 "Scoot")
Singapore Airlines's low-cost brand Scoot will launch services to India from March, Scoot's India head Bharath Mahadevan said on Wednesday.
“We plan to launch one route in March end and two in May. We will have 3-4 weekly frequencies from Singapore and destinations include both cities served by other airlines from the group and new cities as well," Mahadevan told Business Standard.
Scoot, which began operations in 2012, will become Singapore Airlines' fourth brand to operate flights to India. The brand flies wide-body Boeing 787 planes with 335 seats and will be the second low-cost airline after AirAsia X to operate wide-body aircraft to India.
At present Singapore Airlines and its two other brands – SilkAir and Tigerair – fly to India. Scoot's entry will result in some capacity adjustments and reduction of Tigerair flights to India.
"With the launch of our flights Singapore Airlines group will connect fifteen destinations in India. This will be second only to Air India which flies on international sectors from more cities," he added.
Singapore Airlines is a network carrier and carries a large percentage of its traffic onward to Australia, New Zealand and other destinations in South East Asia. It has a large corporate business too.
Scoot offers business class seating but charges economy class passengers for meals and luggage.
Mahadevan aims to attract the leisure and Visiting Friends and Relative (VFR) segment. "Our competition will be both Air India and Jet Airways. At present only about 15 per cent of passengers travel onward beyond Singapore and we aim to increase it to 40 per cent. Passengers from India will be able fly on Scoot to Singapore and onward on Singapore Airlines network," he said.
