With an increasing number of LCCs jetting to longhaul destinations, travel agents in Singapore are now open to working with these budget flight options.
In June this year, Scoot launched direct flights to Athens. The airline will also be introducing seasonal direct flights to Sapporo in November, and a service to Honolulu via Osaka in December. Meanwhile, Norwegian Air recently began plying between Singapore and London on what is currently the world’s longest low-cost flight.
As a result, travel agents in Singapore have started working on longhaul packages with LCC options in mind, and TTG Asia understands that Scoot is currently in talks with a number of travel agents.
Trevor Spinks, Scoot’s head of sales and distribution, revealed that his team is working with travel agents that are offering leisure and tour packages to Australia, China, Greece and North Asia, as well as labour agents and pilgrimage agents.
He explained: “We work with key agents and consortium partners on short- and long-term sales initiatives, including offering private fares for packages, joint promotions and incentives to include Scoot prominently in their advertising.”
One of these agents is Chan Brothers Travel, which recently started including LCC flights in packages for destinations where there are such options.
For other destinations, the agency offers land-only packages – comprising airport transfers, hotel and attraction passes.
Meanwhile, EU Holidays recognises the significance of providing LCC options for the “young traveller and FIT” markets.
To cater to the LCC-loving crowd, EU Holidays has been rolling out FIT packages, as well as land-only versions of their regular packages for budget-conscious travellers, said its director, Wong Yew Hoong.
However, Wong noted that his customers still prefer full-cost carriers for longer flights.
He shared: “When it comes to longhaul trips to Europe and US – our speciality – customers always prefer travelling on a full-service airline as it is all-rounded in terms of providing comfort, meals, and luggage allowance.”
To increase collaboration with the trade, Scoot has been engaging new agents, actively collaborating with existing partners, improving ease of partnership, as well as raising awareness among agents on Scoot’s offerings, said Spinks.
- reporting live from ITB Asia
