Singapore Scoots back into Amritsar

Amritsar, May 23 (Punjab Post Bureuau) – Scoot Air, the no frills carrier of Singapore Airlines (SQ) flies into Amritsar with a, AirBus 787 dreamliner on 24May. It is the redemption of a lost connectivity since 2008 which has been the lament of Sikh pilgrims and tourists alike. SQ had stopped flights since they were not getting sufficient load for their business and first class sections (40% of their revenue model).

            Dilbir Foundation (DF) sat across with their officials in May 2012 under its Amritsar Tourism Outreach program. DF reiterated that their economy section did extremely well, so there was potential to revive through their low frill carrier Silk Air. However, during the discussions, they presented that perhaps it may be a better idea to look at the new no frill airline being floated by them which was getting brand new aircraft in the required economy configuration. Scoot Air was being launched on 04June 2012 with its first flight from Singapore to Sydney. A lunch meeting was set up with the CEO Campbell Wilson at Changi airport the next day. A power point presentation on Amritsar airport was given, alongwith data to support the Amritsar connection. Although at that juncture charters were the only possibility, but Amritsar definitely came back onto the radar, and a promise made.

            Apart from the fact that Scoot shall provide connections to Australia, China, HongKong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, it provides an opportunity for onward connections to the West coast Americas & Canada. Scoot Air has just become part of Value Alliance as well, that adds an extended dimension to the airline through convenient connect with Tiger Air, Nok Air, Virgin Australia, Silk Air and Singapore Airlines.

 The first Scoot Air flight lands on 24May at 1255PM after taking off from Singapore at 10AM (Flight duration 5 hrs 25 min). Priced at one way fares from USD 49 to USD 261, the airline offers an attractive fares to various destinations to the East. Return flight from Amritsar shall start at 1410hrs reaching Singapore 2215hrs. The present frequency will be thrice a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays. Said Gunbir Singh, President, DF, “The efforts to bring back Singapore Airlines have finally paid off albiet through their Scoot Air avatar. This opens out the entire eastern hemisphere to the holy city of Amritsar as well as Punjab. NRI Punjabi’s are delighted, and have been sending emails. The CEO of Scoot Air has also emailed to say that the efforts made by us since 2012 have eventually borne fruit. This is a handsome development indeed which shall benefit the city, pilgrims and Tourists alike .”