Scoot's Cadet Programme

B777-200ER

Embark on a flying career with a vibrant and fun airline! Take off to an exciting career with Scoot Cadet Pilot Programme!

Scoot is NOT your usual airline. We are 'Scoot' for many reasons, not least because we're different. Our brand conveys spontaneity, movement, informality and a touch of quirkiness - all attributes we are well known to be associated with. These attributes will be personified in a unique spirit that encapsulates our values and style. An airline with a different attitude, surrounded by people with 'Scootitude'.

Scoot is partnering the renowned aviation school, Singapore Flying College (SFC) to develop the Scoot Cadet Programme to fill our cadet vacancies. Our cadets will undergo a customised self-funded 18 months training course at SFC. Completion of the course equips you with a Commercial Pilot Licence (Instrument Rating) or 'Frozen' ICAO ATPL. Now, you are one step closer to becoming a Second Officer!

Upon graduation from SFC, you will undertake Scoot's Multi- Crew Coordination, type, base and line training to ensure you are fully equipped with the essential skills and knowledge to fly Scoot's latest wide-body aircraft - the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

So if you have the passion for aviation and the 'Scootitude' DNA in you, we welcome you to journey with us and progress on to fulfilling your aspiration to be a pilot!



Essential Requirements

• Minimally 18 years old (as required by regulations in Air Navigation Order)
• Legally entitled to work in Singapore upon completion of training
• GCE 'A' level, Polytechnic Diploma or Degree. A minimum of 5 Credits in the GCE 'O' level or its equivalent at one sitting. These must include English, Mathematics and a Science subject, preferably Physics.
• Physically and mentally fit
• Qualify for Class 1 unrestricted medical certification as approved by the Civil Aviation Medical Board (CAMB)
• Good visual acuity of at least 6/60 without optical aid, correctable to 6/6 and not colour blind
• Be able to commit to a period of 18 months of consecutive training with no disruption

Desirable Traits

• A keen learner with a strong passion for aviation
• A team player who demonstrates composure, confidence and maturity
• A sense of humour to brighten up the day of everyone around you
• Definitely the 'Scootitude' DNA in you!

What's next?

Submit your interest with us by clicking the "Apply now" icon
More details on Scoot Cadet Pilot Roadshow and the application process will be communicated to shortlisted candidates by 23 July 2015.

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Scoot to launch flights between Singapore and Kaohsiung

Scoot will launch flights between Singapore and the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung from Jul 9 this year, the budget airline announced on Thursday (Apr 16).

The airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft will operate the thrice-weekly flights, said Scoot in a news release.

The Singapore-Kaohsiung flight will depart at 7:55am on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Jul 9. Meanwhile, the flight from Kaohsiung to Singapore will depart at 9:30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from Jul 9.

Scoot currently operates daily flights between Singapore and Taipei.

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Scoot collects its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Seattle

Budget carrier Scoot marked a new chapter in its history, after it collected the first of its Boeing 787 jets on Sunday.

Scoot's chief executive Campbell Wilson and crew received the "keys" to the new Dreamliner from planemaker Boeing under foggy skies at its Everett factory north of Seattle.

At the Boeing delivery centre, close to 80 guests, including journalists and suppliers, were treated to a 10-minute light-and-sound show in a ceremony to unveil the aircraft that gleamed in Scoot's trademark yellow.

The Dreamliner will leave Seattle for its 18-hour flight across the Pacific Sea, making a stop at Osaka before arriving in Singapore on Monday morning at 9.45am.

The plane's first "passengers" will be Mr Campbell, journalists and 38 others, including Scoot staff who scored coveted seats on the delivery flight through a contest.

Scoot's 787s, which will have up to 375 seats in two classes, promise to be more roomy and comfortable. Passengers in all classes can look outside through larger windows and entertain themselves by surfing the internet with Wifi onboard or streaming movies on their tablets and smartphones.

Sunday's delivery of the first Dreamliner comes more than two years after Scoot first announced that it will acquire the 787s. The Dreamliners, which are primarily made of carbon-fibre composite material, are lighter and use a fifth less fuel than the current fleet does.

Scoot, a Singapore Airlines subsidiary, has ordered 20 Dreamliners. As more B787s start coming onboard by August, the carrier expects to phase out six of its ageing, hand-me-down B777 aircraft from SIA. That will mark Scoot's transition to operating an all-Dreamliner fleet, which will be made up of the 787-8s and longer-range 787-9 variants.

Mr Campbell told The Straits Times that the eventual cost savings "improves our bottomline and gives us more scope to offer even better airfares".

