With Bangkok, Scoot breaks medium/long-haul focus; Thai/Nok could be next to establish long-haul LCC

Scoot, the low-cost long-haul subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA), has not yet commenced commercial services but by announcing plans to launch Singapore-Bangkok it has already broken its self-proclaimed focus to only serve medium-haul and long-haul routes and not to overlap with short-haul sister carrier Tiger Airways. But rules are typically only guidelines when it comes to the evolving models of low-cost, long-haul carriers.

In Scoot's case, deviating from its norm to open a daily Singapore-Bangkok service from 05-Jul-2012 allows it to boost aircraft utilisation and enter the gigantic Singapore-Bangkok market, the 26th largest route in the world based on available seats. It also allows Scoot to enter the lucrative Bangkok-Australia market with a connection product. Competitor AirAsia X already sees large transfer traffic from Australia to Bangkok via its Kuala Lumpur hub. Scoot's move into Bangkok could prompt a move from Thai Airways, which is already studying its own options for entering the low-cost long-haul market. Using partially owned subsidiary Nok Air to launch Boeing 777 flights to Australia is the most likely solution for Thai.