With border restrictions relaxed, the budget arm of Singapore Airlines, Scoot, will restore its China network to more than half its pre-pandemic capacity by this June. Before the pandemic, the low-cost carrier operated an estimated 107 weekly flights to China, which will progressively increase from 14 weekly to 57 weekly.

Scoot will also be steadily resuming and increasing flight frequencies to other parts of its vast network to accommodate the increasing travel demands, significantly for Singapore's upcoming May-June school holidays. Besides China, other destinations include popular summer destinations like Australia, Greece, Indonesia, Japan, and Malaysia.

Ramping up flight services to China

From now until the end of Northern Winter 2022, which is around March 25th this year, Scoot will progressively increase its total flights to China from the existing 14-time weekly to approximately 26-times weekly. The budget carrier will step up frequencies to seven cities, including Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao, Tianjin, and Zhengzhou.

The ramped-up flight schedules for China will be as follows:

Get all the latest aviation news right here on Simple Flying!

Scoot's pace of resumption will continue into the Northern Summer, which spans from March 26th to October 28th this year, and will see the airline resume flights to Haikou, Ningbo, and Xi'an in April and will reinstate flight services to Nanning and Shentang in May.

All flight resumptions will see a frequency schedule of thrice weekly, and except for the Singapore-Shenyang route utilizing the Boeing 787, the other routes are expected to use the Airbus A320s. And by the end of June 2023, the airline's passengers can look forward to 57-times weekly flights to China.

Increased frequencies to other destinations

Besides paying plenty of attention to China, Scoot also pays equal attention to other parts of its network, beginning with the flight frequencies to Athens being increased to four times weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. As always, the airline's only widebody, the Boeing 787, will operate this route.

As for flight services to Sapporo through Taipei, the low-cost carrier will add a weekly flight to offer four times weekly on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends using the Boeing 787. The Singapore-Taipei-Tokyo route will also get an increased frequency of 12-times weekly and will operate using the Airbus A321neo and Boeing 787.

And closer to Singapore, Langkawi will see up to seven times weekly flight services using the Airbus A320s and Airbus A321neos. Manado will also see an increased presence of Scoot as the budget carrier enhanced the frequency of flights to four times weekly, using the Airbus A320s.

The Pikachu Jet remains a fan-favorite

After becoming the first Southeast Asian carrier to fly a 'Pikachu Jet' last year on September 9th with the launch of Pokémon Air Adventures, Scoot has noticed how well sought-after the special-livery bearing Boeing 787-9 has become, even after several months.

As the 'Pikachu Jet' becomes more popular, Scoot has been specially positioning the aircraft on some flight schedules across its Asia network, having already flown to Bangkok, Seoul via Tapei, and Tokyo. This month, the 'Pikachu Jet' returned with three flights to Bangkok, and will soon be positioned to operate to Seoul non-stop for the first time on February 24th as TR 842 and TR 843.

The aircraft's deployment to Bangkok will continue until March 15th, while the deployment to Seoul as a non-stop service will end on April 6th. Also happening within these two months is a return to Tokyo via Taipei and its inaugural non-stop visit to Taipei, both services beginning on March 24th. The 'Pikachu Jet' will also be deployed on the Singapore-Tokyo non-stop route on March 7th and April 19th.

Scaling back from the Gold Coast

Unfortunately, not every part of Scoot's network bears good news. After its last homebound flight on July 17th, the low-cost carrier will suspend all flight services to Gold Coast, and passengers with existing bookings will be notified of their options. Scoot is currently the only airline in Singapore to offer non-stop flight services to the Australian city.

The route currently operates on a four-times-weekly frequency, so the sudden decision to suspend is a shock. But according to the budget carrier, it was necessary to help optimize resources and accommodate other operational considerations, albeit these weren't specified.

We'd love to see you on Instagram - follow us here!

But despite the suspension, Australia will still get the attention it deserves from Scoot, as the airline will still operate 10 weekly flights each to Melbourne and Sydney. Perth will also see an enhanced frequency to 12 times a week from March 26th as part of the airline's effort to continue supporting connectivity between Australia, Singapore, and worldwide.

What do you think of Scoot suspending flight services to Gold Coast? Tell us in the comments below.