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Scoot Double Inaugural Trip Report: Osaka Kansai & Kaohsiung

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  • Scoot Double Inaugural Trip Report: Osaka Kansai & Kaohsiung

    Scoot Double Inaugural Trip Report: Osaka Kansai & Kaohsiung


    Scoot has really bean in the news lately, despite for the wrong reasons. However I think doing an inaugural flight should be safe enough, and when Scoot announces its plan for Kaohsiung and Osaka in April, I kept my eyes out. Scoot is in the midst of a transition to an all-787 fleet, and currently, 5 787-9s are already in the fleet with one more 787-9 and four more 787-8s delivery in the coming months. All these 787s cause Scoot a bit of transitional issues, but these Dreamliners will allow Scoot a new wave of expansion. The original plan announced in April was to start a thrice-weekly flight from Singapore to Sapporo Chitose airport (CTS) via Bangkok Don Mueang Airport (DMK), and then a thrice-weekly flight from Singapore to Osaka Kansai (KIX) via Kaohsiung (KHH). All the new flights will be operated by the new 787-9s. But when the schedule was finalized in late May, the plan to fly to Sapporo was cancelled and all six flights were destined for Osaka Kansai. It is interesting to note that it does not launch a nonstop flight, but rather these one-stop flights by taking advantage of these fifth freedom rights. I presume that this tactic is to avoid competing with its mother company Singapore Airlines directly, and these fifth freedom rights provide some additional traffic at these popular intermediate points and to expand beyond the small Singapore markets. Both Taiwanese and Thai tourists love Osaka, and Kaohsiung is a major airport located in the Southern part of Taiwan, which is experiencing a LCC expansion. Tigerair Taiwan and other major Taiwanese airlines have been expanding from Kaohsiung too with flights to Southeast Asia and Japan. Peach and Vanilla Air have both served Kaohsiung for a while now. Air Asia will begin a thrice-weekly flight to KLIA beginning July 16. Since I was going to be in Taiwan for two weeks travelling with two of my friends, I decided to take a short side trip to fly these inaugural flights. After working out a few scenarios, I settled in flying to DMK first, which has an affordable and convenient on-site airport hotel, and then flew the DMK to KIX on July 8. Then I stayed overnight at Osaka Kansai (and even made a detour to Oita in the morning) and flew the return inaugural from Osaka Kansai to Kaohsiung, and then took the high-speed rail HSR back to Taipei.

    July 8, 2015
    TZ 298 DMK-KIX Lv0825 Arr1550 Boeing 787-9 9V-OJE “Maju-Lah”/ Singapore’s 50th anniversary livery

    Photo Album:
    http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...ugural07082015

    Check-in:
    Similar to my NokScoot’s experience, check-in area at the Don Mueang Airport was crowded and no one was patrolling the area and guiding people to the right lane. Aisle 7 was busy this morning with both NokScoot’s own flight to Singapore, and Scoot’s inaugural flight to Osaka Kansai. Thankfully compared to NokScoot’s low profile and forgettable inaugural flight, Scoot’s inaugural flight to Osaka was definitely a more high profile one, and the flight was doing well load wise, as the area was really busy. There was a ScootBiz and paid priority check-in line. However, there was a party in front of me, who was taking much time, as they had to pay extra for their additional luggage. The security agent finally stepped in 15 minutes later and asked the other agent to check me in. The agent unfortunately spoke little English and was having trouble with my passport. She had to call for the supervisor. Ground service is definitely on the weak side, and with NokScoot’s ambitious plan, I don’t think their staffs are quite ready for an expansion and dealing with a variety of international tourists.





    Four NokScoot F/As were hired to celebrate this inaugural flight, and there were multiple opportunities for photo time. They even asked people to post them in social media with a specific hashtag #ScoottoOsaka. At the check-in area, there was a huge cardboard celebrating the new flight, and it is nice to see some enthusiasm about the new flight.




    A t-shirt was also given to all the inaugural flights’ passengers, which was nice – better than nothing! For a LCC, this is a fairly nice gesture.


    Immigration and security were quiet this morning and thankfully I made it to the viewing area before the inbound flight arrived.

