SINGAPORE (May 7): Low-cost carrier Scoot Pte Ltd, which will release its fourth quarter of 2023 results next Wednesday (May 15) through its parent firm Singapore Airlines Ltd (SIA), said it is committed to maintaining its profitability amid rising competition post-pandemic.
“We are working very hard to maintain profitability because we have been profitable consecutively for many quarters,” Scoot chief executive officer Leslie Thng told a media roundtable in conjunction with the launch of the new Embraer E190-E2 aircraft.
According to Thng, the airline industry's operating landscape has become more competitive as airlines have ramped up their capacity after the Covid-19 pandemic following the reopening of borders.
However, he remained optimistic about the company’s outlook as it is seeing positive traction on its existing flights and new destinations.
“Since April 1, 2022, when the borders were declared open by the Singapore government, I think this group [SIA] has invested a lot of resources in terms of ramping up our capacity,” he said.
“So we continue to be optimistic about that. We hope the travel demand will continue to be robust, especially within the region,” he added.
Scoot returned to profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 (FY2023) after four years of losses, on the back of strong demand after the Covid-19 pandemic.
It posted a net profit of S$43.5 million (RM152.46 million) in FY2023, against a net loss of S$477.5 million in the previous year. Revenue more than tripled to S$1.97 billion from S$432.9 million.
Scoot’s revenue passenger kilometres, which indicates the number of passengers carried multiplied by the distance flown, rose 29.4% to 8.6 billion for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2023, from 6.65 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Its passenger load factor stood at 90.5%, which was 2.7 percentage points higher compared to 87.8% in the year before.
Scoot currently flies to 67 destinations across 15 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe.