Fledgling airline Scoot has insisted it is trying to distance itself from parent carrier Singapore Airlines, as it claimed it had established a new market segment.
Chief executive Campbell Wilson told the Aviation Outlook conference in Sydney that Scoot had laid claim to the long-haul budget traveller market, which represents 26% of passengers through Singapore’s Changi Airport. The airline expects to profit as the segment grows.
“It doesn’t make sense for a premium carrier to try to be all things to all men, hence we are a purpose built, highly focused entity,” Wilson said.
Owned by Singapore Airlines yet independently managed, Scoot can choose from its parent’s suite of resources where it sees need or value.
“There are certain areas where it make sense for us to use our parent’s economies of scale – insurance, fuel purchasing, audit services, taxation services,” he said.
But Wilson pointed out the impracticalities of relying on the resources of a premium carrier.
“We don’t want to bring aboard some of those systems because it means we start looking like and acting like and having costs like a 110 aircraft fleet with only four,” Wilson said.
Scoot pays a fee to contract services from Singapore Airlines with almost everything else independent.
Competition between Singapore Airlines, Silk Air and Scoot for destinations is decided at a committee where each carrier presents their intended route.
“If there is any overlap or any conflict, the best business case is argued out and if there’s still conflict, the chief executive decides,” Wilson said.
