In just under a month, Singapore Airlines' subsidiary SCOOT is set to begin flying passengers between Athens and Berlin. From August 10th, the airline starts offering fifth freedom flights on the route, with prices cheaper than the incumbent LCCs already serving the connection.

Today marks the first day that Singapore Airlines will operate its fifth freedom route between Copenhagen and Rome with the Airbus A350-1000. However, another Singapore fifth freedom flight is coming to Europe, operated by the airline's lower-cost subsidiary, Scoot. In 25 days, the airline's Boeing 787s are set to start intra-European connections between Athens and Berlin.

What's the plan?

On Tuesday, August 10th, a Scoot Boeing 787 will arrive in Athens at 07:50 in the morning. Rather than returning to Singapore straight away, the aircraft will complete a much shorter hop up to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER), where it will remain for around an hour before heading back to Singapore via Athens once more. Departing from Singapore on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the flights are scheduled to operate as follows,

  • TR 722 - Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) 01:10 - Athens Airport (ATH) 07:50 - 11h40m
  • TR 722 - Athens Airport (ATH) 09:50 - Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) 11:50 - 03h00m
  • TR 723 - Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) 12:50 - Athens Airport (ATH) 16:50 - 03h00m
  • TR 723 - Athens Airport (ATH) 18:30 - Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) 10:30+1 - 11h00m
Scoot, Berlin, Fifth Freedom
The fifth freedom is an add-on to the airline's existing Athens flight. Photo: Cirium

Cheaper than Ryanair & easyJet

With the launch of the fifth freedom route, Scoot will be the cheapest carrier flying non-stop between Athens and Berlin. Let's just take the inaugural day, for example. On August 10th, there are four economy options to get between Athens and Berlin. (Prices shown as ATH-BER/BER-ATH)

  • Scoot will fly a Boeing 787  with tickets starting at €50/€51.
  • easyJet will fly an A320 family plane with prices from €99/€58.
  • Aegean will fly an A320 with tickets from €151/€57.
  • Ryanair will fly a Boeing 737 with tickets starting from €71/€59.

Each carrier's lowest fare doesn't include checked baggage, with Ryanair not even having a cabin-sized carry-on bag.

easyjet Ryanair
Several European trade unions plan to strike this month. Photo: Getty Images

What to expect onboard Scoot

According to data from ch-aviation.com, Scoot has 20 Boeing 787 Deamliners split equally between the -8 and -9. Scoot's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft have a range of seating options available. The cheapest standard seats are 18 inches wide, with a pitch of 31 inches. The Airline also offers "Super seats" for an additional charge with 34 inches of pitch.

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The airline's bulkhead seats are called stretch seats, costing slightly more than the super seats, but coming with the same legroom. The whole front section of the cabin is called the ScootinSilence quiet zone and is a silent cabin where children under the age of 12 cannot sit.

At the front of the plane, 3-3-3 becomes 2-3-2 in the airline's premium economy cabin, ScootPlus. Here the seats have a 38-inch pitch, with a width of 22 inches. These seats also recline six inches. These seats also come with included baggage, meals, power, and WiFi.

Who would you rather fly between Berlin and Athens with? Let us know what you think and why in the comments below!