    I spotted the first NokScoot’s Boeing 777 HS-XBA “Pride” – heading to Singapore this morning




  • #2


    9V-OJE, a fresh delivered Boeing 787-9 named “Maju-Lah” and painted in Singapore’s 50th anniversary livery, was used on this inaugural flight. My flight was the aircraft’s fourth commercial flight. It had only done a quick evening roundtrip to Bangkok the day before.













    Gate:
    Gate 24 was our gate this morning, and there were signs that reminded everyone today’s special occasion. The four F/As came back to the gate with more mobile cardboards and I of course had to take part. These cardboards were taken to Osaka, as there were some Scoot’s staffs joining us in this flight.

    Comment


    • #3


      Note that there are two boarding lanes: one for transit passengers and one for new passengers boarding at DMK.


      About the transit procedure, all SIN-KIX passengers had to deplane at DMK, and went through another security check. When boarding was called at 7:50am, there were almost no transit passengers. I only saw them streaming into the plane around 8:15am. I guess today was the first day, so the Thai staffs at DMK were struggling a bit with handling all these transit passengers. Plus DMK does not really handle many transit passengers, as it is not a hub for any major Thai airlines.

      Boarding:
      As I said earlier, boarding began at 7:50am and passengers with disability and need assistance were boarded first, followed by ScootBiz and those passengers, who paid for priority boarding. Things were fairly quiet so I managed to snap a few pictures of the ScootBiz and the quiet section behind ScootBiz. My first impression of the Scoot’s Dreamliner cabin was very good, as there were more spaces than their high-density 777-200s. The ceiling was higher and even economy looked less cramped. For a low cost carrier, it is a nice configuration.

      Cabin shots prior to boarding
      Main economy section – regular seat pitch is 31”.


      Bulkhead row of economy behind door two – Row 11 – 11HJK


      You immediately noticed the large window on the Dreamliner, too!


      ScootBiz – it is basically a premium economy section.






      Comment


      • #4
        Economy – Quiet Section with stretch seats






        Since there were delays with the transit passengers, I took a few picture of the updated ScootBiz seat.

        Seat:
        My seat 1K


        Once again, ScootBiz is in reality a premium economy product and this seat reminds me of domestic first class seats used by US airlines with slightly more legroom. You can’t even compare this seat with some of the newer generation of premium economy seats, but this seat reminds me of EVA Air’s elite class on its Boeing 777-300ERs with similar recline and legrest. Unlike 777s, the bulkhead seats were actually quite comfortable, but if you choose Row 1, you only get one window. The legroom seems to have expanded a bit, compared to their older 777s, and I feel like that it might be 40, instead of 38. There were also finally individual power ports for each seat, instead of two seats sharing one power port on the 777s. The call and light button control is still on the side, but they build in an enclave, so your thigh won’t hit those buttons easily. The seats have adjustable headrests and lumbar support was fairly good. However the leg rest is little use for me, as there is no extended leg rest. Recline is okay. For a daytime flight and regional flights, they are fairly comfortable, but not sure if this seat will be any good for these redeye Singapore to Australia flights. Nonetheless, I am fairly pleased with the new ScootBiz cabin of the Dreamliners and just hope that 787-8 cabin will be similar.

        Scoot puts five rows of ScootBiz seats arranged in seven-abreast, which totals 35 seats, but we only have one single bathroom, to be shared with the cockpit crews. I feel that they really need a second bathroom. Plus the economy bathrooms are all the way back at door 3. When I asked the F/As if I could use the bathroom in the back, they told me they were all the way in the back and if I was in a hurry, I should wait here and the F/As were very kind and would approach me if the bathroom opened up. I understand that Scoot is a LCC, but if you are selling a semi-premium product, there should be an extra bathroom. I am sure your crews will appreciate it too.

