Aerospace Diary

Neelam Mathews March 31, 2014 Talk of innovation. No matter how crazy it sounds, somebody is using their grey matter at budget Scoot. And as always, a ' first' gets attention, as does the world's first inflight hot yoga class  that will be available to guests on the daily flight TZ 220 from Singapore to Hong Kong starting 5th April. Space, apparently, is there on the  widebody Boeing 777-200 which offers extra leg (and elbow) room to perform the half-moon pose! Nothing in the world of budget airlines is free as we know.  Scoot is introducing MaxYourSpace - for a small fee – that the seat next to yours will be empty... so you'll be free to strike whatever pose takes your fancy! As for the yoga class- I'm a still hazy how they'll manage to hit it off. I nstructors Maria Chan and Jezeral Heng from Bikram Yoga Katong will be on hand "to assist, guide – and untie – if needed." The yoga area is physically separated by bulkheads, which means the Bikram ...

SINGAPORE AIR SHOW  »  2014 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Budget carrier IndiGo, an IATA member, is being courted by Qatar Airways to participate in a code-share agreement. February 8, 2014, 5:00 PM New relationships are changing the Asia Pacific’s airline landscape as it enters a new stage of maturity  with once-fierce opponents forming partnerships  for reciprocal gains. Overcapacity in fleet numbers has fueled competition and compelled budget carriers to look at cooperation initiatives despite the budget airline industry’s penchant to avoid complexity. The 47 budget carriers in the region–with 10 startups to be launched this year–have in hand more than 1,600 fleet orders, with around 1,000 aircraft already in their collective inventory. “There will be no turning back as the momentum that low-cost carriers have steadily built up in Asia over the last decade continues to gain steam,” said a 2014 report by the  CAPA ...

Neelam Mathews Dec 16, 2013              I thought I must have read it wrong - Nok Airlines and Scoot signing an MoU to establish a new low-cost airline to be based in Bangkok! How the dynamics of aviation have changed with the maturing of budget carriers in Asia. The name of the game is beating recession and volatile economic times through adapting- and boy how have they done it!  How now, one wonders, will Thai AirAsia cope? Obviously, the pie isn’t big enough to go around. Or is it? The new airline will be named NokScoot and will be based at Don Mueang International  Airport. It will operate widebody aircraft on medium and long-haul international routes.  Nok will have up to 51% and Scoot will have 49%. The initial investment will be THB2 billion  (about SGD80 million). “We are excited at the prospect of expanding Nok’s presence overseas, and to be doing so  with the assistance o...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  NOVEMBER 18, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Lion Air faces increasing competition from new low-fare startups in the Asia-Pacific region. (Photo: Boeing) November 18, 2013, 9:45 AM Economic growth, aviation deregulation, a growing middle class and aggressive tourism marketing continue to drive business in the regional markets of Asia-Pacific, where well entrenched budget carriers such as Malaysia’s AirAsia and Indonesia’s Lion Air face increasing competition from new low-cost startups. In neighboring India, three of every four airline seats now belong to budget carriers. According to Sydney-based consultancy Center for Asia Pacific Aviation ( CAPA ), Southeast Asia’s international market has seen a 20-percent capacity increase in the last 18 months, from 4.7 million weekly seats in April last year to 5.6 million weekly seats last month. The fastest growing markets, Thailand and Malaysia, added 23...

Neelam Mathews Dec 5, 2012 Scoot, the low cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, is the first airline in the world to adopt the flexible data link management service powered by the Air Transport Industry (ATI) Cloud from IT provider SITA.  The service manages the exchange of messages between the ground and cockpit, connecting airline users and applications to the aircraft. It is already in use at Scoot and will continue to be rolled out across the airline’s expanding fleet. Campbell Wilson, CEO, Scoot, said: “SITA’s cloud-based data link offering is ideal for Scoot. We are growing fast and need our data link services to be agile and able to scale quickly while ensuring safety and efficiency throughout our operations. S electing SITA’s ATI Cloud service requires minimal resources from our side, minimizing the staff and overheads that come with licensing, maintenance and support. The combination of safety, flexibility and cost-effectiveness supports Scoot’s ability to grow fa...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  NOVEMBER 26, 2012 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Singapore Airlines’s recent acquisition of a 10-percent stake in Virgin Australia is a prime example of the wave of strategic realignments now happening in the Asia Pacific air transport sector. (Photo: Airbus) November 26, 2012, 6:00 PM Tough economic times are resulting in innovations by carriers in the Asia Pacific region looking beyond traditional business models through strategic realignments and new product offerings. Recent ground-breaking deals include Virgin Australia selling a 10-percent stake to Singapore Airlines ( SIA ) and buying 60 percent of Tiger Airways; the new partnership between Emirates Airline and Qantas; and Etihad Airways purchasing a 10-percent stake in Virgin Australia. “It is hard to say who is next. Qatar Airways said it would never enter into an alliance, and within a week it was in bed with British Airways,” commented ...

