Scoot officially took delivery of its first Embraer E190-E2 last Thursday 11 April, with the aircraft (still wearing a Brazilian registration PR-EEW) touching down in Singapore this afternoon 15 April. The aircraft, to be registered 9V-THA, arrived after a marathon multi-leg journey from Brazil to Singapore via Gran Canaria, Athens, Baku, Hyderabad and Phuket. 9V-THA is named Explorer 3.0, signifying its status as the first in a new, third fleet of aircraft type for Scoot, complementing the existing 787s and A320 series.
The arrival of Explorer 3.0 comes ahead of the E2’s debut on 7 May. A second aircraft is expected to arrive later in April, which will allow Scoot to expand the E2 network and frequencies quickly. Eventually, Scoot will have a fleet of nine E190-E2s, leased from Azorra.
Scoot E190-E2 Routes
Scoot had previously announced the initial routes for the E190-E2. The smaller E2 will enable Scoot to open up new destinations for the SIA group. The E2 will be inaugurated on Scoot’s existing Krabi and Hat Yai routes from 7 May, with Krabi getting the honour of being the first destination for the E2. As I predicted in an earlier post regarding Scoot’s decision to lease E2s, the SIA group will return to Koh Samui (USM) with the introduction of the E2s. USM is set to be served from 13 May onwards, and double daily from 6 June.
In addition to these destinations which coincidentally are all in Thailand, the E2 will progressively be deployed on services to Miri and Kuantan, from 20 May and 3 June respectively. Both are existing Scoot destinations and the E2’s introduction represents an increase in frequency for both points. Lastly, Scoot will also commence service to Sibu in Borneo, Malaysia from 5 June.
I’m pleased to see USM on the list. USM is a place with some great resorts, so I’m looking forward to hopefully cheaper airfare whenever I’m up for beach getaway there. I’ve already booked myself on the E2 to USM in mid-June, so will share my experience of the aircraft then.
Scoot E190-E2 Configuration
Scoot’s E2s will be configured in an all-Economy, 2-2 layout that’s typical of most E-jets. The E2s will seat a total of 112 passengers.
I’ve flown on E-jets before, both the original and the E2 version. Most recently, I took a couple of flights on Helvetic’s E2s in Europe, and found the overhead bins to be a big improvement over the original E-jet. The 2-2 configuration remains one of my favourite on any aircraft type. The seat map for Scoot’s E2’s can be found here.
Conclusion
Scoot has taken delivery of its first E190-E2, which will be registered 9V-THA. The aircraft arrived in Singapore this afternoon, 15 April. First scheduled service for the new aircraft will be 7 May to Krabi, with Hat Yai service launching the same day. This will quickly be followed by Koh Samui, Miri, Kuantan and Sibu over the next couple of months. The second aircraft is expected later this month, and Scoot will eventually have a total of nine E2s in its fleet.
Feature photo courtesy of Embraer