It took more than 30 computerised mock-ups over the last two-plus years to finalise the look and feel of Scoot's Boeing 787 cabins. Scoot's Dreamliner fleet will be made up of the 787-8 and longer-range 787-9 variants.

They will each have up to 375 seats in two classes that promise to be roomier and more comfortable. Those onboard will:

- enjoy better seat pitch of between 31 inches (economy) to 38 inches (ScootBiz) and more legroom;

- get better views when they look outside through larger windows;

- charge their laptops and mobile devices with AC power, surf the internet with onboard Wifi connection or stream movies on their tablets and smartphones, although economy passengers will have to pay for these services;

- suffer fewer headaches, dry eyes and nausea, that are typically caused by the lack of oxygen, because the humidity level in the 787 cabin will be higher.

The Dreamliners, which are primarily made of carbon-fibre composite material, are lighter and use a fifth less fuel than the current fleet does. Scoot is among 58 airlines that have either ordered or received 1071 Dreamliners. Among them, 30 have received 231 787 jets.

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No takeover plans for Tigerair, but SIA eyes more integration

Singapore Airlines (SIA) is not considering a full takeover bid for Tiger Airways (Tigerair), but it will focus on helping its loss-making associate recover through stronger network cooperation, following SIA’s recent move to increase its stake in the low-cost carrier, says SIA chief executive Goh Choon Phong.

Speaking at SIA’s latest results briefing yesterday, Mr Goh added that Tigerair remains an integral part of the group’s growth plans and has been making progress in consolidating its business.

Tigerair reported a net loss of S$182.4 million for its fiscal second quarter on Oct 17. With its other units such as SilkAir and SIA Engineering also suffering weaker growth, SIA’s net profit for the quarter ended September declined 43.5 per cent on-year to S$91 million.

Mr Goh said: “We intend to increase our stakes (in Tigerair) to a controlling interest, because we believe that SIA, with its scale and connectivity distribution, can benefit Tigerair beyond its alliance with Scoot.”

“A takeover offer for Tigerair is, however, not under consideration. Our focus now is to see in what manner we can help Tigerair back to financial health.”

SIA’s application to increase its stake in Tigerair to around 55 per cent from 40 per cent was submitted to the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) for approval last month.

In August, CCS gave the green light for Tigerair and SIA’s low-cost long-haul subsidiary Scoot to form an alliance.

Despite its persistent financial losses, Tigerair remains integral to SIA’s plan to expand its network portfolio via further integration of routes and flights between SIA, its regional wing SilkAir, Scoot and Tigerair.

“These are the four components that will allow us to extend market reach and tap traffic in all segments ... In the case of Tigerair and Scoot, the connecting traffic is less than 5 per cent now — there’s a huge potential we can tap here,” Mr Goh said.

Adding that Tigerair is not a lost cause, he said it is repositioning itself for the future, such as shedding unprofitable overseas joint ventures and taking steps to curb overcapacity.

Mr Brendan Sobie, chief analyst at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, said the worst is likely over for Tigerair and that SIA’s plans for Tigerair will lead to mutual benefits.

“With a controlling stake, SIA can now ensure Tigerair is more aligned with its portfolio strategies,” he said.

But he added that a turnaround is not guaranteed for Tigerair.

“The LCC (low-cost carrier) market remains very competitive and, given its disastrous results in the past two years, any improvement will have to be drastic to be meaningful,” he said.

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Why SIA is keen to heal wounded Tiger

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has pledged $140 million to rescue Tigerair, yet again.

The additional funding will increase SIA's stake in the loss-making budget carrier from 40 per cent now to as high as 71 per cent.

The commitment follows a cash call by Tigerair two weeks ago, after it announced a $182.4 million loss in the three months to the end of September.

For the 12 months to the end of March, Tigerair recorded its biggest annual loss of $223 million.

To replenish its kitty, the airline is offering shareholders more stock at a discounted price.

In a show of support, SIA has said it will take up its entitlement and subscribe for any shares not taken up. Before that, it will also convert Tigerair convertible securities it currently holds into new shares.

This is not the first time SIA has come to Tigerair's rescue. Since 2011, it has doled out at least $100 million in two earlier fund-raising exercises, and seemingly gained nothing.

"It's putting good money into a bad business," said UOB Kay Hian's K. Ajith.

Tigerair has scaled back its operations significantly in the last few months by closing down subsidiaries in Indonesia and the Philippines. Its 40 per cent stake in Tigerair Australia will be sold to Virgin Australia for A$1 (S$1.13).

Bruised and battered, Tigerair is not expected to return to the black until after 2016 at the earliest.

