Singapore Airlines has revealed that it would transfer some Boeing 737s from its regional arm SilkAir to its low-cost unit Scoot.
In response to queries from FlightGlobal, SIA says that both pilots and cabin crew will be recruited by Scoot to support its future 737 operations.
It adds that the transfer of the 737s is part of the group's planned integration, where there will be transfers of routes and aircraft between the different airlines in its portfolio. This is consistent with ongoing efforts "to optimise the SIA Group's network".
Last month, the group announced that it would merge SilkAir with the mainline SIA brand.
The full merger, which will take place after 2020, will also see the refurbishment of SilkAir's cabin in a more than S$100 million ($74 million) programme. This will include new lie-flat seats in business class and seat-back-in-flight entertainment systems in both business and economy classes.
SilkAir has also transferred five routes in Southeast Asia to Scoot from Singapore: Kuching, Palembang, Kalibo, Langkawi, and Pekanbaru.
Flight Fleets Analyzer shows that SilkAir operates 34 aircraft. These are five 737 Max 8s, 17 737-800s, three Airbus A319s, and nine A320s. The A320 family aircraft are being phased out in favour of the 737s, of which Silkair has orders for 32 Max 8s.
Both the Max 8s and -800s have 12 business class seats. While the Max 8s have 144 economy seats and the -800s 150.
Scoot operates 42 aircraft, comprising 25 A320-family jets and 17 787s. It has 39 A320neos and three 787-9s on order.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