        Power outlets


        Recline and leg rest buttons



        Tray table in the middle armrest:


        Comment


        • #5
          Seat pocket for bulkhead row – new design and they can hold more reading materials and even a regular sized bottled water


          Seat in recline position





          Economy cabin of Scoot is no different from other major, charter, and LCC 787 operators. The only exception is Japan Airlines. Scoot’s economy offers 31 inches of legroom for its regular economy cabin, which is no different from British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, and United Airlines, who also feature 9 abreast, 17.3” wide seats, and 31” of legroom. They are definitely more comfortable than the 17” wide seats on the 777-200s that Scoot is fading out. The move to 787s is a good one and for a LCC, their Y seats are actually okay, or at least comparable to some of the major full service 787 operators.

          Departure:
          The F/As were really great today and were in celebratory mood. I was quite relieved because the same crew would work the return inaugural flight to Kaohsiung the next day. Pre-water cups were handed out, and Scoot really could go for more proper bottled waters like Air Asia X. Scoot’s PR team could even use those bottled waters to do advertising. These water cups look cheap, not to mention easy to spill.

          Water cups


          Our scheduled departure time of 8:25am quickly came and went, and the pilot finally stepped in and made an announcement by first welcoming everyone on this inaugural flight, and explaining that there was a delay because of issues with boarding, and our new scheduled time was 9am. Also due to weather and typhoon in the Taiwan area, we had to take a longer routing today and our flight time was estimated to be five hours and thirty-five minutes. He would try to catch up some time after takeoff, but there would be some light to moderate chops once we got closer to the typhoon zone. He also kindly advised everyone to put their seat belts on throughout the flight, and the F/As would have to be seated, as we got closer to the typhoon zone. I saw NokScoot ground crews running around the plane, as I later found out that there were some duplicate seats because the reservation system suffered some technical issues, which they issue duplicate seats for both SIN-KIX and DMK-KIX passengers. The fact that our flight was very full did not help, but some lucky passengers got upgraded to the quiet zone, and some Scoot employees got an upgrade to ScootBiz to accommodate the duplicate seat reservations. In the end, there were only six empty seats in ScootBiz, and economy was almost all full. For an inaugural flight, this was beyond impressive, and you could see the potential for Thailand to Japan market. With the continued fiasco of the ICAO’s impending Thailand downgrade, NokScoot will possibly have to rely on its sister company to help build up brand recognition and market share on the expanding Thailand to Japan market. But this ground experience also told me that the NokScoot ground staffs are not quite ready yet and this will be a difficult learning curve for them.

          After conducting many headcounts, door was finally closed at 9:10am and we quickly pushed back three minutes later.



          We took off from R/W21L at 9:28am.


          View of DMK


          Flight information:
          Our pilots managed to catch up some times and our final flying time was five hours and twenty-two minutes. Our routing took us towards Ayuttay and Nakhon Nayok before climbing to 37,000 feet. Then we headed towards Kuleaen, Chhaeb, Hay, and Pleiku before entering South China Sea. We climbed to 39,000feet before reaching the Okinawa Islands. We passed Naha and Higashi before heading straight towards the Kii Channel and straight in approach towards Osaka Kansai airport.

          Service:
          Here are all the brochures and magazines for Scoot! There are multiple promo leaflets for duty free goods and their new WIFI services, as well as the safety card, Scoot Bits, Duty free catalog, and in-flight magazine.

          Comment


          • #6


            WIFI – one of the new features and I paid for a three hours session. I did tests on the speed twice!


            First test on the middle of the South China Sea


            Second test after we passed the Okinawa Islands


            I used my iPhone6 and could assess twitter, Instragram, and flightradar24 easily, but had little issues with Facebook. I was able to post pictures in both twitter and instragram, but of course it took a bit longer than at home. In general, JetBlue fly-fi is better, but you can’t compare that to an international service. It is great to have this option, but if you want to work or require lots of memory/storage, you will be disappointed. Maybe some emails and social media things here and then, but nothing intensive, like retrieving big files or watching youtube.