So why is SIA wasting its time and money? Why not just let the Tiger tail fall from the sky?

Because despite current challenges, experts believe that the demand for short-haul low-cost flights in Asia will continue to grow strongly in the coming years.

Without Tigerair, SIA has no presence in this market, leaving it defenceless against rivals like AirAsia, Jetstar and Lion Air.

With the likes of Emirates and Cathay Pacific putting intense pressure on its premium long-haul business, SIA also believes it must diversify and enter new market segments to continue to fly high.

In short, SIA has no choice but to keep Tigerair alive, even if it means effectively taking control of the carrier.

This was never the plan.

In December 2003 when SIA's then chief executive officer Chew Choon Seng announced plans to launch Tiger Airways, he made it clear that SIA would not be in the captain's seat.

Many previous attempts by full-service carriers to run budget airlines had failed, he said. "The low-cost model requires completely different methods and procedures, marketing approaches and skills, and it is hard to be both premium full service and low cost, no frills at the same time. Hence our decision to have it as a 49 per cent-owned associate company rather than a majority-owned subsidiary."

For as long as Tigerair managed its affairs well, SIA did not intervene.

But the shocking grounding of Tiger Airways Australia in July 2011 by the Australian civil aviation authority over safety concerns led to a management overhaul and the entry of an SIA divisional vice-president, Mr Chin Yau Seng, as Tiger's new head.

Industry veteran J. Y. Pillay, widely credited with turning SIA into a global leader, joined as non-executive chairman the same month, although he was approached by Tiger's board even before the kerfuffle in Australia.

Mr Chin stayed for a year before passing the helm to shipping veteran Koay Peng Yen, who served for about two years.

After he left in May, yet another SIA senior executive, Mr Lee Lik Hsin, took over as group chief executive officer.

Like many other low-cost carriers, Tigerair has been hit by regional overcapacity - airlines adding more seats than demand can soak up - which has pushed fares and takings down.

But unlike Malaysia's AirAsia and Indonesia's Lion Air which operate out of huge domestic markets that have cushioned some of the impact of overcapacity on international routes, Tigerair and, by the same token, Singapore's Jetstar Asia, do not have a similar advantage.

Tigerair also made mistakes along the way, with its management "clearly bordering on being clueless", said Associate Professor Terence Fan of the Singapore Management University.

With higher costs than rivals like AirAsia, for example, Tigerair should have stayed away from well-established low-cost territories and opted instead for newly emerging markets like Taiwan and Japan, where competition is less intense and yields higher, he said.

Lessons learnt, the current plan is to downsize, focus on the Singapore operations and turn losses into profits, with SIA's money and expertise.

The past few years were painful but the business restructuring in the last few months, and SIA preparing to take on a bigger stake and role in the running of the airline, could be just what Tigerair needs.

For one thing, it would pave the way for the short-haul budget carrier to work more closely with SIA's wholly-owned long-haul budget arm, Scoot, which they have not been able to do effectively thus far.

This was in fact the plan when SIA launched Scoot in June 2012, as part of its portfolio strategy of having a presence in all the key business segments.

SIA's chief executive officer, Mr Goh Choon Phong, speaking at the group's annual results briefing in May, said: "Tiger and Scoot make natural partners in connectivity. One with narrowbody aircraft servicing largely the region. And the other with the ability to go medium, and potentially in the future perhaps long haul, and operating widebodies, and for them to connect with each other."

Scoot working with Tigerair allows SIA to be present "in virtually all the different segments of the travel industry", Mr Goh said.

"And what needs to be done, as we have done for SIA and SilkAir, is closer integration," he added.

A plan is being worked out and details will be unveiled soon, insiders say.

As long as Tigerair has a place in SIA's overall business strategy, it will have the backing of the premium carrier, said Mr Shukor Yusof of aviation consultancy Endau Analytics.

Never mind that the carrier's "raison d'etre is in doubt, given its weak foundation, limited growth potential and inability to compete effectively", he added.

With Asean moving towards open skies, it is also in SIA's interest to keep Tigerair alive, analysts say.

The goal, by the end of next year, is for the 10 member nations to remove all restrictions on flights from their countries.

When this happens, and as airports in the region continue to invest in infrastructure to boost their handling capacity, carriers like Tigerair will be able to fly as and where they choose within the region.

Today, air services are bound by government-to-government deals and countries are sometimes reluctant to open their skies fully to airlines from neighbouring states for fear that their own carriers will not be able to compete with foreign airlines.

The Tiger is badly wounded but with a clear recovery plan and enough money and expertise to execute it, there is no reason why it cannot roar back in time to cash in on the region's aviation liberalisation and other future opportunities.

