Sydney first route for Singapore budget carrier

The first new long-haul route for budget carrier Scoot will be between Sydney and Singapore.

Throwing down the gauntlet to Qantas and Jetstar, Singapore Airlines said that Scoot will begin flying from mid-2012 with a fleet of four Boeing B777-200s.

They have been bought from parent company Singapore Airlines, and chief executive Campbell Wilson said a daily Sydney-Singapore flight will be their first service.

Singapore is a major Asian gateway for Qantas, which flies a number of its European routes through there.

Mr Wilson rejected suggestions that Australia’s airline market, dominated by Qantas and its budget offshoot Jetstar, could not sustain another carrier.

“There’s absolutely a market here,” he told reporters in Sydney.

“We have seen in all of the markets that no-frills carriers have entered, whether it be short haul or long haul, that they’ve grown the market.”

“Sydney has a huge untapped potential for inbound and outbound no-frills travellers and we will deliver that.”

The carrier will offer fares about 40 per cent lower than the traditional airlines and will target the young, the adventurous, and those that wish to save money, he added.