Scoot budget Asian airline plans European long-haul flights

The no-frills carrier operated and owned by Singapore Airlines picks Greek capital as its first long-haul destination and will use new 787 Dreamliners.

A Scoot Dreamliner 787 in Singapore. The airline will use the aircraft on its first European routes. Roslan Rahman / AFP

Singapore Airlines’ wholly-owned, low-cost carrier Scoot plans to launch a long-haul service to Europe, picking Athens as its entry point.

“Athens will be our first destination to Europe, a good spot for us to expand our network,” said the Budget Aviation Holdings (BAH)chief executive Lee Lik Hsin.

BAH manages Scoot and its sister airline Tigerair, the short-haul budget carrier of the Singapore Airlines group.

“There will be further routes to connect Europe with Asia Pacific but not at major capitals, where competition is already keen,” Mr Hsin said.

Scoot will start the service to Athens on June 20 with four flights a week on new Boeing Dreamliner 787 jetliners. The carrier is offering fares starting from US$360 in economy.

“The decision is in line with the group’s strategic move to stimulate passenger traffic between Asia Pacific and Europe, boosting connectivity through the Singapore hub. There is still room to grow,” Mr Hsin said.

Scoot and Tigerair offer a combined network of 56 destinations to 16 countries across the Asia Pacific region.

* Reuters

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