Singapore Airlines' budget arm Scoot has been awarded the Diamond status in the APEX Health Safety global audit of airlines, becoming the first low-cost carrier (LCC) in the world to be accorded this highest attainable standard.
The audit was jointly conducted by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX), one of the world’s largest international airline associations, and aviation strategy firm SimpliFlying. Assessing the health safety measures adopted by Scoot in response to the COVID-19 pandemic against a 58-point checklist across 10 stages of the customer journey, the review spanned check-in and other pre-departure processes, inflight measures as well as postflight.
Only airlines that reach hospital-grade standards of health and safety, scoring at least 200 points above the baseline Gold standard, are awarded the Diamond status. The standards are based on independently verified, validated, and certified airline health safety measures.
Campbell Wilson, Scoot’s CEO, said Scoot was committed to providing customers with the highest level of confidence when they travel.
"We have enhanced procedures and implemented measures across the customer journey, ranging from increased cleaning and distancing, deploying contactless check-in and inflight ordering, and trialling of digital pre-departure test verification tools amongst other initiatives,” he added.
Scoot, launched in 2012, is the low-cost arm of the Singapore Airlines Group. It merged with Tigerair Singapore in July 2017.
"Taking these above and beyond measures in ensuring health safety will help Scoot bolster trust among travellers," said SimpliFlying CEO Shashank Nigam.
In an airline safety rating by international airline safety and product rating review website Airline Ratings, Scoot also scored a full seven stars in both safety and COVID-19 compliance. The safety rating system considers factors such as the airline’s fatality and incident records, audits from aviation governing bodies and leading associations, as well as the airline’s compliance with international Covid-19 standards.
Scoot’s Health and Safety Measures
- All aircraft are equipped with High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters, which are up to 99.98% effective at trapping microscopic particles such as bacteria and viruses. Air flows into and out of the cabin continuously, from top to bottom, with cabin air refreshed every two to three minutes.
- Passenger care kits consisting of a surgical mask, hand sanitizer, and anti-bacterial wipes, are pre-placed on passenger seats. Hand sanitisers are available on board our flights for use by customers and crew. Lavatories will also be regularly cleaned and disinfected, at least three times an hour.
- Scootsurance coverage has been enhanced to include COVID-19 cover at no extra charge. The enhanced Scootsurance coverage covers pandemic-related overseas medical expenses, quarantine and hospitalisation allowance, and other costs arising from COVID-19 infection.
- Temperature screening is conducted prior to boarding for passengers.
- In March 2021, Scoot began its trial of two new digital initiatives to offer a one-stop solution for Covid-19 pre-departure tests (PDT) and a digital verification process during check-in to provide a more convenient and seamless travelling experience for customers.
- All operating crew undergo pre-flight temperature taking, are required to monitor their health, and must wear the appropriate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) while on duty.
- Safe distancing measures are in place when not seated, including during embarkation and disembarkation, and when queueing to use a lavatory.
- Scoot’s new inflight portal, ScootHub, was introduced in December 2020 to serve as a one-stop shop for all customer needs inflight. The portal allows passengers to purchase food, beverages, and duty-free shopping and access other inflight services such as games and inspirational destination content. This serves to reduce the risk of surface transmissions, as it replaces the physical Scoot Cafe Menus, in-flight magazines and Scootalogue duty-free magazines.
- All arriving aircraft in Singapore are fogged entirely and all surfaces are wiped down with the Calla 1452 disinfectant.