Scoot to launch Melbourne-Singapore Boeing 787 flights

Singapore Airlines' low-cost offshoot Scoot will begin Boeing 787 flights between Melbourne and Singapore next year, going head to head with Qantas' budget carrier Jetstar.

The five times a week service will begin from  November 1st, 2015.

“We’ve heard loud and clear the demands of Scoot to fly to Melbourne, and we’re delighted to finally be able to answer them,” Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson said.

“Melbourne, with its world-class culture, events, dining and surrounding scenery has long been on our radar and the arrival of our new Boeing 787s gives us the chance to add it to our network."

Scoot already flies to Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast, and will take dleivery of its first Boeing 787 later this month.

Scoot has 20 Dreamliners on order, split into ten of the original Boeing 787-8 and ten of the larger, longer-range 787-9.

The airline will receive only Boeing 787-9s until the middle of 2015, at which point the first of 10 smaller 787-8s will arrive.

Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson believes the 787s will gives Scoot the flexibility to launch new routes, or add more flights to existing routes, where economics might not favour the larger and less fuel-efficient Boeing 777.

"They're operationally interchangeable so there's no efficiency impact, but the different capacities open more options with respect to network and deployment" Wilson said.

Scoot joins Jetstar as one of the low-cost carriers stumping for the Boeing 787, based on its reduced running costs via lower fuel consumption and longer time between major maintenance checks.

"The economic advantages of this later generation aircraft – including a fuel-burn saving of around 20% per seat – ensure that costs and thus airfares can be kept low so that more people can travel more often" Wilson promised.

Scoot's Boeing 787-9 will be kitted out with 35 'all-leather' premium seats in ScootBiz class, arranged in a 2-3-2 layout.

Each features include an extendable leg-rest and a 'cradle' recline position.

There'll also be AC power sockets for every traveller.

The bulk of the bird will of course be given over to a sea of 340 economy seats in a 3-3-3 configuration, for a total head count – or should that be bum count – of 375.

Pleasingly, all seats from tip to tail will enjoy access to AC power and "streaming Internet connectivity."

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David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.