minister Ong Ye Kung has said that most European Union countries and USA are in the consideration for quarantine-free travel for travellers coming or returning to Singapore by the end of the year, once vaccination rates in Singapore reaches an acceptable level.

What this means is that countries with low case totals and similarly high vaccination rates, such as Germany and Italy, might be the first countries to be on a ‘white list’ for Singapore residents to visit without having to quarantine upon return.

If indeed Germany becomes one of the white listed country come end of year, it’s almost certain that Scoot will drop the tag-on flight and operate directly between Singapore and Berlin.

Final thoughts

The Singapore Airlines group is clearly trying its best to leverage fifth freedom rights in different parts of the world, as the Covid-19 vaccination race across the world today sees evolving border control measures. For instance, most EU nations now provide a concession for vaccinated travellers from fellow EU states, effectively opening up travel within the EU.

At the time of writing, Singapore Airlines has already extend its Copenhagen service to Rome, with fifth freedom traffic rights for passengers flying between Denmark and Italy.

Unfortunately for Singapore, Southeast Asia nations are far lagging in terms of vaccination rates, with many lagging far behind the much desired 70-80% levels to achieve some kind of herd immunity, so many countries are still keep borders shut with onerous testing and quarantine measures in place.

So what will it SIA’s next interesting fifth freedom service to pop up? This is definitely not going to be the last one.

22 July 21

Scoot reduces network in December, flying to only 12 cities

Singapore’s low cost carrier Scoot has announced its December 2020 flying schedule, with some bad news.

While the airline have been making slight increase in its network in the past months, December marked the first month that Scoot has regressed on that path, cutting seven cities from its network and walked back on a few planned starts.

The airline will operate some 130+ passenger flights for the final month in December, 20% less than in November 2020.

Ever since international travel slowed to a screeching halt when Covid-19 hit, airlines have been slowly regaining ground on their network so this step back is kind of a surprise as Asia Pacific is seeing slow signs of recovery.

Which destinations will Scoot stop flying to?

According to Scoot’s latest schedule published early November, Scoot will be ending services to the following destinations:

Destination	Last service to destination
Kaohsiung, Taiwan	7 Nov (ended)
Osaka, Japan (to/from Kaohsiung)	7 Nov (ended)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	16 Nov
Clark, Philippines	9 Nov (ended)
Manila, Philippines	3 Dec
Perth, Australia	4 Dec

Scoot has also previously planned for a weekly service to Sydney that was supposed to commence 2 Nov, but this service never took off.

The airline has also previously operated a handful of services to various cities in Indonesia such as Palembang and Yogyakarta, but these are nowhere to be found in its December schedule.

While this seems like a reduction in network, customers can still choose to fly with Singapore Airlines, which continue to operate services to all the destinations above except Kaohsiung and Clark.

Scoot’s December schedule

With the termination of the services above, Scoot will end up operating to only 12 cities in seven countries/territories:

Country/Territory	Destination
Australia	Melbourne*
China	Guangzhou Nanjing Tianjin Hong Kong SAR
Indonesia	Surabaya
Japan	Tokyo- Narita (via Taipei)
Malaysia	Ipoh Kuching Penang
South Korea	Seoul-Incheon (via Taipei)
Taiwan	Taipei

For the latest and full flight schedule, please refer to Scoot’s website.

9 November 20

Scoot operates to 20 cities in October, November

Low-cost carrier Scoot will serve a total of 20 cities in 8 countries & territories from Singapore over the next two months, it said in an update today (24 September).

The SIA Group’s budget subsidiary will be operating between 170 to 180 flights over the next two months, its largest network since April when there were only two destinations.

Having said that, some of the 20 destinations will continue to be served only sparingly, either by a weekly service, or less frequently.

Destinations

The two new destinations commencing October are Semarang in Indonesia and Tianjin in China. Semarang was originally served by Silkair before services were suspended, and was scheduled to start in July as part of the transition from Silkair to Scoot.

While these are new destinations, they aren’t much of an addition: Semarang will only see a single service in October (with none in November), while Tianjin will see only three return services over the next two months.

The 20 cities Scoot will serve from October are:

Country/Territory	City
Australia	Perth
China	Guangzhou Nanjing Tianjin Hong Kong SAR
Indonesia	Palembang Pekanbaru Semarang Surabaya Yogyakarta
Japan	Osaka Tokyo-Narita
Malaysia	Ipoh Kuala Lumpur Kuching Penang
South Korea	Seoul
Taiwan, China	Kaohsiung Taipei
The Philippines	Manila

For the full schedule, please refer to Scoot’s website.

