Scoot launches non-stop flights to Vienna, Iloilo City

SINGAPORE – Those looking to travel to Vienna in Austria and Iloilo City in the Philippines will soon have a non-stop flight option after budget carrier Scoot announced on Jan 16 its updated flight services.

Flights to Vienna will start on June 3, while flights to Iloilo City will begin on April 14.

There will be three weekly flights to Vienna, with a flight time of 13 hours and 10 minutes – Scoot’s longest non-stop route.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which has a capacity of 329 passengers in two cabin classes, will be used on this route.

There are currently no non-stop flights from Singapore to Vienna. Singapore Airlines (SIA) operated non-stop flights to Vienna in the 1980s until the late 1990s, The Straits Times reported previously.

Vienna is often referred to as the “City of Music”, as it was home to famous classical musicians such as Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart.

Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of SIA, will fly twice a week to Iloilo City, with the frequency progressively increasing to four times a week from June. These flights will be operated on the 112-seat Embraer E190-E2 aircraft.

Flights to Vienna and Iloilo City can be booked from Jan 16 via Scoot’s website and mobile app, costing from $309 and $129, respectively, for a one-way economy class ticket. One-way ScootPlus fares start from $659 to Vienna, inclusive of taxes.

Scoot chief executive Leslie Thng said: “As the only airline offering direct flights between Singapore and Vienna, we are thrilled to introduce this new service from June, just in time for the holidays.”

He added that with the launch of non-stop flights to Iloilo City, Scoot hopes “to inspire our customers to explore more cities within South-east Asia and embark on new travel experiences”.

Cebu Pacific Air has operated three flights a week from Singapore to Iloilo City since November 2024. The low-cost carrier from the Philippines operates these on a 180-seat Airbus A320.

Student Jasmine Grace Towndrow, 21, who has visited Vienna twice in the past three years, welcomed Scoot’s new non-stop service to the Austrian capital.

“There are not a lot of direct flight options to Vienna and there are lots of people who find layovers super stressful,” she said.

For instance, during her trip in July 2023, she flew with Qatar Airways and had two transfers – in Doha International Airport and London’s Heathrow Airport – with a 12-hour layover before her flight to Vienna.

However, Ms Towndrow was sceptical about flying long-haul with Scoot: “I have flown Scoot before, and I am not sure if their budget style (suits) a long-haul flight.”

Scoot also announced that it will adjust its network, suspending operations to Berlin in Germany and Jinan in China after its last flights on March 28 and Feb 28, respectively.

This is “to better match capacity to demand and optimise aircraft deployment”, the airline said.

It will contact affected customers with existing bookings made directly with Scoot, to provide the necessary help to rebook or refund, where applicable.

For bookings made through travel agents or partner airlines, customers are advised to contact their travel agent or purchasing airline for assistance, Scoot said.

SIA and Scoot carried

a total of 3.6 million passengers

in December 2024, a monthly record for the SIA Group.

This was up 7.1 per cent from 2023, based on the group’s monthly operational figures released on Jan 15.

In particular, SIA carried 2.4 million passengers in December, up 9.6 per cent from 2.2 million the year before. Scoot’s passengers stood at 1.1 million, up 2.3 per cent.

For the whole of 2024, the group ferried 39 million passengers, 12.7 per cent more than the 34.6 million in 2023.