SIA will leave no stone unturned to see that this happens.

Mr Shukor said: "SIA has deep pockets and, loss of money aside, it's loss of face and loss of influence in a critical part of the business that they are probably most concerned with."

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Scoot and Tigerair proposed alliance cleared

The way looks clear for budget airlines Scoot and Tigerair Singapore to extend their partnership. According to both carriers, they have obtained the green light from the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) on Friday (Aug 8).

The two carriers have been granted anti-trust immunity, which will allow closer cooperation in scheduling, pricing, sales and marketing and other matters.

Scoot is a wholly owned unit of Singapore Airlines (SIA) while Tiger lists SIA as its largest shareholder. Tigerair focuses on shorter-haul journeys, while Scoot's emphasis is on medium to long haul routes. The two carriers first announced a partnership in October 2012.

Earlier this year, they sought clearance from the CCS for the alliance to enter a second phase. According to the CCS, both airlines operate largely complementary networks of flights.

The competition watchdog says although some parts of the proposed cooperation would raise competition concerns, these would be offset by resulting net economic benefits to Singapore passengers.

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SIA Q1 profit falls 71.3%, flags weak outlook

Singapore Airlines, Asia’s second-largest carrier by market value, reported a 71.3 per cent fall in its fiscal first-quarter net profit, as intense competition for passengers and cargo squeezed yields and its share of profits from associated companies dropped, mainly because of losses at Tiger Airways.

“Looking at the competition and what is coming in terms of capacity, we think that the next 1-2 years will continue to exert pressure on yields. We will have to manage our costs better, including fuel costs, in order to stay competitive,” SIA chairman Stephen Lee said on the sidelines of the company’s shareholders’ meeting today (July 30).

Five analysts have a “sell” rating on SIA, six rate it as a “buy” and 10 have a “hold” recommendation.

Battling intense competition from Gulf airlines and discount carriers, SIA Chief Executive Goh Choon Phong is pushing Singapore’s flag carrier into new markets including India, while increasing the group’s exposure to the low-cost segment through Tiger and its fully-owned subsidiary Scoot.

An overcapacity in the global air freight market is also hitting SIA, whose cargo unit still reported an operating loss.

Net income in the three months ended June was S$34.8 million, compared with S$121.8 million a year earlier, SIA said. Sales dropped 4.1 per cent to S$3.68 billion.

SIA, facing increased competition from budget airlines and Middle East carriers such as Emirates that are expanding into Asia, took a loss of S$18.9 million from associated companies, mainly from Tiger, in the quarter, compared with a loss of S$2.9 million a year earlier, according to the statement.

Tiger, which is 40 per cent owned by SIA, earlier this month reported a loss of S$65.2 million in the quarter ended in June, widening from a S$32.8 million loss a year earlier. The budget carrier plans to put more focus on growing its overseas business and ground eight planes to help revive the business after losing money for three straight quarters.

Travel demand to Thailand has eased since the May imposition of martial law while the two crashes involving Malaysian Airlines planes threaten to slow visitor arrivals to the Southeast Asian region.

“This sector has got far, far too much outside its own ability to control,” said Mr Credit Suisse analyst Timothy Ross. “There’s going to be weaknesses in Southeast Asia, where we’ve seen Thailand impact travel demand. The ongoing difficulties that Malaysian Airlines is having probably rubbed off a little bit for travel demand in the region.”

Operating profit dropped 52 per cent in the first quarter as growing competition hurt ticket prices. The airline’s passenger yield, or the money earned from carrying travellers one kilometre, fell to 10.9 Singapore cents from 11.1 cents a year earlier, while cargo yield rose to 33 cents from 32.7 cents.

Cost of fuel, the airline’s biggest expense, fell 4.7 per cent to S$1.37 billion.

The airline gained S$20.4 million from fuel hedging in the quarter, compared with a loss of S$42.8 million, it said.

Passengers carried by SIA rose 1.7 per cent to 4.65 million in the quarter and the carrier filled 77.7 per cent of available seats. It packed 278.5 million kilograms of cargo, 0.4 per cent more than a year ago, and filled 62.4 per cent of space.

“Aggressive fares and capacity injections from competitors will continue to place pressure on yields,” SIA cautioned. “The outlook for the air transportation industry has become more challenging with continuing uncertain global economic climate, geo-political concerns in the region and elevated fuel prices,” SIA added.

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Budget airlines set for further consolidation, say analysts

 The budget carrier Tigerair Singapore has been refocusing its operations with recent exits from Indonesia and the Philippines.

Amid the challenging environment for low cost airlines, analysts believe that its decision to focus on Singapore is the right move.

