Scoot, the wholly owned, low-cost, medium and long-haul airline of the Singapore Airlines Group, is planning to commence operations in India next month.
A top company official said the airline would offer fares 15 to 50 per cent cheaper than full-service carriers. With Scoot, the group is expanding its wings in India. The airline, which started operations in June 2012 from its base in Singapore, operates an all-Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet to 18 destinations and plans to open three destinations in India by May.
“We are looking at three cities in India. We have already applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for an air operator’s permit. We hope the first flight will land in India by March-end subject to DGCA approval,” Bharath Mahadevan, country head, Scoot, told The Hindu .
The airline is yet to name the airports it will fly to. While one Indian destination will be served in March, two more will be added in May, once the airline gets a new aircraft in its fleet.
“We have identified airports both in metros and tier-II cities in South and North India. We will be expanding in phases as we are constrained by bilateral rights. We are looking at many more cities and India is firmly on our radar,” Mr Mahadevan added.
Scoot is looking at new destinations in India which have tourism potential but are not served by any foreign airline. “We will be working in close association with our group airlines,” Mr Mahadevan said.
Three airlines
“Currently Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Tigerair from the group are flying to India. And once Scoot commences operations, the Singapore Airlines Group will be the only international airline group to fly to the maximum number of Indian cities: 15,” Mr Mahadevan said. Besides this, domestic airline Vistara, which is also part of the Singapore Airlines Group, will feed passengers to Scoot, apart from other airlines in the group. Scoot will initially target Indian passengers seeking affordable tickets to destinations such as Singapore, South East Asia and Australia and then to other destinations through its Singapore hub.
Though its business model is similar to AirAsiaX, Mr Mahadevan said Scoot in India would compete with Air India and Jet Airways to win passengers. At present, Scoot operates with an average load factor of 83 per cent and is expecting a similar load from India.
