Singapore Airlines’ low-cost arm Scoot to launch flights to India soon

Scoot plans to operate from Chennai, Amritsar and Jaipur as part of its India entry plan.

Scoot Pte. Ltd, the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), is all set to land soon in three Indian cities including Chennai, making it the fourth carrier from the Southeast Asian nation to operate to the world’s fastest growing aviation market.

An announcement in this regard is likely to be made in a month, people with knowledge of the matter said. Besides parent SIA, two of its two subsidiaries Tiger Airways Singapore Pte. Ltd and SilkAir (Singapore) Pvt. Ltd also operate to India at present.

SIA also holds 49% stake in Indian full service carrier Vistara, in which Tata Sons Ltd is a majority stake holder with 51%.

“Scoot plans to operate from Chennai, Amritsar and Jaipur as part of its India entry plan. The airline is in the process of getting all mandatory approvals. A final announcement in this regard is expected to be made in the next couple of weeks,” one of the people said.

Like Singapore, airlines from Malaysia also have a significant presence in the Indian market. Apart from Malaysian Airlines, AirAsia, AirAsia X, Thai AirAsia and Air Malindo Air, all Malaysia-based carriers also fly to India.

In addition, AirAsia has 49% stake in AirAsia India, with Tata Sons holding 49% in this venture, besides others. Scoot is entering the Indian market at a time when domestic airlines’ body, Federation of Indian Airlines which has Jet Airways, SpiceJet, IndiGo and GoAir as its members, are urging the government not to allow creation of overseas hubs by foreign carriers.