Singapore Airlines’ subsidiary Scoot Airways has announced that it has placed an order with Embraer to buy its E190-E2 aircraft, becoming the first to do so in SouthEast Asia.
Scoot taking E190-E2s
Scoot Airways has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to lease nine new E190-E2 aircraft. The airline will become the first in Asia to use this particular aircraft type. These new aircraft will arrive from lessor Azorra starting in 2024 with deliveries scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025. Scoot’s E190-E2s will seat 112 passengers in a single class configuration.
Expanding Scoot’s fleet to include nine new E190-E2 aircraft enables us to continue operating a modern and fuel-efficient fleet. It also affirms our commitment to offer even more travel opportunities for our customers at the same great value. The new aircraft ensures that Scoot is ready for growth by enhancing our connectivity in the region and supports the further development of our Singapore hub.
said Leslie Thng, CEO, Scoot Airways.
Scoot currently operates a fleet of 29 Airbus A320s, 9 Airbus A321s and 20 Airbus Boeing B787-8 Dreamliners (as of 18th February 2023).
Embraer E190-E2
The Embraer E190-E2 is a stretched new generation version of the E190 aircraft. After conducting tests, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer noted that the E190-E2 had 1.3% better fuel consumption than anticipated. There is a overall 17.3% improvement in the Pratt & Whitney PurePower Geared Turbofan engines that the E190-E2 uses than the General Electric engines that the older E190s use.
The maximum cruising speed of E190-E2s is Mach 0.82, with the marketed range as 2,850 Nautical Miles or 5,278 kilometres.
Stay up to date: Sign up for my newsletter to never miss latest Aviation and Travel news.
New opportunities
The Embraer E190-E2 aircraft will open new markets for Scoot Airways. The airline will be able to do five-hour flights easily to anywhere from Singapore. Scoot says that these aircraft will be used to operate thinner routes to non-metro destinations out of Singapore.
The low-cost carrier will be able to deploy these aircraft on short-haul and medium-haul routes where there is not sufficient demand for the larger A320s but where the E190-E2s fit perfectly. Scoot says that it won’t just use these aircraft for limited-demand markets but also to airports which don’t allow any aircraft currently in Scoot’s fleet.
For example, the island of Koh Samui in Thailand is not able to handle any aircraft larger than Airbus A319s and as a result, Singapore Airlines and its subsidiaries haven’t been able to fly there since Silk Air retired its Airbus A319s (Silk Air has since been merged with Singapore Airlines).
Apart from that, there are also some small islands that lack connectivity or competition so the E190-E2s will be perfect for those services.
It would be great if Singapore Airlines takes these aircraft
It’s just a personal opinion but it will be great if Singapore Airlines takes the E190-E2s. Singapore Airlines operates Boeing B737s since Silk Air merged with the airline. The fact that Singapore Airlines will be able to connect passengers to/from smaller destinations to its large international network should the airline take these aircraft will be just great.
The product differentiation between Scoot and Singapore Airlines is very large as the former is low-cost carrier while the latter is a full see carrier. The passenger experience on both the airlines is totally different.
Setting this aside, it will be interesting to see how Scoot uses these aircraft and how the airline’s network evolves with these aircraft.
Featured image by Scoot Airlines
What do you think of Scoot adding E190-E2s to its fleet? Let me know in the comments section below.
Follow IH Aviation and Travel on Social Media on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
IH Aviation and Travel 