24 September 20

Scoot flies to six cities in June

Scoot recommences services to Guangzhou, Ipoh, Penang and Kuching

Even as Singapore Airlines and Silkair retains a skeletal schedule in June, Scoot has decidedly expanded the number of destinations it will serve in June, serving as a signal for the early recovery of air travel volumes.

After operating to only Hong Kong and Perth in the months of April and May, Scoot adds another four cities into the fold of destinations for June: Guangzhou in China, as well as Ipoh, Penang and Kuching in neighbouring Malaysia.

Apart from the Boeing 787-9s that Scoot has been using for its Hong Kong and Perth flights, Scoot will also be bringing back some A320s for the Malaysian sectors.

Scoot’s full schedule for June is as follow:

Sector	Flight no.	Days of ops	Dep	Arr	Flight time	Aircraft
Singapore – Guangzhou	TR100	Sun	0515	0915	4h	B787-9
Guangzhou – Singapore	TR101	Sun	1040	1440	4h	B787-9
Singapore – Hong Kong	TR980	Tue, Fri, Sun	1415	1820	4h 5m	B787-9
Hong Kong – Singapore	TR981	Tue, Fri, Sun	1920	2315	3h 55m	B787-9
Singapore – Ipoh	TR480	Fri, Sun	1120	1230	1h 10m	A320
Ipoh – Singapore	TR481	Fri, Sun	1310	1430	1h 20m	A320
Singapore – Kuching	TR430	Fri	1805	1935	1h 30m	A320
	TR434	Sun	2045	2215	1h 30m	A320
Kuching – Singapore	TR431	Fri	2015	2140	1h 35m	A320
	TR435	Sun	2255	0030(+1)	1h 35m	A320
Singapore – Penang	TR424	Sun	1435	1555	1h 20m	A320
	TR426	Fri	0900	1020	1h 20m	A320
Penang – Singapore	TR425	Sun	1635	1810	1h 35m	A320
	TR427	Fri	1100	1230	11h 30m	A320
Singapore – Perth	TR8	Tue	1200	1710	5h 10m	B787-9
	TR16	Fri	1530	2035	5h 5m	B787-9
	TR8	Sun	1200	1700	5h	B787-9
Perth – Singapore	TR9	Tue	1810	2345	5h 35m	B787-9
	TR17	Fri	2150	0315(+1)	5h 25m	B787-9
	TR9	Sun	1800	2320	5h 20m	B787-9

Needless to say, all other flights Scoot has previously scheduled will be cancelled. It remains to be seen if Scoot will continue to increase the number of destinations in the coming months, which is likely if the situation in Asia stabilises, and so it seems.

For those still holding Scoot tickets

For those who has previously booked Scoot flights on or before 15 Mar for travel up to 31 July, but for some reason has not canceled them, Scoot’s cancellation policy has been simplified and you have two options:

A 100% refund via the original method of payment, or
A 120% refund in Scoot vouchers, valid for 12 months.

For a 100% refund to your original payment method, Scoot is advising of a wait of up to 14 weeks for processing.

Instructions on how to manage your booking and more details on the cancellation policy can be found here.

Should I take this as a sign to start planning to travel again?

Short answer: no. The Singapore government announced on Friday 29 May that they are now in discussions with some countries on establishing ‘fast lane’ or ‘travel bubble’ arrangements, but I wouldn’t rejoice and go out to book my tickets just as yet.

The criteria for these ‘essential travel’ will certainly be very tight, as the arrangement is mainly to facilitate business travel, and I may assume for urgent personal matters (such as funerals). The process for such travel will likely be an overtly onerous one, including testing at both departure and arrival points, requirement for movement reports and perhaps even quarantine requirements.

The government has also categorically stated that mass travel will not be allowed for the time being, even as essential travel is being planned and facilitated.

Scoot operating cargo-only services

While most of us should not and will not be travelling yet, if you are just checking out Scoot’s schedule on their website you may notice that they seem to be flying way more than what is above. That’s because throughout the last few months, Scoot has been operating cargo-only flights using the passenger planes, including additional Thursday services to Perth; B787-9 services to Hangzhou, Guangzhou and other cities in China; A320 services to Kunming and a few others.

