Scoot to operate 15 routes in September 2020, adding 3 Indonesian cities

Low cost carrier Scoot has announced its September 2020 passenger flight schedule, adding three cities in Indonesia for a total of 15 destinations, its largest network since flights were cut to a skeleton schedule of just two cities back in April 2020.

Seoul flights via Taipei will see a cut however, from two services per week in August (Fridays and Sundays) to a single weekly service on Fridays.

Services to Tianjin, initially loaded as fortnightly flights the first of which has already been completed, have also been removed from the schedules.

In total the airline will operate 144 flights during the month, with these new cities in Indonesia giving the carrier’s Airbus A320 fleet a small ramp-up in activity but with some Boeing 787 services reduced.

Where is new?

From September 2020 three additional cities join the existing 12 on the Scoot network:

• Palembang
• Pekanbaru
• Yogyakarta (YIA)

This will be the first time Scoot (or any Singapore carrier for that matter) has operated to the new Yogyakarta International Airport, which opened in March 2020 replacing the Adisutjipto International Airport (JOG).

All three of these newly added Indonesian routes will be operated by Airbus A320 aircraft.

They will join these existing 12 Scoot passenger routes, which are already being operated as of August 2020:

• Clark
• Guangzhou
• Hong Kong
• Ipoh
• Kuala Lumpur
• Kuching
• Nanjing
• Penang
• Perth
• Seoul
• Surabaya
• Taipei
• Tianjin (ended)

The schedule

The new flight schedule is as follows, running from 1st – 30th September 2020.

  Newly added this month

Scoot maintains fifth freedom rights on its once weekly flight between Taipei and Seoul, so it is possible to book flights between these two cities in isolation as well as on the Singapore – Taipei and Singapore – Seoul routings.

Transit permissions

All Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot passengers originating at any city on the network can now transit through Changi Airport en-route to their final destination provided they are flying with and SIA Group airline, with the exception of cities in the Philippines and the USA.

That means Scoot’s passengers starting their journey in Clark are the only ones excluded from the transit approval.

The three new Indonesian destinations added in September 2020 haven’t made it on to the transit approval list yet, however this should occur soon as our understanding is that the permissions themselves are country-based, not assessed city-by-city.

Before these flights commence, you should see them added to the list.

  Flight totals

Once Yogyakarta joins the network in the last week of September, a total of 38 weekly Scoot 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 three 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 September 144 Scoot passenger flights are scheduled, the same as the total operated in August 2020.

The airline’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft are also continuing to fly additional cargo-only services to cities like Wuhan, with some cargo-only Airbus A320 flights also operating.

The full Scoot passenger flight schedule for August and September 2020, which is subject to occasional updates, is available here.

  Scoot Aug – Sep Flight Schedules

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 week of September when the Yogyakarta route has commenced.

ScootPlus routes

The ScootPlus cabin (formerly known as ScootBiz), which normally offer more legroom, additional baggage allowance, meals and a free Wi-Fi allowance, was temporarily unavailable during the airline’s limited flight schedules introduced in April 2020.

ScootPlus became open for booking again on Boeing 787-operated flights from August 2020.

This remains the case in September 2020, though the experience is a little ‘dulled down’ compared to before, with the following benefits:

• Bigger full leather seat with at least 38” (96cm) of legroom, 22” (56cm) of width, 6” (15cm) of recline and fully adjustable headrests and legrests.
• 30kg check-in baggage allowance, however upsized cabin baggage allowance does not currently apply.
• Priority check-in and boarding.
• 30MB free Wi-Fi allowance.

Effectively the extra Cabin Bag, meal Selection and seats selection are not currently available.

ScootPlus is available in September 2020 on the following routes:

• Guangzhou
• Hong Kong
• Nanjing
• Perth
• Seoul
• Taipei

SIA and SilkAir

These services will complement Singapore Airlines’ own 29 passenger destinations and SilkAir’s five routes from Changi during September 2020.

SIA’s Aug – Oct 2020 schedule READ THE ARTICLE

SIA’s Aug – Oct 2020 schedule READ THE ARTICLE

This list includes new flights to Istanbul and increased frequencies on routes including Auckland, Hong Kong and Seoul 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 November 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

Three new Indonesian cities will be added to the Scoot passenger network in September 2020, for a total of 15 routes, the largest network for SIA’s low-cost carrier since schedules were cut back in April 2020.

These routes will also help the airline slightly increase the use of its Airbus A320 aircraft.

Overall, Scoot continues to 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, not to mention the very infrequent nature of most services, are likely to continue until there is any significant easing of travel restrictions to and from the airline’s principal markets.

(Cover Photo: mokjc / Shutterstock)