            Food:
            Menu








            Each ScootBiz passenger is entitled to one complimentary regular meal (hot entrée, full-sized salad & sandwiches) and one complimentary alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverage on all flights, regardless of the length of the flight. You can upgrade your main meal to a premium meal for 125THB, which is about USD$3-4. There is a set premium meal on each flight, but only one choice of entrée. Both my flights feature the same teriyaki chicken with steamed rice option. Compared to regular hot meals, Premium meal features a better entrée – not a straightforward frozen dinner entree, but more normal economy class entrée, and there are two side dishes – one appetizer and Haagen Dazs Ice cream. For today’s flight, the entrée was lukewarm and the rice was of a strange texture. Thankfully the chicken and the vegetables were edible. The coleslaw starter was just disgusting and not sure if it could be described as “deluxe”. It really tasted like some leftover vegetables tossed with a vinaigrette dressing. A plain green salad or potato salad will be nicer. The ice cream cup is perhaps the best component. To be honest, I really don’t mind paying for an upgrade meal, but can Scoot at least get it right? I will even pay more upgrade fee to get a full business class meal option. I am sure the premium meals will be more popular if Scoot offers more choices. Regardless of the future, this current premium meals need some improvement with maybe a simple and fresher green salad, and I wonder if a bread roll (even to plastic wrapped one) is not offered. Those are really basic items that you expect on a typical economy class meal.

            Photo of the premium meal:

            Comment


            • #7







              Coke Zero – BRO


              Followed by the first service, there was a duty free run. Then we hit a bit of turbulence, but nothing too crazy. However the crews remained seated for a while.

              Some scenery along the flight – things finally cleared up, as we got closer to Okinawa!


              Second service began around 12:55pm Thailand local time/2:55pm Japan local time. Given my previous unpleasant experiences with immigration at Kansai, I really needed a hearty snack, as there might be a significant wait at the immigration line. My original first choice was the ham and cheese croissants, which they ran out during their first service. The only sandwich left was the teriyaki beef wrap, which I had before. The F/A recommended hot meals, and then I requested a hot meal and my choice was beef casserole. There was a combo meal option with a bar of Toblerone chocolate and a choice of Coca Cola or Green Tea. I asked if I could get Coke Zero, but was told no. So I just got a side order of orange juice. The beef casserole dish tasted exactly like your regular television dinner, and I definitely preferred the creamy pasta with chicken sausage to this beef casserole dish. I really miss the old days when Scoot allows passengers to pre-book a second meal. On a long flight from DMK to KIX (not to mention SIN-SYD/OOL/MEL), you will most likely need to order a second meal anyway.




              Comment


              • #8
                As it was a common theme on all my past Scoot’s flight, the onboard food and duty free sales closed early – more than an hour ahead of landing time. At least they warned you fifteen minutes ahead now. I guess the F/As needed time to count the stocks, especially it looks like that they carry all the catering for all four segments from Singapore. I don’t see any catering truck at DMK or KIX.



                On descent:



                It got a bit cloudy again, as we got closer to Osaka. We landed on R/W6L at 4:50pm, and there was a bit of light rain. The pilot had already told passengers that there would be a water canon salute, but the window started to get fog up. Outside of the cargo area, we got a proper water cannon salute. Sorry for the poor pictures, but since there was a team of photographers in the cargo tarmac, I am sure that you will soon see some professional pictures of the water canon salute. I know it wastes water, but a water canon salute is cool.

                Water Canon Salute




                We parked at gate 27 at South Wing ten minutes later. The F/As turned on the rainbow mode light and I snapped a few pictures, as we were waiting for the jet bridge to be attached to the plane.





                9V-OJE at Osaka Kansai


                Some of the scenes for the inaugural flight back to DMK and SIN!



                Here is a link to an article (in Japanese) talking about the inaugural flight to DMK and SIN!
                http://www.aviationwire.jp/archives/64675

