In a press release on Tuesday, the formal ‘tie-up’ was announced. Frankly, a long time coming considering that the SIA group have wholly owned Scoot since conception, and the integration of TigerAir and Scoot was completed on 25 July this year.
Why has it taken so long? We speculate that intense negotiations over the rate at which Scoot will be paid by SIA/Silk for codeshare passengers have held up proceedings. And as Scoot’s passenger volume has grown significantly recently, pitched to overtake the parent at least in economy class within the next few years, their negotiating position may be significantly stronger than it used to be.
So now you will be able to book one ticket, through the Singapore Airlines or SilkAir website, that will take you all the way through to or from any of 30 ‘new’ destinations, currently only served by Scoot. And you’ll be travelling with an SQ or MI codeshare flight number instead of the usual TR.
Destinations
Amritsar, Athens, Clark, Dalian, Gold Coast, Haikou, Hangzhou, Harbin, Hat Yai, Honolulu, Ipoh, Jaipur, Jeddah, Jinan, Kaohsiung, Krabi, Kuantan, Kuching, Lucknow, Macau, Nanjing, Ningbo, Palembang, Qingdao, Quanzhou, Sapporo, Shenyang, Tianjin, Tiruchirappalli, Wuxi, Xi’an and Zhengzhou.
So what’s the big deal?
Seamless connectivity. Say for example you want to travel from London to Krabi via Singapore. Now you will be issued with boarding cards for both sectors in London (no need to visit the transit desk in Changi), and your bags will be checked all the way to Krabi (no need to pass immigration, collect your baggage and then check-in again).
But Scoot is a “no-frills” low-cost-carrier, right? Yes, but as a passenger travelling on a Scoot flight as a Singapore Airlines or SilkAir codeshare, you are afforded some full-service perks.