Changi Airport News Scoot

Scoot cuts July flights by 20%

Scoot halves its passenger services to and from Malaysia in July 2020, but retains planned services on other routes for a total of 102 flights during the month

Scoot A320 Wide (Scoot)

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)
Scoot A320 TPE
Scoot’s Malaysia flights are operated by 180-seat Airbus A320s.

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

ADVERTISEMENT

The new schedule

Here’s how Scoot’s revised flight passenger schedule to and from eight cities looks, valid from 1st – 31st July 2020.

TR Routemap July v2
(click to enlarge)
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.

TR Graph Jan-Jul v2
(click to enlarge)

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

TR Pax Cap Apr-Jul v4
(click to enlarge)

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.

Scoot A320 TPE
Eligible Scoot customers continue to have the option of a full cash refund or 120% value in Scoot vouchers valid for 12 months

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

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.

ADVERTISEMENT

1 comment

Leave a Reply