Scoot chief executive Campbell Wilson has provided details about the fate of his airline’s soon-to-be retired fleet of B777-200 aircraft, ahead of the highly anticipated delivery of its first B787-9 later this weekend.
Speaking exclusively to Business Traveller Asia-Pacific in Seattle, Wilson confirmed that one of Scoot’s existing B777-200 aircraft will be transferred to the company’s joint venture airline, NokScoot. However, the other five remaining widebody aircraft will be sold instead. According to Wilson, this is due to restrictions imposed by Thailand authorities, which prohibit aircrafts exceeding more than 14 years of age to be transferred to Thai-based carriers.
It should be noted that all six Scoot B777-200s were originally acquired from parent carrier, Singapore Airlines. It has always been Scoot’s plan to eventually retire the ageing aircrafts, in favour of newer models that offer superior fuel-efficiency, and would benefit its low-cost business model.
In fact, one of Scoot’s B777-200s (9V-OTF) has not even been configured with the carrier’s seating configuration, but instead still features the old generation seats by Singapore Airlines. Wilson stated that given the inevitable introduction of new planes to his fleet, it would not have been worth spending millions of dollars on the refurbishment of the B777-200.
In other news, Wilson also spoke to us about the loyalty partnership between Scoot and Krisflyer. As previously reported by Business Traveller Asia-Pacific (see here), members of the Singapore Airlines’ frequent flyer programme will soon be able to use their miles to earn and redeem points for flights on Scoot and Tigerair.
Redemption is fairly straightforward, with Krisflyer points being used to redeem cash vouchers that can be used to purchase fares with Scoot. While the accrual details have not been confirmed yet, Wilson did reveal that it will most likely be a revenue-based system, in which the number of miles earned would depend on the cost of the fare.
Should this ultimately come to pass, it will represent another example of the growing industry trend that has seen carriers such as United (see here) and Delta introduce revenue-based accrual systems for their FFPs. One world Cathay Pacific is also believed to be considering the same for its Marco Polo Club programme (see here).
Scoot will take delivery of its first B787-9 Dreamliner this Saturday. Business Traveller Asia-Pacific is in Seattle as a guest of Scoot to witness the delivery. Stay tuned for more news.
For more information, visit flyscoot.com
Clement Huang
