SIA’s low-cost subsidiary Scoot has announced its August 2020 flying schedule, with another month of cautious expansion planned including new flights to two cities, some frequency increases on existing routes, and the reintroduction of the airline’s Airbus A320neo aircraft into regular service.
In total the airline will operate 154 flights during the month, it’s busiest passenger flying programme since April 2020 when services were almost completely cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Where is new?
From August 2020 two additional cities join the existing nine on the Scoot network:
- Kuala Lumpur
- Seoul (as an extension of existing Taipei flights from mid-August)
Kuala Lumpur will be served using the Airbus A320neo, while the Seoul route will be operated by the Boeing 787-9.
There will also be frequency increases to Ipoh, Kuching and Penang during the second half of August, with services to each of these three cities doubling to twice weekly.
These are the nine Scoot passenger routes already being operated during July 2020:
- Guangzhou
- Hong Kong
- Ipoh
- Kuching
- Nanjing
- Penang
- Perth
- Surabaya
- Taipei
The schedule
The new flight schedule is as follows, running from 1st – 31st August 2020.
Newly added this month
| 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 (until 9 August) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ IPH TR480 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| IPH ➔ SIN TR481 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| Ipoh (from 14 August) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ IPH TR480 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| IPH ➔ SIN TR481 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| Kuala Lumpur | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KUL TR466 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 32N |
| KUL ➔ SIN TR467 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 32N |
| Kuching (until 9 August) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KCH TR430 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| KCH ➔ SIN TR431 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| Kuching (from 14 August) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ KCH TR430 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| KCH ➔ SIN TR431 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| Nanjing | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ NKG TR180 |
□ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 789 |
| NKG ➔ SIN TR181 |
□ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | □ | 789 |
| Penang (until 9 August) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ PEN TR426 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| PEN ➔ SIN TR427 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 320 |
| Penang (from 14 August) |
||||||||
| 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 | ||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ SUB TR262 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 320 |
| SUB ➔ SIN TR263 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | □ | 320 |
| Taipei (until 9 August) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ TPE TR996 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| TPE ➔ SIN TR997 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| Taipei / Seoul (from 16 August) |
||||||||
| Days | Acft | |||||||
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | ||
| SIN ➔ TPE TR880 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| TPE ➔ ICN TR880 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| ICN ➔ TPE TR881 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 789 |
| TPE ➔ SIN TR881 |
□ | □ | □ | □ | ■ | □ | ■ | 789 |
Scoot has fifth freedom rights between Taipei and Seoul, so it is also possible to book flights between these two cities in isolation as well as Singapore – Taipei and Singapore – Seoul.
The Airbus A320neo will operate Kuala Lumpur flights, the first time the airline has used the variant for regular passenger services since March 2020. The airline has three of the newer, more fuel efficient A320 variants in its fleet.
That leaves Scoot’s Boeing 787-8 fleet as the only one not in service during August 2020.
Flight totals
Once Seoul joins the network in the second half of the month and other frequency increases kick in, a total of 42 weekly passenger flights will be operated.
That doesn’t come close to the 1,200 weekly flights Scoot had originally planned for the month, however a marginally increased schedule with two more cities on the roster continues to be 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 August 154 Scoot passenger flights are scheduled, a 48% increase on the 104 operated in July 2020.
The airline’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft are also continuing to fly cargo-only services to cities like Wuhan, with some cargo-only Airbus A320 flights also operating.
The full Scoot passenger flight schedule for July and August 2020, which is subject to occasional updates, is available here.
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, based on the last two weeks of August when flight frequencies have increased and the Seoul route has commenced.
ScootPlus returns?
We also noticed when checking flight schedules on the Scoot website that the airline appears to have reintroduced its ScootPlus cabin on Boeing 787 flights (e.g. Perth, Seoul).
These seats, which offer more legroom, additional baggage allowance, meals and a free Wi-Fi allowance, have been temporarily unavailable during the airline’s limited flight schedules introduced in April 2020.
This doesn’t appear to have been formally announced, with the airline still stating that its FlyBagEat and ScootPlus products are “temporarily suspended”.
ScootPlus is available for booking however from 1st August 2020, so it appears as though the restriction is indeed being lifted.
SIA and SilkAir
These services will complement Singapore Airlines’ own 25 passenger destinations and SilkAir’s three routes from Changi during August 2020.
This list includes increased frequencies on several routes including London, Paris and Osaka, as Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot are now all able to take advantage of intra-group transit passenger traffic.
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 30th September 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.
“For guests choosing [the refund] option, please note that it will take up to 14 weeks. 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 August 2020, both for the Airbus A320 and Boeing 787 fleets.
Next month also sees the reintroduction of at least one of the carrier’s Airbus A320neo models.
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.
Overall, Scoot has cut approximately 97% of its passenger capacity, a stark drop compared with usual operation.
It’s good to see more destinations on offer, however these small incremental network increases from Scoot and infrequent services are likely to continue until there is any significant easing of travel restrictions to and from the airline’s principal markets.
(Cover Photo: Gradepixel)
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