Paul Yong, vice president of equity research at DBS Vickers, said: "Their strategy should be to turn around the Singapore operations, which in the past has been quite profitable for them but has been loss-making because of all the capacity they've added.

"I think over the longer term, they will turn around operations in Singapore. Over the last two months, the operating statistics is that the growth in demand has finally caught up with capacity growth."

Industry observers said closer cooperation with Scoot -- the long-haul budget carrier under Singapore Airlines -- could be on the cards for Tigerair.

Brendan Sobie, chief analyst at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, said: "The ties between Scoot and Tiger are very critical for the SIA group, particularly for Scoot to be a larger and long-term viable long-haul low-cost carrier. You need the feed.

"It is also important for Singapore and Changi airport as a whole because they are now going through this period where traffic has stopped growing and opening up low-cost carriers' connections -- in particular Scoot and Tiger -- is the main growth vehicle for the future."

Scoot is expected to take delivery of 20 new Boeing 787 aircraft starting in November 2014.

Analysts believe that it is in a position to scale up in the future, potentially expanding services into North Asia and even Europe.

Overall, the outlook remains challenging for the budget airline industry as a whole. Almost 20 low cost carriers are currently operating in Southeast Asia and industry-watchers said they expect further consolidation as weaker players drop out.

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Scoot, Nok Airlines agree on structure of joint venture

Scoot and Nok Airlines are taking one key step forward in their plans to set up NokScoot, a low-cost carrier based in Bangkok.

Singapore Airlines said in a statement on Thursday that the two partners have agreed on the final structure of the joint-venture airline. This follows the memorandum of understanding with Nok Airlines which was signed in December 2013.

Scoot is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore Airlines.

Scoot and Nok Air will ultimately each hold a 49-per cent shareholding of the joint venture company.

The final 2 per cent will be held by Pueannammitr Co, a company formed by the management of Nok Air.

The partners plan to set up the joint venture airline by way of acquiring an existing company, Pete Air Co, which holds an air operator's licence.

The joint venture company will be subsequently renamed NokScoot Airlines Co.

The partners have agreed to invest an initial aggregate amount of S$80 million in the joint venture.

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SIA injects S$400m more capital into Scoot

Singapore Airlines is injecting an additional S$400 million of capital into its budget long-haul unit Scoot.

This was announced in a stock exchange filing on Friday.

SIA said it has subscribed for an additional 400,000,000 fully-paid ordinary shares in Scoot at S$1.00 each.

This additional investment follows a review of Scoot's capital structure and the funding it needs for the acquisition of new planes.

Scoot is buying 20 new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to facilitate its ongoing expansion in the region.

The first of these planes will arrive in November.

Six of the new aircraft are expected to replace Scoot's existing Boeing 777 fleet by the middle of next year.

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Boeing, Scoot in Dreamliner pilot training tie-up

Boeing and Scoot on Friday announced a five-year pilot training agreement to support the Singapore-based airline's fleet transition to 787 Dreamliners.

Under the agreement, Boeing Flight Services, a business unit of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, will provide 787 flight training to Scoot pilots at Boeing's Singapore training campus.

An anticipated 32 Scoot pilots will undergo training this year.

"We are proud to provide Scoot’s growing airline in a growing region with the industry's best flight training as they add the 787 to their fleet," said Sherry Carbary, vice president of Boeing Flight Services.

"Aviation opportunities or airlines and pilots are expanding rapidly in the Asia Pacific region, and we're pleased to offer a robust network of experienced instructors and training devices close to our customers across the region," she said in a statement released by Boeing on Friday.

The 2013 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook, a respected industry forecast of personnel demand, projects a requirement for 498,000 new commercial airline pilots and 556,000 new maintenance technicians to fly and maintain the new planes entering the world fleet over the next 20 years.

In Southeast Asia, 51,500 pilots and 64,700 technicians are needed to fill the gap.

Scoot chief executive officer Campbell Wilson said: "This is an exciting time for Scoot, as we expand our services throughout the Asia Pacific region, and work with Boeing for world-class flight training."

Scoot will acquire 20 Boeing 787s beginning in late 2014.

Scoot expects to take delivery of its first Boeing 787-9 aircraft on November 25.

Scoot's CEO said its pilots will test the Dreamliner in Washington first before flying it to Singapore in December.

The Dreamliner is scheduled for the Singapore-Taipei-Tokyo route.

All six of Scoot's current Boeing 777 fleet will be replaced by the Dreamliner by the middle of next year.

By March 2016, 11 Boeing 787 should be in service.

