Singapore Airlines’ low-cost subsidiary Scoot can’t seem to get a break when it comes to ramping up its passenger flight schedule. Last month the airline had to scale back plans to fly 108 flights by 30%, with service cuts predominantly to and from Malaysian cities.
Unfortunately in July 2020 it’s the same story, with flights between Singapore and Ipoh, Kuching and Penang being halved, resulting in an overall 20% cut from the airline’s originally proposed 128 services for the month.
Schedule cuts
In a schedule update on 2nd July 2020, Scoot confirmed it would be making these reductions to its passenger services for the month.
Here’s how the total network now looks, compared to Scoot’s original plan for July 2020.
Scoot passenger flights: July 2020
| City | Original Plan | ➔ | New Plan |
| Guangzhou | 8 flights | ➔ | 8 flights |
| Hong Kong | 26 flights | ➔ | 26 flights |
| Ipoh | 18 flights | ➔ | 10 flights |
| Kuching | 18 flights | ➔ | 8 flights |
| Penang | 18 flights | ➔ | 10 flights |
| Perth | 26 flights | ➔ | 26 flights |
| Surabaya | 6 flights | ➔ | 6 flights |
| Taipei | 8 flights | ➔ | 8 flights |
| Total | 128 flights | ➔ | 102 flights |
The changes are:
- Ipoh: Reduction from twice weekly (18 flights) to once weekly (10 flights)
- Kuching: Reduction from twice weekly (18 flights) to once weekly (8 flights)
- Penang: Reduction from twice weekly (18 flights) to once weekly (10 flights)
In total Scoot will now operate 102 passenger flights in July 2020, 20% less than it first proposed, but still a 27% increase on the 80 flights it ended up operating in June 2020.
“Scoot will continue to adjust our network in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.”
Scoot
The new schedule
Here’s how Scoot’s revised flight passenger schedule to and from eight cities looks, valid 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 |
Note: Ipoh flights in July 2020 were originally scheduled to be twice weekly, however Friday service was only operated on 3rd July. All subsequent flights will be Sunday only.
| Kuching | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KCH TR430/4 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| KCH ➔ SIN TR431/5 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
Note: Kuching flights in July 2020 were originally scheduled to be twice weekly, however Friday service was only operated on 3rd July. All subsequent flights will be Sunday only.
| Penang | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ PEN TR426 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| PEN ➔ SIN TR427 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
Note: Penang flights in July 2020 were originally scheduled to be twice weekly, however Friday service was only operated on 3rd July. All subsequent flights will be Sunday only.
| 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 13 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 |
Scoot was originally planning to operate over 5,600 flights in July 2020, so these 102 services represent only around 1.8% of the usual total.
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 was originally planned at 8,520 seats per week, and is now based on the latest schedule for the week commencing 13/7 onwards.
Transit flights
While Scoot’s new Surabaya route in July is not available as an approved transit origin point for SIA Group flights through Changi, the addition of Taipei this month does open up some additional connectivity.
Perth, originally an origin-only point for SIA Group connections, is also now accepting inbound transit passengers through Changi, which is a useful option many of our readers were asking about.
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 August 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.
Singapore Airlines and SilkAir
Singapore Airlines and SilkAir revealed their expanded July 2020 flight schedule last month, growing operation from 15 to 29 cities, one of which (Hong Kong) is also being served by Scoot.
Scoot isn’t the only one cutting services, however. SilkAir never ended up serving Cebu for some reason, reducing its flying programme to three cities.
SIA has also been forced to operate its Singapore – Melbourne flights as cargo-only services for the first two weeks of July 2020 due to newly imposed restrictions for the state of Victoria.
Summary
This is the second month that Scoot’s newly reinstated Malaysia routes have been cut, suggesting that perhaps this is a regulatory rather than a demand issue.
Demand is of course low everywhere, however if the Malaysian authorities are throttling the number of permitted services, Scoot perhaps has no choice but to cancel some of its flights.
Even with these latest reductions, Scoot will operate just over 100 passenger flights in July 2020, more than a quarter more than it flew in June and more than a 100% increase based on those April / May 2020 low points.
The airline’s August passenger flight schedule should be released later this month. As always, we’ll be reporting on what we hope will be at least as many flights, if not more.