SINGAPORE - From May 2024, Scoot will operate flights from Singapore to six South-east Asian destinations with its new fleet of Embraer E190-E2 planes.
The six places are new destinations Koh Samui in Thailand and Sibu in Malaysia, as well as existing destinations comprising Hat Yai and Krabi in Thailand, and Kuantan and Miri in Malaysia, said Singapore Airlines’ budget arm Scoot in a statement on March 5.
The airline’s E190-E2 services are expected to start on May 7, after the first jet is delivered in April, said Scoot.
Flights to Krabi, Hat Yai and Koh Samui in Thailand, as well as Miri in Malaysia will begin in May, while flights to Kuantan and Sibu in Malaysia will start from June.
The first E190-E2 jet will be used on Scoot’s existing flights to Hat Yai and Krabi from May 7, increasing flight frequencies to both destinations from seven to 10 times every week.
This comes after Scoot initially said in a statement that the first plane was expected to arrive in March, as part of the five that will be delivered in 2024, when announcing its purchase of nine Embraer planes on Feb 17.
The airline later updated that four more jets will be delivered by the end of 2024, with the remaining four arriving by the end of 2025, according to Embraer’s Asia-Pacific vice-president Raul Villaron, who was speaking at a media launch of a flight simulator for Embraer E2 jets at the Singapore-CAE Flight Training Centre on Feb 20.
Scoot added on March 5 that the second E190-E2 jet is also scheduled for delivery in April, allowing the carrier to operate flights to four more cities: Koh Samui in Thailand, as well as Sibu, Kuantan and Miri in Malaysia.
With the delivery of these two planes, the airline will operate 103 and 92 weekly flights to Malaysia and Thailand respectively by June.
The new routes to Koh Samui and Sibu will increase Scoot’s network to 69 destinations.
Sales for these flights operated by E190-E2 jets will be progressively available for booking via Scoot’s website, mobile app and other channels. Economy class fares, inclusive of taxes, start from $172 to Koh Samui and $72 to Sibu.
The E190-E2 jet has a range of 5,278km, or six hours of flight time. As the smallest aircraft in Scoot’s fleet, it can seat up to 112 passengers.
Training started in early February for the first batch of six experienced Scoot captains who will be flying these jets.
Senior manager at Scoot’s network planning department Yan Han told The Straits Times the new jets allow the carrier to “unlock new regional growth opportunities” to smaller cities with lower demand and address aircraft-type constraints in the coming years.
Singapore-based low-cost carrier Jetstar Asia also announced on March 5 that it will resume flights to Clark in the Philippines, and launch services to Krabi in Thailand in June.
The carrier will start with four weekly return services to Clark from June 16, before increasing to five from Oct 18.
Jetstar Asia will operate six weekly return services to Krabi from June 7. Sales for both routes have started on its website on the morning of March 5.
