Back in May 2020, while flying what was probably its thinnest schedule ever, low-cost carrier Scoot became the first airline in the SIA Group to confirm the good news that it was planning to ramp up services. The budget carrier confirmed an increase from two to six cities starting the following month, also returning some of its Airbus A320s to regular passenger service.
Today Scoot has confirmed it will again scale up passenger flying in July 2020, reintroducing two more routes to the passenger network for a total of eight destinations.
Where is new?
From July 2020 two additional cities join the existing six on the Scoot network:
- Surabaya in Indonesia
- Taipei in Taiwan
Surabaya will be served using the Airbus A320, while the Taipei route will be operated by the Boeing 787-9.
Six passenger routes already being operated will continue, to and from:
- Guangzhou
- Hong Kong
- Ipoh
- Kuching
- Penang
- Perth
The schedule
The new flight schedule is as follows, running from 1st – 31st July 2020.
| Guangzhou | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ CAN TR100 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| CAN ➔ SIN TR101 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| Hong Kong | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ HKG TR980 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| HKG ➔ SIN TR981 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| Ipoh | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ IPH TR480 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| IPH ➔ SIN TR481 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| Kuching | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KCH TR430 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 320 |
| KCH ➔ SIN TR431 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 320 |
| SIN ➔ KCH TR434 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| KCH ➔ SIN TR435 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
Note: Sunday service to Kuching reverts to TR430/431 from 19th July 2020.
| Penang | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ PEN TR426 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| PEN ➔ SIN TR427 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| Perth | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ PER TR8 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| PER ➔ SIN TR9 |
□ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| SIN ➔ PER TR16 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 789 |
| PER ➔ SIN TR17 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 789 |
| Surabaya (from 17th July) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ SUB TR262 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 320 |
| SUB ➔ SIN TR263 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 320 |
| Taipei | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ TPE TR996 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| TPE ➔ SIN TR997 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
With Surabaya being the last route to join the fold from mid-July 2020, a total of 30 weekly passenger flights will be operated. That doesn’t come close to the 1,080 weekly flights Scoot was operating in July 2019, however a marginally increased schedule with two more cities on the roster is a step in the right direction from the original low point of 12 weekly passenger flights in both April and May 2020.
In total during July 128 Scoot passenger flights are scheduled, a 60% increase on the 80 operated or planned in June 2020.
The airline’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft are also continuing to fly cargo-only services to cities including Nanjing and Wuhan, with some cargo-only Airbus A320 flights also operating.
The full Scoot passenger flight schedule for June and July 2020, which is subject to occasional updates, is available here.
Capacity
Here’s how Scoot’s weekly passenger seat capacity has increased since the first skeleton schedule to two cities was adopted in early April 2020.
Note: June 2020 capacity was originally planned at 7,050 seats per week, but was subsequently reduced. July 2020 capacity based on week commencing 13/7 onwards.
SIA and SilkAir
These services will complement Singapore Airlines’ own 24 passenger destinations and SilkAir’s three routes from Changi during July 2020.
This list includes reintroduced routes to cities including Auckland, Osaka, Melbourne and Barcelona, as Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot are now all able to take advantage of intra-group transit passenger traffic from Australia and New Zealand.
What if your flight has been cancelled?
Scoot’s current travel waiver is applicable if you booked your flight on or before 15th March 2020 for travel between 23rd January 2020 and 31st July 2020.
There are two options to claim a refund:
- 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.
“In view of the volume of requests to process, we will be doing so in batches. We ask for your understanding and patience whilst we get to your file.”
Scoot
If you previously applied for a refund and opted for the voucher, this will be voided on processing of the cash refund should you now opt for that method.
If you would rather receive the 120% refund in Scoot vouchers, note the following:
- You have 12 months to use these vouchers to make a new booking, for any travel period available on the Scoot website at the time of booking. You may use up to two vouchers per transaction.
- If you have previously received a 100% refund in the form of Scoot travel vouchers (i.e. before 9th April 2020), you will receive an additional voucher worth 20% of your original itinerary value.
Scoot’s Manage My Booking portal supports customers wishing to select these options online.
If you booked your Scoot flights through third-party booking channels or a travel agent, you should contact the relevant channel or agents for assistance.
Remember this Scoot voucher has a fixed value, dependent on the total price of your original itinerary, and there will be no point in complaining if your ticket is over 20% more expensive when you come to rebook in future, even on the same route.
Full details of the latest Scoot COVID-19 travel waiver policy can be found here.
Summary
More slow and steady additions to the Scoot passenger network for July 2020, both for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 787 fleets.
As we’ve seen before, these routes are being reinstated between one and three times weekly, a fraction of the airline’s original operation in many cases. For example before COVID-19, Scoot had planned to serve Taipei 23 times per week in July 2020, a sharp contrast to the single weekly flight now being added.
Scoot has currently cut 98% of its passenger capacity and this small increase will bring it closer to a 97% reduction level by the end of July – still a stark drop compared with usual operation.
These small network increases from Scoot are likely to continue until there is any significant easing of travel restrictions to and from its principal markets.
(Cover Photo: mokjc / Shutterstock)