Scoot will also take delivery of nine more Dreamliners by 2019.

Wilson said: "Next year doubles our fleet size -- so it will allow us to increase frequency to some destinations, allow us to add new destinations. It's also much more fuel-efficient -- at 27 percent much more fuel-efficient per seat.

"So it allows us to fly to cities that currently we really can't economically serve, and of course that lower structure allows us to continue offering really, really good value air fares, so people can fly more often and scoot 'outta' here."

The aircraft were ordered in 2012 by parent company Singapore Airlines.

Scoot currently operates 777s on medium- and long-haul low-cost flights between Singapore and Sydney, Gold Coast, Bangkok, Taipei, Tokyo, Tianjin, Shenyang, Nanjing, Qingdao, Seoul, Perth and Hong Kong.

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Scoot flight diverted to offload 3 passengers

Scoot flight TZ1 from Sydney to Singapore was diverted to Bali on Wednesday afternoon to offload three passengers.

A Scoot spokesperson said a couple required medical attention after they had allegedly fought on board.

An ambulance was waiting at Bali airport to attend to the couple.

A third person who had become intoxicated and abusive was also removed from the flight.

The pilot had deemed the passenger to be a threat to the safety of the aircraft and the other passengers.

Flight TZ1, which was originally scheduled to arrive in Singapore at 6.50pm, is now expected to arrive at 8.35pm.

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Tigerair, Scoot in JVs to set up Taiwan, Thai budget airlines

Taiwan's China Airlines and Singapore's Tiger Airways plan to set up a Taiwan-based budget carrier.

This will allow Taiwan's biggest airline to tap into Asia's low-cost aviation market.

Tigerair, in which Singapore Airlines owns about a third stake, will also extend its presence into the new and largely untapped markets of Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

In a media release on Monday, Tiger said the new carrier will operate under the Tigerair brand and be independently managed. Tigerair's website will be the main sales and distribution platform.

Tigerair will initially hold 10 per cent of the start-up, while China Airlines will hold a 90 per cent stake.

The start-up will have a registered capital of T$2 billion (about S$85 million).

The partner carriers will be submitting applications for regulatory approvals.

Tiger Airways also announced an agreement with Indian budget carrier SpiceJet, allowing both to connect passengers on each other's flights.

Tigerair currently flies to Hyderabad in India and the agreement with SpiceJet will allow the two to connect 14 Indian cities from there.

Tiger Airways and Scoot -- the long-haul, low-cost unit of Singapore Airlines -- also agreed to work together on joint operations, and sales and marketing on parallel routes.

In a separate announcement, Scoot said the company plans to establish a new Bangkok-based low-cost carrier with Thailand's Nok Airlines.

The new airline will be named NokScoot and will be based at Don Mueang International Airport. It will operate wide-body aircraft on medium and long-haul international routes.

Nok will have up to a 51 per cent stake in the new carrier and Scoot will hold a 49 per cent stake.

The initial investment will be THB2 billion (about S$80 million).

The establishment of the new airline is subject to regulatory approvals.

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Rolls-Royce and Singapore Airlines set to enhance service capabilities

Singapore will soon become a hub for the repair and delivery of Rolls Royce engines in the region.

The British engine-maker has signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore Airlines (SIA) to provide round-the-clock service support for its Trent aero engines.

The MOU will see Singapore become a centre for Trent 900 engine support with plans to grow capabilities to include Trent 1000 engines in the future.

SIA currently operates 83 aircraft powered by Trent engines.

The airline recently announced firm orders for 60 new aircraft to be powered by Trent engines.

SIA's low-cost subsidiary Scoot has also ordered 20 new planes powered by Trent engines in 2014.

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More business for the plant situated in Seletar. This must be one of Rolls-Royce's best decision to build a regional plant here in Singapore. SIA will also save more on maintenance cost now that the manufacturer is right at its doorstep.

Excess pilots: SIA waives cadets' bonds

Singapore Airlines, which has too many pilots amid a business downturn, does not expect the surplus to ease any time soon.

Cadet pilots have been told that until Sept 30, those who quit may have their bonds waived.

The usual payback for leaving before serving the seven-year work bond can be more than $250,000, pilots said.

There are 95 cadets currently in training, said SIA, which froze fresh recruitment early last year.

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Not exactly very good times for the SIA cadets. For those who are languishing in the middle of the course, I guess it will be tough to give up now. Those who already attained at least a CPL, jumping over to Scoot or Tiger will be a good option.

Hundreds stranded after budget airline Scoot hit by flight delays

Budget airline Scoot has been hit by another string of flight delays.

The latest comes less than two weeks after a similar situation was triggered by technical reasons.

