Scoot to fly Dreamliners

SCOOT, the longhaul low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA), will acquire 20 Boeing 787 aircraft, with delivery commencing in 2014.

Originally ordered by SIA, the Dreamliners will replace Scoot’s Boeing 777-200 fleet and facilitate the expansion of its network, currently comprising Singapore, Sydney, Gold Coast, Bangkok, Taipei and Tianjin. Tokyo will be added to the list on October 29, and Shenyang and Qingdao in November.

Concurrently, SIA has placed a US$7.5 billion firm order for five Airbus A380-800s and 20 A350s, for delivery commencing in 2017.

SIA already operates 19 A380s and has firm orders in place for 20 A350s, for delivery from 2015. As with the earlier A350 order, the A350-900 variant has been selected for the 20 additional aircraft.

SIA CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said: “This major order will provide us with additional growth opportunities and is consistent with our policy of maintaining a young and modern fleet. It demonstrates our confidence in the strength of the market for premium full-service travel.”

As part of the deal, Airbus has agreed to acquire SIA’s five A340-500s, which will be removed from service in 4Q2013. This will result in the cessation of non-stop flights between Singapore and Los Angeles and between Singapore and Newark, in the absence of replacement aircraft in the SIA fleet with sufficient range and operating economics.

“Although disappointing that we will be halting these services, we remain committed to the US market. Over the past two years, we have increased capacity to Los Angeles and New York by deploying A380s on flights via Tokyo and Frankfurt. We will continue to explore additional options to enhance our US services,” said Goh.

With the new commitments, SIA will have firm purchase or lease orders in place with Airbus and Boeing for 68 new widebody aircraft, including 15 additional A330-300s and eight additional B777-300ERs ordered last year.

Sopurced: TTG Asia