LCC Scoot, which has been operating short-, medium- and long-haul flights for five years, has expanded its seat volume to a third of Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) economy inventory, and overtaken the group’s regional carrier SilkAir.
This is based on the number of seats offered by each carrier, as compiled by industry consultancy OAG.
The Straits Times in Singapore reported that this year, Scoot will offer nearly 7.5 million seats – more than thrice than in 2014 – while SilkAir will offer just over six million seats, marking a 25 per cent increase in the same time.
Conversely, SIA’s inventory will shrink by some three per cent compared to 2014, reaching 21.3 million seats this year. Meanwhile, the airline has been increasing the number of its business class seats by about 5.8 per cent.
This has been compounded with the recently revamped Airbus 380 aircrafts, in which SIA retrofitted premium economy seats and installed business-class seats that can be converted into seats for couples.
With this, market observers surmise that SIA’s strategy is to focus on the premium sector.
Still, SIA chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong asserted that the carrier will continue to compete in the economy.
The expansion of premium economy cabins is meant to attract customers willing to pay for seats between business and economy class, reported The Straits Times.