In the good old days, one little known fact is that passenger aircraft also carry revenue-earning cargo in the belly hold, and as much as 75% of all the load under the passenger floor are such cargo. Since passenger traffic has almost come to a halt earlier this year, the drastic reduction in passenger flights meant that less cargo can be shipped around the world in the belly of these passenger planes. As a result, air cargo capacity has been severely limited, so many airlines are now either resuming services just to ferry cargo in their belly – and in some instances, on passenger seats – while some airlines even go to the extent of converting their passenger planes into temporary freighters by removing the seats.

*Cathay Pacific passenger aircraft filled with cargo*

Final thoughts

This is definitely an encouraging sign on the early recovery of air travel, along with Changi Airport’s most recent announcement of allowing transit traffic to resume.

While leisure travel may still be impossible in the next few weeks, there may be some hope that avid travellers could step on a plane as early as before the end of 2020, although this is highly dependent on how the world will look like then, and the hoops that travellers may have to jump through just to get into that economy class seat.

30 May 20

Singapore LCCs operating to five cities in April, May

Scoot to operate only two routes in Apr & May; Jetstar Asia offers three routes since 21 Apr

While Singapore Airlines maintain a minimum link to key cities around the world, Singapore-based low cost carriers – Scoot & Jetstar Asia – has also quietly recommenced some services this month.

Scoot

Scoot began suspending flights since February, and subsequently suspended all services since late March.

The airline will operate to two cities, Hong Kong and Perth, three times a week in both April and May.

The full schedule as follow:

Sector	Flight no.	Days of ops	Dep	Arr	Flight time	Aircraft
Singapore – Hong Kong	TR980	Tue, Fri, Sun	1415	1820	4h 5m	B787-9
Hong Kong – Singapore	TR981	Tue, Fri, Sun	1920	2315	3h 55m	B787-9
Singapore – Perth	TR8	Tue	1200	1710	5h 10m	B787-9
	TR16	Fri	1530	2035	5h 5m	B787-9
	TR8	Sun	1200	1700	5h	B787-9
Perth – Singapore	TR9	Tue	1810	2345	5h 35m	B787-9
	TR17	Fri	2150	0315(+1)	5h 25m	B787-9
	TR9	Sun	1800	2320	5h 20m	B787-9

The airline has not made clear what service is available on these flights, but a check on the booking engine has shown that only the FlyBag product in Economy class is available for purchase.

ScootPlus, as well as meals, are not available for purchase, so if you need to make this trip, be prepared to bring your own.

*Only FlyBag product is available for selection on Scoot’s flights*

Jetstar Asia

Jetstar Asia has suspended all services since 23 March, originally for three weeks, and subsequently extended until 19 May.

To facilitate freight shipments and to establish essential links to key regional cities, Jetstar has announced that it will run very limited flights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Manila from 21 Apr.

Manila will be operated once a week on Tuesdays, while Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur will run twice weekly. Note that Singapore to Bangkok services will operate as freighters only and are not available for sale, given that Bangkok has barred all international passenger flights from landing.

The full schedule as follow:

Sector	Flight no.	Days of ops	Dep	Arr	Flight time	Aircraft
Singapore – Manila	3K761	Tue	0615	0955	3h 40m	A320
Manila – Singapore	3K762	Tue	1030	1415	3h 45m	A320
Singapore – Bangkok*	3K515	Wed, Sat	1045	1210	2h 25m	A320
Bangkok – Singapore	3K516	Wed, Sat	1250	1615	2h 25m	A320
Singapore – Kuala Lumpur	3K685	Thu	1250	1355	1h 5m	A320
	3K663	Sun	0935	1040	1h 5m	A320
Kuala Lumpur – Singapore	3K686	Thu	1440	1545	1h 5m	A320
	3K664	Sun	1120	1230	1h 10m	A320

Jetstar Asia has also added that these services are only available to citizens and permanent residents who are returning home, or those with prior written approval for travel.

Note that there will be in-flight services at all. All seatback magazines and menus have been removed, while in-flight meals and duty-free items will not be sold at all.

All passengers will also be required to wear masks at all times during the flight.

Final thoughts

These flights are obviously not for leisure, but to facilitate essential travel and transport of goods. Many may not be aware, but the bulk of air freight – including your fresh food, electronics, medication and many other goods – are transported in the belly of passenger aircraft.

In this extraordinary times where passenger aircraft are almost all on the ground, cargo space becomes very precious. Airlines around the world are flying some seemingly empty planes, but in reality they are probably filled to the bream carrying goods under the passenger cabin.

29 April 20