More Embraer jets will be delivered to Scoot over the next two years. - ST
SAO JOSE DOS CAMPOS (Brazil): Some 14 months after Scoot inked a deal to add Embraer planes to its books, the first of nine new E190-E2 jets was handed over to the Singapore budget carrier ahead of the aircraft’s inaugural flight to Krabi in Thailand on May 7.
It is the first time an aircraft from the Brazilian manufacturer is being introduced to the fleet of a Singapore carrier, and a handover ceremony was held on April 11 at Embraer’s headquarters in the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, an hour’s drive from Sao Paulo.
Scoot chief executive Leslie Thng and other senior Scoot executives were in Brazil earlier in the week to get a first look at the plane, decked in the airline’s yellow-and-white livery.
“We are all very excited that it is finally here,” Thng told reporters after inspecting the jet, which has an all-economy configuration.
“It is after really hard work over the past 14 months, in terms of trying to work out the specifications of the aircraft so it meets the overall mission.”
The 112-seat E190-E2 will be the smallest commercial aircraft based out of Changi Airport, and one of the plane’s selling points is that there are no middle seats.
“The two-by-two seating on the aircraft is something different from what we currently have on Airbus and Boeing planes,” Thng said. “I think it will be welcomed by all our passengers.”
Scoot chief operating officer Ng Chee Keong noted that the airline is making history with the new jet. “It is typically unheard of for an aircraft to come into service within such a short span of time,” he said.
Scoot’s first E190-E2 aircraft, named Explorer 3.0, is set to leave Sao Jose dos Campos on April 12 and land in Singapore on April 15, after which it will undergo a final round of approvals before it can start commercial service.
On its maiden journey to Singapore, the plane, which has a range of about 5,300km, will make stops in Recife in the north of Brazil, the Canary Islands off the coast of north-west Africa, Athens in Greece, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Hyderabad in India.
The stops are to account for mandatory crew rest hours and allow for the plane to be refuelled.
Thng said Scoot will carry out a series of internal activities after the plane arrives to ensure that the airline has enough resources ready for the first commercial flight. These include getting its crew and engineers familiar with the jet and starting aircraft training for the first set of pilots.
For a start, Scoot – the low-cost arm of national carrier Singapore Airlines – will fly the Embraer aircraft to six destinations in South-east Asia. Two of them, Koh Samui in Thailand and Sibu in Malaysia, are new routes for the airline, made possible by the smaller jets.
This is because Koh Samui’s airport has restrictions on the size of aircraft that can be operated there and Sibu is a less popular destination, reducing the financial viability for larger planes to ply the route.
Asked about ticket sales for Scoot’s new Embraer destinations, Thng said bookings since March have been within expectations.
For Koh Samui, he noted that there have been more international sales, with interest from passengers outside Singapore and Thailand, such as from Australia and Europe. For Sibu, ticket sales have been building up “quite strongly”.
More Embraer jets will be delivered to Scoot over the next two years.
The carrier’s second E190-E2 plane has been assembled, and had its first flight test in Brazil on April 11. This plane is expected to be delivered to Scoot at the end of April.
Another three aircraft will be delivered from September, with the remaining four jets slated to arrive in Singapore by the end of 2025.
The delivery of Scoot’s first E190-E2 jet was originally set for March, but was pushed back by about two weeks.
Arjan Meijer, who heads Embraer’s commercial aviation division, attributed this to the late delivery of certain parts and extra certification activities needed for the jet.
While in Brazil, Scoot executives were given a tour of Embraer’s facilities, including some of the company’s assembly lines. They also visited a structural integrity test centre and the manufacturer’s customer service centre, which provides technical support.
Thng said this gives Scoot’s executives a better understanding of Embraer’s processes and work culture, and the support that the aircraft manufacturer will provide.
Scoot’s nine new planes are being leased from American aircraft leasing firm Azorra.
Embraer and Azorra said they see the Scoot deal as key to enlarging their presence in South-east Asia and the Asia-Pacific.
Azorra founder and chief executive John Evans said the lease agreement it inked with Scoot in February 2023 is the firm’s biggest step in expanding its commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. The company will open an office in Singapore in July.
Embraer’s Asia-Pacific vice-president Raul Villaron said having Scoot fly the E190-E2, and making money while doing so, is the best way that Embraer can draw interest from other South-east Asian carriers.
“Their success will be ours as well,” he added.
Villaron expects Embraer to land two or three more new customers in Asia in 2024. “When we look at the Asian market, we see that there are more than 50 destinations that could be flown by the E2s,” he said.
Evans added: “We are highly confident that these aircraft will stay in Singapore, at Scoot, and in the region for a very long time.” - The Straits Times/ANN
