The subsidiary of Singapore Airlines also aims to attract demand with ticket giveaways and the opening of new routes. As China keeps in place its strict zero-Covid policy that has effectively banned cross-border travel, Scoot is pinning its hopes on Japan and Taiwan, which have decided to scrap travel restrictions.
In early September, a Boeing 787 whose hull is decorated with illustrations of the popular Pokemon character Pikachu carrying rainbow-colored balloons, as well as Lapras and other characters from the Japanese media franchise, took off from Singapore’s Changi Airport.
“Strategic partnership between Scoot and the Pokemon company is one year in the making. It is very timely to announce it because borders have started to reopen and it is time to reignite the passion for travel,” Scoot CEO Leslie Thng told media when the Pikachu Jet was unveiled.
On special Pokemon-themed flights, Pikachu can be found everywhere, from overhead bins to packaging of in-flight meals. Cabin crew play games and perform an original Pokemon dance to entertain passengers.
The jet debuted for Scoot on a round trip between Changi and Narita, followed by a flight to Incheon near Seoul. Scoot initially planned to fly the jet on two return flights a month, but it announced on Oct 3 that it will add Taipei from November because the jet has proved popular with passengers. The aircraft is being used for other flights as well.
The carrier has teamed up with The Pokemon Co, which manages the Pokemon brand and is an equity method affiliate of Japanese game maker Nintendo, in a corporate social responsibility initiative aimed at reviving the airline and tourism industries.
The Pokemon Company has shouldered the expense of wrapping the jet with its new decorations, said to have cost about ¥100 million (US$688,000). Scoot’s expenses are limited to promotion, marketing and in-flight services, making the collaboration financially attractive for the budget airline.
Founded in 2012, Scoot is smaller than big regional low-cost carrier groups such as AirAsia of Malaysia and Indonesia’s Lion Air. It has survived the competition by having the international hub of Singapore as its base and by strengthening cooperation with the parent company.
However, recovery from the pandemic was particularly tough for Scoot. While rivals continued to operate domestic flights, the city-state carrier had to wait for border restrictions to be lifted before it increased capacity.
Demand for travel is growing in Singapore after the city-state began lifting entry restrictions in April. Hoping to harness this opportunity, the airline gave free air tickets to 10,000 passengers between June and August to mark its 10th anniversary.
Cabin crew drew lots to choose the winners of the giveaway tickets to entertain passengers during flights. Scoot had 620,000 passengers in August, up more than tenfold since January.
But its flight capacity as of August was down 36% from three years previously, mainly due to strict entry restrictions still being imposed by China, which accounted for 25% of Scoot’s transportation capacity before the pandemic.
“China is still not open but Scoot’s business model allows us to be nimble and flexible,” Thng told Nikkei.
Direct services to Narita, Osaka and Incheong are “additional capacity that replaced some of the networks that have been lost by China. When China eventually reopens, we will make sure that we have the resources to go back … in a big way,” he added.
Scoot launched its first direct flights between Singapore and Narita in August. Nonstop flights to and from Osaka were resumed with five per week in September but will be expanded to daily services from late October. In the winter schedule to be introduced in November, Scoot will operate daily flights to Sapporo, with some being the carrier’s first nonstop flights to the northern Japanese city.
Japan has been a popular destination among Southeast Asian tourists. The government’s decision to lift the daily cap on overseas arrivals from Oct 11 is expected to result in a surge in demand.
Scoot will also operate more flights to Taiwan, which scrapped pandemic-related restrictions on Oct 13.
As for China, the carrier aims to get ahead of the curve, speculating that the country will gradually reopen its border. Scoot resumed flights to Fuzhou and increased the number of flights to Nanjing in September. It has also announced the resumption of services to Hangzhou, Zhengzhou and Wuhan in October as it speeds up preparations for the first busy year-end holiday season in three years.