                Unfortunately the flight ended in a rather nightmare immigration experience at Kansai. After flying in and out of Kansai so many times, the situations were always bad, and the only time that I got through within 15 minutes was a late night flight from Seoul to Kansai, and most passengers were Japanese heading home. The problem was compounded with first, Scoot did not load enough Japan immigration forms/custom declaration, and so many of the passengers had to scramble to fill them out at the already busy immigration halls. Second the hall than ran out of the forms, and it was obvious that they did not expect 300 plus passengers without immigration forms. The line was just so long for the foreigners’ line, as there were only four lanes opened. The Japanese citizen line would receive some foreigners from time to time, but the hall got really busy once both the Emirates and Qatar flights arrived. Our plane parked at gate 27 at 5pm and I exited immigration at 6:22pm, and bags were already offloaded from the flight and lined up in the baggage claim. Thankfully the custom line was short and I finally exited the airport at 6:30pm – a full 90 minutes. Kansai airport is just not ready for all these additional flights, and with the low exchange rate and MERS outbreak in South Korea, Osaka becomes an even more popular destination. Honestly even with all eight foreigners’ lanes opened, the wait would still be 20 to 30 minutes, but at least it was acceptable. Plus the WIFI reception was just bad in the immigration hall. But I had to give credits to all those children in the crowded immigration hall, as they were mostly calm and there was no crying at all.

                Comment


                • #9
                  For the return flight, I honestly did not expect much because most of the celebrations would have taken place a day earlier. I was apparently wrong, and there were actually some forms of celebration too for the inaugural to Kaohsiung. The return flight also went smoother, as the crews already sort of knew me and they were less hassled and more rested after a day at Osaka.

                  July 9, 2015
                  TZ 287 KIX-KHH Lv1615 Arr1855 Boeing 787-9 9V-OJE “Maju-lah”/Singapore 50th Anniversary livery

                  Photo album:
                  http://s1213.photobucket.com/user/Ca...ugural07092015

                  Scoot uses South terminal for check-in, and uses the last aisle – Aisle H. Japan Airlines is Scoot’s hired ground agent, and the check-in area looks very organized with separate lanes for economy and ScootBiz/Priority boarding passengers. It was obviously not a full flight, but the load looked pretty healthy for a return inaugural flight. However I noticed that most passengers were Taiwanese and there were not many Japanese passengers. There was little wait in ScootBiz lane, but the JAL agents were not familiar with the airlines’ procedures, especially dealing with ScootBiz, which had different rules. She weighed my roller suitcase, which was 9kg, and insisted that I checked it in. It is true that economy has a 7kg carryon limit, but if you fly ScootBiz, your limit is raised to 15kg. ScootBiz passengers can carry two pieces of carry on baggage too. With the slow WIFI speed at the airport, I was not able to pull up the information till the check-in was completed. I immediately notified the supervisor manning the lanes, and once she read the information on my phone, she immediately apologized. She offered to get my baggage back, but I told her that it was fine because Kaohsiung is a small port and wait for bags is usually short. Nonetheless I wanted the supervisor to know about the different baggage allowance for ScootBiz passengers, so the same agents would not make the same mistakes. Some passengers might not be as easy going as me, and plus, it was their second day of operation, and the agents were still all new to the Scootitude and Scoot’s experience.

                  Here is the check-in at Aisle H:




                  I also received a lucky draw ticket to win some prizes at the gate. I was advised to be at the gate by 3:30pm.


                  Once again, I saw this long line of people waiting to go through security check. I was surprised because it was their relatively quiet time, but once I got through the wall, I noticed that only two lanes were opened initially, and there was no relief till a third lane was opened. It took 15 minutes to go through the security checkpoint.





                  After buying a few items at the duty free shop, I headed to gate 27 in the South Wing. The Scoot agents were setting up the stage for the inaugural flight, and it was nice to see this setup!







                  Inaugural postcard

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    The symbolic Flying Scoot Girl


                    The final setup


                    Interesting plane spotting


                    Things were busy at the gate, as there was another flight heading to Taichung departing next door at the same time.
                    To my surprise, Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) used its MD-83 B-28011 for this Taichung flight. This particular plane was a 1983 built model, which served a short time with the defunct Compass Airlines of Australia before flying for FAT.




                    I have already tracked the inbound flight, which was running late because of the detour around the weather, strong headwind, and a late start from Kaohsiung. But the celebratory seemed to distract the passengers from the delays, and the lucky draws made many Taiwanese passengers happy. They handed out five prizes, which included three 5000JPY vouchers, as well as a pair of roundtrip ticket from Kansai to Kaohsiung and another pair from Kansai to Singapore.

