Singapore airlines has unveiled a new budget carrier in a bid to cater to growing demand for low-cost flying in the region. Called 'Scoot', the carrier will begin flights in mid-2012 and cater to medium and long haul routes. Asia's economic success has seen income levels rise in the region, boosting demand for air travel. The International Air Transport Association has forecast air travel in Asia-Pacific to grow by 6.4% in 2011. "Adhering to the low-frills spirit that has proven so popular in short haul arenas in Asia and around the world, Scoot will offer great value airfares up to 40% less than legacy carriers." the airline said in a statement. 'Five times faster' Scoot is not the first time that SIA has entered the low-cost travel segment. It already operates a short haul low-cost carrier SilkAir in the region and is also a majority shareholder in budget airlines Tiger Airways. Analysts said that the speed with which the sector was growing was a key factor behind SIA increasing its presence in the segment. "What is happening in Asia is that budget airlines are growing at five times faster speed than budget airlines in Europe," Jonathan Galaviz, the chief economist at Galaviz and Company told the BBC. "In that respect, Singapore Airlines wants to capture that growth," he added. However, Scoot is likely to face competition from AirAsia X, the the long haul affiliate of Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia. Big ambitions The airline said it will launch its operations with flights to destinations in Asia, Australia and China in the first year, before expanding its operations to Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The airline is planning to start its operations with four B777-200s, a wide-bodied aircraft, compared with other budget carriers who generally use narrow-body planes. Analysts said Scoot's choice of aircraft indicates that it is confident of generating good passenger numbers. "This means that the management Singapore Airlines, if they do indeed use these kind of aircraft, believe that they are going to have very high occupancy on these routes," said Mr Galaviz. Mr Galaviz also added that SIA may look to replace some of the short haul routes of the premium airline with flights of the new low-cost carrier. Source:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15532831
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Happened to me once.. Every site no matter how big it is will have a down time now and then. Until that is, they get those super cooled Arctic servers going
Back on topic... This could be a very good thing if we can fly cheaply to Singapore! Opening up the possibility to then hop over to Pinas for what could save a small fortune and help lower the costs of other airlines.
Somehow the words long haul, budget and comfort are hard for me to squeeze into my brain at the same time, the thought of being stuck on something like Easyjet or Wizzair for 10 hours or more from Europe fills me with dread But given what's happening to fuel costs this will probably turn out to be the only way to get there for most of us in the future. This means they are going to have very small seats.
I wish someone would look into the space issues for having bunks in long haul flights like those on the Philippines ferries. The airlines could get everyone to lie down with the intention of sleeping and not give anyone a meal (make everyone bring their own drinks and snacks)..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-5_Galaxy the new standard in international travel, bring your own booze and sleeping bag Seriously as long as they had a couple of space heaters, I'd go for it if I could get cosy in a nice sleeping bag
Seriously though... Imagine having something like those Japanese bunk beds or even the bunk beds on the Philippine ferries...
I'm in agreement with you there. We flew back on a airbus 200 with klm that had seen better days and I was numb from the neck down within 90 minutes!! I can't see long haul budjet airlines being the most populat choice, though it would be ok if they provide decent seating. Also as long as it doesn't cost a quid everytime you want to use the toilet !!
That looks like something from the Bruce Willis movie The 5th Element but that was on a space ship Are they deep enough to fit a 6ft westerner? While it would be nice I think they would have weight problems compared to seats, space problems too and the airlines are always going to want to pack in the bodies as tight as they can get away with, that's why I was complaining about the Emirates Dubai - Manila leg when I used that route, the planes were kitted out with a tiny seat pitch that you could barely move in. It was fine for most of the Filipinos but the Westerners were in agony, also the only time ever that I have suffered a significant delay on a Philippine flight, we were stuck on the runway for 2 hours because of an electric storm and they didn't even give us water until the end of those two hours.
