Scoot ending Athens – Berlin ‘fifth freedom’ flights

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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.

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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)