                    Lucky Draw time


                    People were happy, and soon the special Singapore’s 50th anniversary painted Dreamliner landed shortly before 4pm and parked at the gate.

                    9V-OJE “Maju-lah” again with Singapore’s 50th anniversary livery





                    Comment


                    • #11



                      The return crew had already arrived at the airport, and they did a few photo rounds.


                      Then they also waved hello to the inbound passengers, and from the stream of people exiting from the plane, it looked like a pretty full flight coming from Kaohsiung, too. They waved to their colleagues working on this inaugural flight via Kaohsiung.

                      The turnaround was fairly speedy and the agents reminded everyone to remember to pick up their gift bags in the jet bridge after boarding was commenced. Boarding began at 4:40pm and ScootBiz passengers were welcomed to board first. I was the first one to board again, and there were a line of Scoot employees thanking passengers for the business, and the familiar crews welcomed me by name once I stepped onboard. I made another attempt in taking a better shot of the economy cabin.




                      ScootBiz cabin was fairly full today with mostly Taiwanese passengers. They looked like that they came from a Taiwanese tour group, who was testing out the new product. They were already aware that they only got a free hot meal and one free beverage, and all other items were paid only.




                      I chose 3A on this flight, so I could see how a non-bulkhead seat felt. It was actually okay, but I would stick with the bulkhead seat so I did not need to climb over another person to go to the bathroom. ScootBiz cabin tends to be full, especially on those Australia bound flights.


                      Legroom shot


                      Notes that there is no individual air vent on the overhead panel!


                      Once again, the familiar pre-takeoff water cup…


                      Here is a picture of the inaugural flight gift bag – Scoot’s sticker, baggage tag, and a few souvenirs from the Osaka airport authority. Nothing extraordinary, but nice for aviation enthusiasts like myself! I of course would love a first flight certificate, but I was more than satisfied with the T-shirt on the inbound and the Scoot sticker/baggage tag.

                      Comment


                      • #12


                        Door was closed at 4:54pm and the pilot apologized for the late departure, but due to our shorter flying time of two hours and thirty-five minutes, we should arrive Kaohsiung almost on time.

                        We pushed back at 5:02pm and headed towards R/W24L.

                        Many people in the observation deck should be happy to see this flight using R/W24L.




                        We took off at 5:12pm, and here were a few shots after takeoff.



                        Flying time was two hours and forty-three minutes and we stayed at 43,000 feet during most of the flight. We made a few turns after taking off from Kansai and headed towards Awaji, and then Mima, followed by Kochi, Susaki, and Sukumo Bay. We then passed Takaharu, Kobayashi, Kagoshima Airport, Aira, and Mount Noma, before entering the East China Sea. We descended towards 30,000ft just before entering the Taiwanese coast. We passed Jinshan, Wagu/Taipei, Taichung, Beimen, and Jiangjun. We basically stayed along the West coast of Taiwan before turning back towards Kaohsiung airport.

                        Service was similar to the inbound flight. My premium meal was exactly the same, but the rice tasted worst this time, as they had been on the plane for a long period of time. I personally just wish that they would serve a different dish for each segment. In the end, I ordered a cup noodles too, but was disappointed to see this cheap brand, instead of the Nissan brand featured on the menu. It still costs SGD$5.






                        Reclined seat in Row 5 – just want to show a recline seat on the non-bulkhead row!



                        A few more shot along the flight…

                        Comment


                        • #13



                          After duty free service, there was a formal award ceremony for the five passengers, who won the coupons and tickets during boarding. They were definitely taking many pictures possible for social media use in the future. The pilot was also there to thank passengers (don’t worry, there were two other pilots on this flight), and two additional passengers got to win two SGD50 coupons by answering two questions: What is the name of the plane? And what’s the name of this aircraft that we are flying?



                          Service was closed at 6:51pm Japan time/5:51pm Taiwan time and the crew took their cell phones and selfie stick back in the cabin. They were taking many pictures with passengers and crews through both ScootBiz and economy cabin. For the later Kaohsiung to Singapore flight, passengers might want to rest due to the late evening departure.