Hundreds of passengers have been affected and more delays are expected on Saturday.

At Changi Airport on Friday morning, a flight bound for Qingdao and Shenyang, China, was due to take off at 1.30am.

But it turned out to be a nearly 15-hour wait, before the flight left at about 4.30pm.

More than 400 affected passengers were given meal vouchers.

Scoot said the aircraft was on scheduled maintenance and could not be released on time.

More delays were triggered after another aircraft fell behind schedule due to adverse weather conditions in Tianjin, China, on Thursday.

Departure times for flights between Singapore and Bangkok and Gold Coast to Singapore on Friday have also been pushed back.

Those travelling between Singapore and Tianjin on Saturday will also face delays.

Scoot said it has notified all passengers via email on the revised flight timings.

Passengers who encounter flight delays of more than four hours - other than those triggered by the weather - will be given $50 vouchers.

Some passengers bound for Bangkok, who experienced a four-hour delay, wished they had been better informed.

"I have to rearrange the time all over again, because they changed the time to 9.40pm and now I will arrive, according to them, about 11pm. I think it will be a better choice for them to email us or give us a call," said one frustrated passenger.

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This is what happens when you have a small fleet with high utilisation. A small delay some where will have a snowballed effect for the rest of the flights after it.

Scoot airlines to increase fleet, expand routes

Scoot, the low cost long haul subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, has flown about 600,000 passengers after seven months of operation.

This means carrying about 85,000 travellers per month.

The carrier also has a passenger load factor of about 81 per cent and currently flies to eight destinations, including Tianjin, Shenyang and the Gold Coast.

Speaking at the "world's low cost airlines" conference on Thursday, CEO of Scoot Airlines Campbell Wilson was asked if the airline will be increasing its fleet and expanding its routes to cope with the ever growing demand for low cost travel in Southeast Asia.

Mr Wilson said: "We're taking a fifth aircraft this year end of May, early June, and we'll use that to add two or three more routes to the network. In terms of partnership, currently we work most closely with Tiger Airways, they have affiliates in other countries that we would look to expand our routes to. And furthermore there are airlines outside of Singapore and indeed outside of Southeast Asia that are quite interested to work with us. But its too premature to reveal who."

Scoot has introduced ScooTV, streaming inflight entertainment for passengers, and was the first to introduce iPads for rent.

Mr Wilson said it does not add to their costs at all.

"We only introduce these where there is a business benefit to us. We target to get over 20 per cent of our revenue from ancillary products of which entertainment is one. But as well as earning us money, it also helps the passenger. It's a win-win all round," he said.

Mr Wilson also commented on Boeing's Dreamliner despite the latest safety hiccups.

"The next aircraft we take this year is a 777-200 and the ones after that are 787s. Boeing is keeping us fully informed of what's happening with the 787 investigations and rectification and we are confident in their ability to resolve the issue under the purview of the regulators, and we look forward to taking the aircraft on schedule in November 2014. We have commitment for 20 Dreamliners," he said.

Several Scoot flights were recently hit by a series of passenger complaints stemming from flight delays and alleged technical faults.

Mr Wilson said: "The challenges are real. When you have a small fleet flying high utilisation. Anything whether its a weather delay, whether its a typhoon, fog in Tianjin today or storms in Gold Coast on Monday, they do affect aircraft schedules and sometimes have consequential effects. There's no avoiding that with a small fleet, but the high utilisation of aircraft is what allows us to offer low fares, so it's a bit of a quid pro quo.

"We're very clear to people what it is that we offer, we also make no secret what it is that we give in terms of compensation. The compensation is not just S$50, it can be more ranging to a full refund depending on the circumstances.

"Clearly, unit costs is unavoidable for operating an airline, unit revenue and engagement. You can't operate a business if you don't have low cost, you can't cover those cost if you don't have decent revenue and you don't have revenue if people don't like you."

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Scoot seems to be doing pretty well as compared to its principal owner SIA. One more plane in mid year to expand its fleet to a total of five before receiving its first new aircraft in late 2014. Things are going well except for some hiccups with flight delays.

Scoot affirms order of 20 Dreamliners

Singapore Airlines unit Scoot on Wednesday said it was confident Boeing will solve problems with its 787 Dreamliner and reaffirmed its order for 20 of the aircraft.

"Boeing has kept us fully informed about the performance of the 787 since we committed to acquire the aircraft," the budget carrier said in a statement after Japan's two biggest airlines grounded all their Dreamliners due to safety fears.

"Boeing has kept us fully informed about the performance of the 787 since we committed to acquire the aircraft."

