News Republic is reporting that Singapore Airlines' new long-haul budget carrier Scoot's first route will be between Sydney and Singapore, throwing down the gauntlet to Qantas and Jetstar. Earlier this week, Qantas announced that it was shelving plans to develop an airline in Asia.
Scoot will begin flying from mid-2012 with a fleet of four Boeing B777-200s bought from parent company Singapore Airlines, and chief executive Campbell Wilson said a daily Sydney-Singapore flight will be their first service.
Singapore is a major Asian gateway for Qantas, which flies a number of its European routes through there.
The carrier will offer fares about 40 percent lower than the traditional airlines. While Scoot is a wholly owned Singapore Airlines subsidiary, it is independently managed and will focus on the medium and long-haul budget segment. It also plans to fly to China and have 14 planes by 2016, with longer-term destinations including India, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