                          Descent began at 7:21pm and here were some of the pictures I took as we cruised along the Taiwanese east coast.




                          We landed on R/W27 at 6:55pm and parked at gate 32 five minutes later.

                          Here is a photo of 9V-OJE at Kaohsiung.


                          I noticed that EVA Air is the ground handler for Scoot in Kaohsiung, and there were two agents directing passengers to the transit security checks for the onward flight to Singapore. It looked fairly simple. I only spotted one ScootBiz passenger (a Japanese) going through the transit security check.


                          Immigration was quiet, as the China Southern’s Wuhan flights had arrived almost thirty minutes again, and there were some cancellations with Hong Kong due to typhoon that evening. Immigration took less than five minutes, and the first bag showed up at 7:15pm. I was at the MRT station five minutes later.


                          In conclusion, this double Scoot inaugural to Osaka Kansai and Kaohsiung is a success, and I really enjoy the experiences and inaugural celebrations at all stations. I was surprised that I did not see the CEO of Scoot, Campbell Wilson, on my flights to and from Osaka. I guess he might be on the Osaka to Singapore inaugural, but Wilson is usually very active in these inaugural flights. Maybe the latest batch of bad press made him taking a low profile for a while.

                          The new Dreamliner is indeed an improvement from those tired-looking Boeing 777-200s that Scoot uses. Surely the interior is a bit on bare side, as Scoot is hiding from the fact that it is a low cost airline, but at least the interior is modern and both ScootBiz and economy seats look more comfortable. I am also happy that Scoot did not go with those horrible slim-line seats. The F/As on these two inaugural flights were nothing but excellent, especially for a low cost airline, but as a Scoot flyer, I knew that they were definitely the best of Scoot, rather than the average Scoot experience, which can be described as cordial and their Scootitude can be a bit forced at times. I still think ScootBiz can use a few improvements and Air Asia X premium cabin still outperforms ScootBiz in all aspects. I don’t expect a lie flat seat, but priority baggage tags are not that difficult to accomplish, and giving each passenger a bottle of water, instead of a sealed water cup, will not hurt Scoot’s bottom line. About Scoot’s catering, I don’t mind paying extra for premium meals, but those premium meals need to be better quality and larger portion size, if you want people to buy them repeatedly. First, since all premium meals need to be pre-ordered and have a cutoff time of 72 hours prior to departure, you should offer more options. Second, the starter needs to be freshly prepared, rather than a bunch of leftover cabbage doused in vinegar, and for the minimum, I expect a fresh green salad. Adding a bread roll won’t kill the budget. I will even push the premium meal envelope by offering a business class style meal for an additional $15-20. I am sure some ScootBiz passengers will be wiling to “upgrade” their meals to a business-class style meal. Third, Scoot used to allow you to pre-order a second meal, but has since taken away that option. It was frustrating not to be able to pre-book a second meal especially on the longer DMK to KIX flight. They always run out of popular hot meals and sandwiches, so pre-booking allows Scoot to be more accurate on its loading of these items, and passengers will have more incentive to spend more money on food. ScootBiz definitely has rooms for improvement.

                          The new Dreamliner provides an improved ScootBiz experience and I really hope that Scoot’s smaller 787-8s will offer a similar ScootBiz cabin. I know they will have a much smaller cabin with only 21 seats, but I hope the legroom will be similar to 787-9s.

                          Finally I just want to give a shout out to the wonderful cockpit and in-flight crews on TZ 298/287 (same crews for both flights), who have made this inaugural experience memorable.

                          Thanks for reading!

                          Carfield

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Thanks for the report. Yikes. To think Catering is actually uplifted in SG. Good to know. I remember flying Scoot from NRT-TPE-SIN almost 2 years ago, and yes, the catering was of questionable quality.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Thanks for posting, Carfield! I enjoyed reading this!

                              I am still quite sad that most 787's out there are configured 3-3-3 in Y, whether on LCC's like Scoot or full service carriers like UA or BA.

                              But probably still better than a 777 in 3-4-3...

                              Originally posted by Carfield View Post
                              The premium meal looks better than the CX Y meal on the SIN-HKG sector...

                              Comment

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