An All Nippon Airlines (ANA) Dreamliner was forced to make an emergency landing on Wednesday in the latest crisis to hit the new Boeing jetliner.

Scoot's Dreamliner order was estimated to be worth $4.0 billion when it was announced in October.

"We are confident that Boeing's ongoing performance monitoring and external review process will identify and resolve any issues, and look forward to taking delivery of our first 787 on schedule in late 2014," the statement said.

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After Qantas and ANA affirmed their plans to stick with the Dreamliner, Scoot has also made its statement to reveal likewise. With its first B787 to be delivered late next year, hopefully by then the Dreamliner will prove its doubters wrong.

Scoot unveils new destinations in China

Singapore Airlines' long-haul budget airline subsidiary, Scoot, has launched its non-stop flights to Qingdao and Shenyang in China.

The thrice-weekly service will operate between Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 and Qingdao International Airport, as well as Shenyang Taoxian International Airport.

They're the eighth and ninth routes for Scoot.

The budget airline had to cancelled some 20 flights from Singapore to the two cities last year, due to problems with regulatory approval.

All flights between 27 November 2012 and 8 January 2013 were affected.

Scoot had indicated on its website and in the flight itineraries that the flights were subject to regulatory approval.

A spokesperson had explained that it's standard practice for airlines to launch destinations and sell tickets before regulatory approval has been given.

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Finally these two destinations have been approved by the authorities in China. It created quite a big hoohaa last month when it had to cancel the flights due to a delay in approval.

Low-cost carriers to continue to drive growth in aviation industry

Low-cost carriers are driving growth in the aviation industry this year, accounting for a billion-dollar increase in the profits forecast for airlines in 2012.

And Singapore Airlines (SIA) has latched on to the trend with its newly-minted low-cost carrier Scoot, in a bid to remain competitive.

Low-cost carriers have continued to enjoy healthy profits, with the number of economy passengers more than doubling that of premium travellers, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Besides Jetstar and AirAsia, SIA's Scoot started operations this year, with Cebu Pacific joining the ranks next year.

Siva Govindasamy, Asia managing editor of Flightglobal, said: "From virtually nothing four years ago, we will have four Southeast Asian long-haul low-cost carriers next year, and you are still in a market segment that is unproven.

"People do not know how much money you can make in this market segment. AirAsia X is likely to have its IPO (initial public offering) next year, and we will see how the market reacts to that long-haul low-cost business model."

Asia Pacific carriers account for more than half of the profits in the aviation industry this year, and low-cost carriers currently take up about 18 per cent of the market in Asia Pacific, compared to 24 per cent globally.

Some airlines are expecting deliveries of more aircraft in 2013, with the likes of LionAir and AirAsia both adding more than 30 new planes to their current fleet. And experts have said this could lead to a price war in Indonesia and Malaysia, which could result in consolidation for smaller players.

But full service carriers aren't resting on their laurels either. Besides ordering new aircraft, SIA is also spending S$95 million to upgrade existing cabins.

But Singapore's national carrier is also repositioning its focus from the premium to value segments.

Subhranshu Sekhar Das, director (aerospace & defense practice) at Frost & Sullivan, said: "The only way to survive in this market is to consolidate and position their strengths.

"We have been seeing multiple carriers creating multiple brands under one umbrella, either SIA creating SilkAir, Scoot; Thai Air with Thai Smile and their partnership with other low-cost carriers; MAS with MASwings, Firefly..."

Besides multiple offshoots, SIA is also starting to get embroiled in a competition in Australia. SIA recently bought a 10 per cent stake in Virgin Australia and sold off its loss-making unit in Tiger Australia.

This came after a recent tie-up between Qantas and Emirates. But Qantas Airways looks set to defend its turf.

Leithen Francis, editor of Aviation Week, said: "Qantas is going to be focusing on the domestic market. I think Alan Joyce's point of view is to invest in those bits of the business that are profitable.

"Their international long-haul business is not profitable but what is very profitable is their domestic 737 operation, and also their regional turbo prop and regional jet operation. So I can see them investing more in new equipment for their operations in Australia."

But with the recent fall of India's Kingfisher Airlines, some analysts also predict that competition might soon move to India's aviation market instead.

Mr Francis said Etihad is in active negotiations to take a stake in Jet Airways and India is a very important market for Middle Eastern carriers.

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Premium airlines no longer have the cutting edge? One thing for sure is the emergence of these low-cost carriers have battered on the profits of the big boys so much so that they're creating their own brand of low-cost carriers to complement their routes on the premium side of business. 

The tide has changed, the future belongs to the low cost carriers as they're virtually recession-proof.