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SINGAPORE’S NEW long-haul budget carrier Scoot has taken off for the first time, using a novel way of saving fuel – by replacing its in-built TVs with iPads.
The airline set off on its maiden voyage to Sydney from the city-state yesterday, as part of its parent Singapore Airlines (SIA) bid to tap Asia’s growing demand for no-frills travel while battling surging fuel costs.
Business class passengers were handed iPads pre-loaded with movies, TV shows and games, while those in economy were given the option of paying Sg$22 (€13.70) to use the tablet computers.
“One of the reasons for using iPads for in-flight entertainment is that they are lighter than the traditional inflight entertainment systems and hence saves on fuel,” a spokesperson told AFP.
Fuel is one of the biggest expenses for the airline industry and carriers including SIA and Dubai’s Emirates have blamed rising oil prices as a major factor for slumping profits.
SIA launched Scoot in November 2011 as a budget alternative to regular airlines offering fares that would be up to 40 per cent cheaper.
A day after the maiden flight Scoot said it would expand its network, with two new daily flights to Tokyo and Taipei, which are scheduled to start from the third quarter.
It has a fleet of four Boeing B777-200 aircraft and currently offers flights from Singapore to Australia’s Gold Coast, Sydney, Bangkok and China’s Tianjin city.
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Most passengers have their own iPad as hand luggage anyway.
own ipads?? i cant even afford to replace my old laptop! not everybody owns (or is that pushed) ipads
How heavy can an in-flight entertainment system be ? Is it made of lead or something ?!
TV system, mounting brackets, miles of cables filled with copper and computer control systems. Not quite made of lead but still a significant portion of an aircrafts overall weight.
several tonnes actually and also far more expensive to maintain and repair than ipads or other tablet devices
IFE on aircraft is very heavy system and its expensive to maintain as there is always snags,weight is everything,most newer aircraft even have flight crew manuals in electronic form instead of the heavy bags full of manuals
Awwwkwaft?
haha hi Adrian,vewy low woltage!!!
Alaska airlines was the first airline to introduce inflight entertainment with digiplayers (primitive iPads) and still do today, every lb counts for fuel the glass wear in first class, the inflight magazine in every pocket airlines are trimming weight where ever they can
I stand corrected.
Or alternatively(even better) give them a 7″ Chinese tablet saving even more money and fuel plus if some jackass decides to rob it then it won’t put as big a hole in the airlines budget.
Singapore to Sydney on a budget carrier – ouch!
It’s only an 8hour flight! Now it’ll be painful if they start doing tickets from say London to Sydney via Singapore. But hey, if it’s cheap people will use them!
The crowd I work for has been usual g iPads in first and premium cabins in certain aircraft and routes for a couple of years now and senior crew members are issued with them for “customer service enhancement”! Handy piece of kit but I’m sure they are still pricey enough and when Apple seem to upgrade to a new product every year how long before the older ones are considered archaic!
It’s far more efficient, hand them out and fit a bracket to the seat that people can slot them into for viewing. The older IFE systems are bulky and often faulty, purchase, installation, maintenance costs and the weight issue suggest the handout model is the way to go, next up will be purchasing content on the flight direct maybe.
have your say