by Jared Heng
Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) budget carrier Scoot has added Australia’s Gold Coast as its second destination, it said on Tuesday.
The wholly-owned SIA subsidiary had already picked Sydney as its first destination for daily flights from Singapore.
Scoot is set to begin operations in June this year with an initial fleet of four Boeing B777-200 aircraft. This is expected to go up to 14 planes by 2016.
It also sees China and India as potential destinations, while considering flights to Europe and the Middle East in the longer term.
While the budget carrier is a SIA unit, it is independently managed and will focus on medium- and long-haul flights.
With Scoot also considering its Australian expansion through flights to Melbourne, it is set to ramp up the competitive heat on Australian airlines Qantas and Jetstar.
