Scoot Outlines Network Expansion Plans; Will Suspend Gold Coast Service in July

(23/02/23)  Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has unveiled plans to gradually resume flights to China and ramp up flight frequencies to select destinations across its network.

Since countries began lifting travel restrictions in 2022, the airline has resumed most of its pre-COVID19 routes, increased flight frequencies where needed, and expanded its network with the launch of services to Jeju, Lombok, Makassar, Miri and Yogyakarta.

From now until the end of the northern winter season 2022 (25 March 2023), Scoot will progressively increase flights to China from the current 14 to 26 per week by stepping up flight frequencies to: Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Tianjin and Zhengzhou.

Scoot aircraft at Changi. Picture by Steven Howard of TravelNewsAsia.com

The pace of resumption continues into the northern summer period, from 26 March to 28 October 2023, with Scoot resuming flights to Haikou, Ningbo and Xi’an in April 2023, bringing the total number of China flights to 42 per week by the end of April 2023.

With services to Nanning and Shenyang resuming in May 2023, customers can look forward to 57 flights per week between Changi Airport in Singapore and China by the end of June 2023.

Flights to Athens will increase from two to four times per week, flights to Perth will increase from 10 to 12 per week, flights to Sapporo through Taipei will increase from thrice weekly to four per week, and flight frequencies to Tokyo through Taipei will increase from 10 to 12 weekly.

Closer to Singapore, flights to the popular holiday island of Langkawi in Malaysia will increase from four to seven per week, and the Manado, Philippines service will grow from thrice to four times weekly.

To optimise resources, Scoot's services to the Gold Coast will be suspended after 17 July 2023 - the date of the last flight out of the Gold Coast. Customers with existing bookings will be notified of their options.

“Scoot has been anticipating the return of travel to and from China and we will scale up operations to meet the demand from this sizeable market,” said Leslie Thng, Scoot Chief Executive Officer. “We will also ramp up frequencies to other popular summer destinations as customers continue to seek travel to connect with loved ones, explore new cultures and create new experiences. This year, we aspire to continue redefining value-travel by providing our customers with safe and seamless travel journeys, quality service, differentiated products and experiences at affordable fares.”

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