News Scoot

Scoot ending Athens – Berlin ‘fifth freedom’ flights

Scoot will axe its 3-hour intra-Europe flights between Athens and Berlin at the end of this month, but the airline will retain non-stop services from Singapore to both cities.

Since August 2021, SIA’s low-cost subsidiary Scoot has been operating fifth-freedom flights between Athens and Berlin, as a way to reinstate services from both cities to Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic, when passenger traffic was severely limited due to testing, travel eligibility restrictions and quarantine requirements.

ADVERTISEMENT

The three-hour intra-Europe leg of these services was also launched to tap into markets already open to leisure travellers without quarantine requirements, just a month after Singapore Airlines began Copenhagen – Rome intra-Europe ‘fifth freedom’ flights, for similar reasons.

Athens – Berlin is being axed

With SIA having already ceased its Copenhagen – Rome fifth freedom services on 1st June 2022, in favour of serving each city non-stop from Singapore as traffic has increased, Scoot will follow by axing its Athens – Berlin – Athens flights at the end of this month.

The final services as highlighted below will take place in both directions on Thursday 30th June 2022.

Scoot Singapore – Athens – Berlin
(until 30th June 2022)

  Days
M T W T F S S
TR722
787-8
SIN
00:30
ATH
07:00
TR722
787-8
       
ATH
08:15
BER
10:10
TR723
787-8
       
BER
11:10
ATH
14:55
TR723
787-8
       
ATH
16:10
SIN
09:00*

* Next day

(click to enlarge)

The “fifth freedom” extension to this service between Athens and Berlin was a rare opportunity to fly intra-Europe on a low-cost wide-body aircraft, and was popular with travel bloggers and vloggers.

Here’s a video review of the experience from the only passenger in the ScootPlus cabin on one of the Berlin – Athens flights!

If you’re in Europe this month and want to try out the experience for yourself, Scoot is selling seats from around S$135 one-way from Athens to Berlin and around S$276 one-way in the opposite direction in Economy Class, though ScootPlus will set you back over S$600 one-way.

Athens and Berlin will retain non-stop flights from Singapore

Good news if you’re a fan of Scoot’s Europe links – the airline will still operate dedicated non-stop services from Singapore to both Athens and Berlin, even after 1st July 2022.

ADVERTISEMENT

Athens will be served four times weekly, up from three currently, while Berlin will retain three weekly non-stop flights, down from six weekly with the removal of service via Athens.

Scoot operates all its Europe flights with 329-seat Boeing 787-8 aircraft. (Photo: Scoot)

Here’s how the schedule looks to and from each city for the rest of the summer.

Scoot Singapore – Athens
(1st July to 29th October 2022)

  Days
M T W T F S S
TR712
787-8
SIN
02:30
ATH
09:00
TR713
787-8
         
ATH
11:20
SIN
04:10*
TR713
787-8
         
ATH
12:30
SIN
05:20*

* Next day

Scoot is loading three times weekly Athens flights in the northern winter schedule from November 2022, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (no Sunday service).

Scoot’s Berlin flights will operate three times per week from July 2022. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Scoot Singapore – Berlin
(1st July to 29th October 2022)

  Days
M T W T F S S
TR734
787-8
SIN
00:30
BER
08:00
TR735
787-8
       
BER
09:30
SIN
04:40*

* Next day

Scoot is also loading three times weekly Berlin flights in the northern winter schedule from November 2022, with operating days shifting to Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

London Gatwick flights

Scoot is also retaining its only other Europe route, which links Singapore with London Gatwick Airport via Bangkok in both directions.

This service has apparently not achieved the success the airline had hoped for, with original plans to operate three times weekly from 27th March 2022 now pushed back to September this year, having been progressively delayed.

The route is currently flown only twice per week, on Tuesdays and Sundays from both Singapore and London, with an additional Thursday service planned from 1st September 2022.

Data from the UK CAA for April 2022, the first full month of operation, shows that these Scoot flights in and out of Gatwick had an average passenger load factor of only 69.6%.

Total travel time including the stop in Bangkok is around 15 hours in each direction.

Scoot is not loading any flights on its London Gatwick route from November 2022 onwards, at the time of writing.



 


 

Summary

Intra-Europe fifth freedom flights have been a useful way for the SIA Group to tap into open markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also linking Singapore to two cities with a single aircraft, which helps manage costs and increase revenue.

Unfortunately for the airline fares on these flights are usually low, since the carrier has to compete with better-known incumbents offering more regular services.

Now that normal travel is resuming in home markets, it’s unlikely these flights make commercial sense any more, so it’s not too surprising to see them axed.

Scoot will continue to serve Athens and Berlin with non-stop links, and will also continue its London Gatwick via Bangkok flights, though the latter are not being sold into the winter season at this stage.

(Cover Photo: Scoot)

ADVERTISEMENT

1 comment

Leave a Reply