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Tuesday 1 November 2011

Singapore Airlines subsidiary low cost airline named Scoot.......





Singapore Airlines have recently unveiled it's latest subsidiary low cost airline. And, well....It's named SCOOT. Not sure about the name though, but i feel that it's about time that Singapore Airlines have a better version of Budget carriers to rival the likes of JetStar and AirAsia.


B777-200 Scoot Livery (Pictures from Scoot.com)
I think that the corporate color scheme is gonna be yellow and it will look something like this picture above on their livery. Looks like a cartoon plane to me!. But it's still early days though. Maybe they would change the design and come up with something non cartoonish. They recently have appointed new Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson to spearhead it's vision into the low cost air travel market.

We chose the name ‘Scoot’ for many reasons, not least because it‘s different. Rather than the tried and tired “airlines” this, “airways” that or “air” yawn, it’s short, sharp and snappy. It stands out.
Mr Campbell Wilson,
Scoot CEO
Scoot's gonna be using former SQ's B777-200

Hmmm....Seems reasonable enough. But when it begins to much fanfare next year, i hope that this really picks off like AirAsia and be a dominant player in low cost air travel!

Scoot’s contemporary, down-to-earth philosophy behoves us to be online from day one. The current presence is simple but as we develop, our presence and transactional capabilities will progressively develop along with us
Mr Campbell Wilson,
Scoot CEO
They’re coming in 2012 to bring you a new travel experience. They’ll eventually start with a fleet of Boeing 777s (former SQ planes) and a safety, security and operational DNA reflecting our heritage. And they plan to be much more different from the other low cost carriers. So do log on to their web page or you can like them on Facebook too. You can send suggestions, ideas or anything that you want to see in the new Scoot. You can link to their website by clicking on http://flyscoot.com/.

Monday 31 October 2011

Back to Singapore from Hong Kong on Singapore Airlines...



This post covers my journey from Hong Kong to Singapore on SQ. As i had taken the incoming flight from singapore on SQ's latest A380, this time i booked an earlier timing instead of waiting for another 2 hours for the A380 which was scheduled to depart at 1730hrs. 4 days spent in hong Kong was truly amazing and awesome, food was damn good and so was the ease of getting from point A to point B. Pretty much reminded me of Singapore. Transportations like the MTR, public buses, trams are so efficient but what i don't like is that Hong Kong is so densely populated and if you ever fly above Hong Kong, you'll see many buildings being built close together and they have to build them high too!


Check out time was 1pm, as i extended it cause my flight was only gonna be at 1500hrs. Once checked out, took the hotel shuttle bus to the Airport Express Town Check-In Station. Proceeded to the SQ check in counter and seems like no one was there, as most of them are checking in at the airport instead. Check in was efficient, didn't wait too long. After about 5 minutes, we received out boarding passes and then took the lift down to the Airport Express Train Station. It's just located at Basement level as there are lifts going down directly. Had to top up $150HKD to my Octopus Card for the train ride. Waiting time for train takes about 15-20 minutes and the traveling time takes about 25-30 minutes into the HKIA.
Hotel JEN
Hotel JEN entrance
The hotel's shuttle bus that runs hourly
Airport Express Town Station and Check-In
Waiting for the train
Reminds me of City Hall MRT station

Yup, it's SQ!


HKIA
Departure Hall
After reaching HKIA, got thru customs and immigrations very efficiently and we headed to Popeyes Restaurant. Popeyes in Hong Kong International Airport are the only Halal certified fast food chain there. Only bought  large fries for the time being to cure my afternoon hunger as i didn't want to eat a full lunch before flight. I wished that i had applied for the Priority Pass earlier before making this trip. That membership really is useful as you could go to the designated CIP Lounges that are available at major airports globally. Imagine, somebody greeting you at the door and welcoming you into the lounge. Taking a break on a large comfy sofa, while munching on the snacks and sipping on a cup of Cappuchino while awaiting to board! Now that's the 'high' life i should say...hehe.

Popeyes
China Airlines A340-500 loading up
Dragon Air A330 parked at gate with Cathay Pacific in the background
SQ 863 B777-300ER to Singapore

Destination : Singapore
From : Hong Kong
Flight : Singapore Airlines
Flight no: SQ 863
ETD : 1505
ETA : 1835
Aircraft Type : Boeing 777-300ER
Class : Economy
Seat no :  51J, 51K

Boarding announcements are made at 1430hrs and the business class and priority passengers are allowed boarding first followed by families with children and then Economy passengers. At the door of the plane was greeted by 2 lovely Singapore Girls addressing me by my last name and wished me a good afternoon. As i made my way down the aisle, managed to snap a the Business class seats along the way! As we were seated and buckled up, the crew began handing out hot towels and some welcome drinks for that signature SQ service standards! Not many airlines would serve you welcome drinks and hot towels.Captain welcomed us on board and did the usual stuff like informing the travel time, speed, altitude and other info.

Business Class
Economy Class
9" inch IFE screen powered by KrisWorld
Passengers boarding and steward attending to queries

View of planes from cabin
Luggage being loaded up
Push back and ready to taxi towards runway
Waiting for clearance for take off
Speeding down the runway
Taking off
Ascending into the skies
Beautiful blue skies with little clouds



Somewhere above South China Sea
My Muslim Meal that i have pre booked
Cucumber and Yellow capsicum salad with Cherry tomato
I arranged the tray making it look more tidier and neat for photo taking
SQ logos on cutleries
Dessert was given a cup of Haagen Daaz Ice cream



Encountered some turbulence along South China Sea near Malaysia
Watching episodes of The Simpsons to pass the time
Over Malaysia

Meals were served about an hour after taking off and i pre booked the Muslim Meal. The meals served on the incoming flight from Singapore was not that good as i had a hard time chewing my mutton! This time i was served Mutton Masala and Peas with Basmati White Rice. This time they got it right on the tenderness and flavor of the mutton! Melts in your mouth as i happily tucked into my meal and leaving no prisoners behind! One of the best inflight meal i had on SQ. The dessert served was a small cup of Haagen Daaz Ice cream. Vanilla ran out so had to settle for Cookies and Cream. After a heavy meal, what a better way to cool it all down with an excellent brand of ice cream.  Halfway in the flight, we encountered some minor turbulences over South China Sea near Malaysia. Other than that , the flight was uneventful. Watched the whole episodes of the Simpsons for an hour and a half.

If you are coming from western Malaysian Coast, you can see this bridge
Changi Coastline
Over Changi Beach
Landed
B777-200 being unused due to the low flight demands
Taxi to gate
Parked at gate and disembarking
Total flight time took about 3 hours and 10 minutes, rather early than expected time arrival. Landing was smooth and within minutes, we were already at the gate ready to disembark. Overall flight experience on SQ was good. I would fly Singapore Airlines anytime but to certain destinations only, as their prices are much more expensive than other carriers such as Emirates, KLM or Qatar Airways. But still my heart lies with Emirates for overall inflight experience! Stay tuned for more trip reports and stories.....