Scoot to fly Gold Coast-Singapore in June; China, Japan to follow
By David Flynn, February 21 2012
Update | Scoot will launch on June 25 – click here for all the details.
Previous | Singapore Airlines’ new low-cost offshoot Scoot will begin flights from the Gold Coast to Singapore from June, shortly after the airline's debut that same month with Sydney-Singapore flights.
"We will fly to Sydney first, followed by Gold Coast very shortly, all in June 2012" a Scoot spokeswoman told Australian Business Traveller.
The airline has also confirmed it will fly to China and Japan, although Scoot has not yet revealed which cities it will use or how soon these will follow the June debut of Sydney and Gold Coast services.
Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson has said that Scoot will fly to "at least five cities by the end of the year", and confirmed to Australian Business Traveller that India is also on the shortlist.
Also on Scoot's list as the fleet expands from four aircraft to fourteen by 2015 include Melbourne, New Zealand, Europe, North Asia and even the Gulf states turf of Emirates and Etihad.
Scoot will run five direct flights per week out of the Gold Coast on Boeing 777-200 aircraft which will be fitted with 'premium' (low-end business class) and economy cabins.
Want the first photos of Scoot's new premium and economy seats, plus details on Scoot's plans for a frequent flyer programme, SQ KrisFlyer privileges and more? Click here!
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Sep 2011
Total posts 321
Calling these "premium" seats Business Class is hugely misleading and akin to calling a Mini a BMW - both the same company but there the comparison ends. We're not talking 2 hours to/from Melbourne here, it's 7-8 hours to/from SIN. Less hype, more reality check please.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2555
Wilsoni: I'm with you there... there's an interesting mid-ground among low-cost airlines where the better-than-economy seats is more like a 'premium economy' (and in some airline terms, 'regional business class') than full business class. Jetstar calls theirs business class but it's far from what you'd expect from that name. I agree that premium is a much more accurate description than 'business class', although it becomes almost a short-hand reference for many people.
Scoot chief Campbell Wilson talks about the use of 'premium' vs 'business class' in this article and notes:
“We haven’t decided what we’re going to call it. We want to get away from the presumption that it’s a full-service business class, but we also want to ensure it’s sufficiently differentiated from the economy so that people will see the value in it. But you have to face reality too. A lot of carriers have tried to brand their premium cabin as something other than ‘business class’ with very little success, so most have reverted to calling it business class anyway.”
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Sep 2011
Total posts 321
Interesting reference by Campbell Wilson. If he's talking about, typically, legacy carriers who have a true-to-form business class calling it something else (for marketing or other reasons) it's a fair point. LCC's are a different kettle of fish. Most haven't attempted to transmogrify what isn't really BC into business class by calling it something else. Jetstar's Star looks like Emirates First compared to this effort from Scoot!
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2555
Jetstar's an interesting example, they use to call it Star Class but now it's Business Class.
Beyond that, the front end of the low-cost airline's planes definitely tend to be more 'premium economy' than anything else.
PS You get bonus points just for using 'transmogrify'!
07 May 2011
Total posts 5
Yet another airline lets its marketing deartment take over from it's safety department. Who is going to take a Flight Attendant seriously when his employer dresses him in a t-shirt? WIll safety have a "casual vibe" too?
17 Jun 2011
Total posts 64
Let's not forget most of the PAX will be sporting thongs, boardies and singlets so a V-neck t-shirt should be seen as huge step up! :)
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
02 Aug 2011
Total posts 41
I'll be interested to see how they time this flight.
Having it depart in the morning will make the terminal very, very crowded. As there is already two other A330 flights leaving, Osaka and Kuala Lumpur.
An evening flight on the other hand, would suit Gold Coast very well.
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