The Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group, as part of a restructuring of its Hyderabad services, has decided to discontinue daily flights of its low-cost carrier Scoot connecting the two cities and increase the number of Singapore Airlines flights a week.
Starting October 29, subject to regulatory approvals, Singapore Airlines’ Hyderabad-Singapore flights will be increased from seven times weekly to 12 times weekly as it takes over its low-cost carrier Scoot’s daily services between the cities, the SIA Group said in a release on Wednesday.
The new five times weekly morning services will offer more connectivity options for passengers travelling from Hyderabad to and beyond Singapore. This service will be operated by SIA’s Boeing 737-8s, which are fitted with 154 seats – 10 in Business Class and 144 in Economy Class. The daily night services will be operated by SIA’s Airbus A350s, which are fitted with 303 seats – 40 in Business Class and 263 in Economy. As a result, Hyderabad will be entirely served by SIA’s full-service product.
Describing it as a strategic restructuring of the airlines Hyderabad network, Singapore Airlines General Manager India Sy Yen Chen said the move was driven by market demand and to meet the changing needs of the customers. The daily wide-bodied A350s services would also facilitate movement of more cargo, he said, adding SIA Group is celebrating 20 years of flying to Hyderabad.
The aircraft’s wider body will allow for large cargo consignments that need to be loaded on skids. Also, the temperature-control capabilities will be essential for certain kinds of temperature-sensitive cargo. The release said from October 29, Singapore Airlines will operate 96 weekly flights to and from eight cities in India — Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, and Mumbai, while Scoot will operate 44 weekly flights to and from six cities – Chennai, Amritsar, Coimbatore, Thiruvanantapuram, Tiruchirappalli and Visakhapatnam.