Posted by-Neelam Mathews June 10, 2012 Singapore 's newest airline, Scoot, has selected the Bluebox Ai portable inflight entertainment systems for deployment across its medium and long-haul fleet. This provides Scoot customers with access to the latest  Hollywood  early window content as well as a range of other movie, TV, audio, reading and gaming content all delivered via secure iPad devices. Bluebox Ai provides over 20 hours of battery life with a unique system that ensures that the iPads can remain on the aircraft between periodic content updates greatly simplifying logistics. "At Scoot, we offer fantastic value airfares and keeping things simple are always front of mind," said Campbell Wilson, Scoot's CEO. "The Bluebox Ai IFE solution enables us to deliver further value to our customers in a package that is straightforward to manage. It will satisfy our current need and is able to support our future plans for our inflight entertainment offer...

Scoot’s staff Captain HC Rohan, Head of Flight Operations/Chief Pilot; Campbell Wilson, CEO, and Ng Ju Li, Head of Cabin Services, with the first aircraft.  Photos Courtesy of Scoot Pte Ltd. Singapore's newest airline, medium to long haul no-frills carrier Scoot, took ownership of its first aircraft today. The 777-200, purchased from parent company Singapore Airlines but now bearing Scoot's registration 9V-OTA, will be joined by a second aircraft on 30th March, after which both will be inducted into the hangar for complete overhaul. Over the next couple of months they will undergo a heavy maintenance "D" check, have the interior refitted with Scoot's seats and cabin product and be painted in Scoot's livery, before being released for commercial service.  

Posted by- Neelam Mathews Jan 19, 2012 The recent decision of AirAsia X  to stop  flying to Mumbai and London raised many eyebrows about the sustainability of long haul low cost services. Though the immediate concerns  point  towards high jet fuel prices, immigration concerns as well as  high  airport  taxes  have  also impacted the overall grand strategy to increase  yields,  rationalization and allocation of aircraft fleet to more profitable routes, says consultancy Frost & Sullivan. “These routes (Delhi and Mumbai and Paris and London) were  bleeding  on  a  low cost model and with the MAS-AirAsia collaboration, cutting off duplicate capacities makes sense,” says Amartya De, Frost & Sullivan Senior Consultant for Aerospace & Defense. “Part of the  network rationalisation process is also to bring passengers from European destinations on MAS up to Kuala Lumpur and then giving the...

Neelam Mathews Jan 12, 2012 India ’s budget   carrier IndiGo and   Scoot, the new medium and long-haul, low-cost division of Singapore Airlines (SIA) will launch   Request for Proposals (RFPs) from airports via Route Exchange, the online trading zone for airline capacity. Airlines can actively campaign their target airports through this unique platform. After the first successful RFP by Air Asia X last year, Routes says the two new RFP’s for 2012, will be launched on Jan 16. Paul Winfield, Airline Director for Routes said: “The RFPs will allow them to source data and information in line with their chosen criteria and target markets. Route Exchange simply facilitates the process of gathering this data and allows them to deal directly with airports online in a cost and time efficient manner. Both airlines are pro-active in their approach to route development ….” IndiGo has an extensive domestic operation and a growing international footprint. The airline is using ...

Neelam Mathews Jan 11, 2012 Singapore Airlines low cost arm, Scoot is making a statement with its new uniform revealed today. Singapore’s buzzing with three of its cabin crew scooting around iconic sights in Singapore, showing off Scoot’s radical, modern new threads. With strong overtones of yellow, Scoot’s corporate color, the uniform aims to break convention,catch your eye and allow our crew to perform their duties in comfort and style, says SIA. “Practicality is our goal – a unique uniform our crew would be proud to wear. More importantly, safe for operations and easy to maintain,” said Ng Ju Li, Scoot’s Head of Cabin Services. Scoot’s brief to designers, ESTA, was to develop a uniform that reflected Scoot’s personality – fun, casual with great service as top priority. “Our uniform is designed with “movability” in mind, to free our cabin crew from restrictions to allow us to focus on our guests.We’re casual. We’re Scoot.” Scoot will provide medium and long haul no-frills fl...

Neelam Mathews Nov 3, 2011 On SIA’s new medium-to-long-haul budget carrier, named Scoot with the first flight set for the end of the first half of 2012, CEO Campbell Wilson said: “We chose the name ‘Scoot’ for many reasons, not least because it’s different. Rather than the tried and tired ‘airlines’ this, ‘airways’ that or ‘air’ yawn, it’s short, sharp and snappy. It stands out.” “We have a very different attitude… We have a short, sharp name that exemplifies that attitude that we want more of our staff to have to interact with others. We have a unique attitude and we want our staff to have ‘Scootitude’,” he added. Scoot starts with a fleet of four Boeing 777-200 aircraft with plans for 14 aircraft by 2015. Scoot will not look to take any existing routes covered by SIA. It plans to fly to India, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Wilson told reporters at Scoot’s 01-Nov-2011 brand launch event in Singapore that the carrier will serve at least four routes within its first ...