Aviation: Budget airline Scoot to expand in 3 Indian cities

Singapore Airlines group's budget arm Scoot Thursday announced expansion of its network in India With the addition of three cities, Coimbatore, Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam, starting May. The new routes are due to be transferred over from sister airline, SilkAir, and Scoot will be the only airline operating direct non-stop flights from Trivandrum and Visakhapatnam to Singapore, the company said in a release.

Scoot currently operates is flight service to seven destinations in India --Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Lucknow, and Tiruchirappalli--from Singapore.

Flights from Trivandrum to Singapore will commence from May 7 while the services from Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam will start from October 27, the airline said.

"With three new cities, India is a big part of our growth in Asia this year. As we ramp up our operations in the region and establish a local team to help support our long-term objectives, customers can look forward to more affordable fares and innovative offerings from us," said Vinod Kannan, chief commercial officer, Scoot.

The commencement of all new routes will be subject to regulatory approval, the release added.