Scoot announces flight schedule through to March 2021

SIA’s low-cost subsidiary Scoot has extended its passenger flight schedules through to the end of the northern winter season on 27th March 2021, with services from Singapore to 16 destinations, restoring around 8% of its usual capacity by flight volumes.

This month the airline has reintroduced weekly flights to Wuhan and Zhengzhou, while continuing to serve 14 other cities, six of them on a daily basis, including Bangkok and Penang.

The schedule

Weekly flights by route are as follows, with Scoot flying a consistent 56 passenger departures per week from Changi across each monthly period between January and March 2021.

Scoot Routes (Jan – Mar 2021)
City	Month			Acft
	Jan	Feb	Mar
Bangkok	7/wk	7/wk	7/wk	32N 789
Guangzhou	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	789
Ho Chi Minh	7/wk	7/wk	7/wk	32N
Hong Kong	7/wk	7/wk	7/wk	789
Ipoh	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	320
Kuching	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	320
Melbourne	7/wk	7/wk	7/wk	789
Nanjing	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	789
Penang	7/wk	7/wk	7/wk	320
Surabaya	7/wk	7/wk	7/wk	320
Taipei	2/wk	2/wk	2/wk	789
Taipei / Seoul	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	789
Taipei / Tokyo	4/wk	4/wk	4/wk	789
Tianjin	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	789
Wuhan	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	789
Zhengzhou	1/wk	1/wk	1/wk	789
Total	56/wk	56/wk	56/wk

Note that Scoot’s flights from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh are not currently able to carry passengers due to government restrictions, but will do so on their return flights to Singapore.

Scoot passengers can connect at Changi Airport onto other SIA Group services, with those originating in Australia, China and Vietnam no longer restricted to the transit holding area and instead free to roam the shops, restaurants and lounges as usual between flights.

The full Scoot passenger flight schedule for January to March 2021, which is subject to occasional updates, is available here.

  Scoot Jan-Mar 2021 Flight Schedules

Scoot’s Boeing 787-8 is back

Scoot has 10 Boeing 787-8s in its fleet (in addition to the same number of 787-9s), however these had previously not been seen in revenue service since late March 2020.

Three of these aircraft have been flown to Alice Springs in Australia for storage, leaving seven remaining in Singapore.

Two Boeing 787-8s have now been reactivated and are in passenger service, 9V-OFJ since 24th November and 9V-OFI since 21st December.

While the schedule table above from GDS does not reflect operation of this type between January and March 2021, Scoot seems to slot these smaller 787s in to the timetable at relatively short notice, with recent flights including Bangkok, Hong Kong and Seoul via Taipei.

Fleet status

Here’s how the Scoot fleet looks based on 20 aircraft actively flying passenger or cargo-only flights during December 2020, versus those in storage in either Alice Springs (ASP) or Singapore (SIN).

Type	Active	Stored		Total
		ASP	SIN
Airbus A320	6	3	17	26
Airbus A320neo	3	–	1	4
Boeing 787-8	2	3	5	10
Boeing 787-9	9	–	1	10
Total	20	6	24	50

Cargo flights

In addition to its regular passenger flight schedule, Scoot has been operating some cargo-only services during December 2020, using Boeing 787-9 aircraft:

• Guangzhou
• Nanjing
• Wuhan

Unfortunately the airline’s modification work converting two Airbus A320s to carry cargo in the passenger cabin doesn’t appear to be yielding much success.

The first aircraft (9V-TAZ) has only flown five trips, two to Fuzhou and three to Kunming, while the second (9V-TRN) only flew one Kunming flight and hasn’t operated since.

Both aircraft have been parked at Changi for over three months, since early September 2020.

SIA and SilkAir

These services will complement Singapore Airlines’ own 38 (now 40) passenger destinations and SilkAir’s seven routes from Changi during the January to March 2021 period.

The most recent update includes daily flights to many US and European cities, plus services to Dubai, Moscow and Tokyo Haneda.

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 March 2021.

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 24 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 24 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.

On-board F&B is back

In late November Scoot launched ScootHub, its new system allowing at-seat ordering of food, drinks and duty free items through your own personal mobile device.

The system also supports games, an in-flight map and some other features, but crucially has allowed the airline to gain approval to serve F&B items again with reduced crew interaction in view of COVID-19.

The enhancement comes after the airline also reintroduced its ScootPlus (formerly ScootBiz) cabin on Boeing 787 flights earlier this year.

Summary

More flight increases for Scoot with 352 passenger flights planned between 1st March and 27th March 2021, though this remains just under 8% of the flight volumes planned for the same period in 2020.

Hopefully with vaccine rollouts and potential travel bubbles emerging there will be some further increases to come, even for the currently published period, though we don’t expect any major increases in capacity or the route network until international border restrictions are relaxed.

(Cover Photo: mokjc / Shutterstock)