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Get set to fly the ‘Kamascootra’.
From October 2, that is what passengers flying from Jaipur to Singapore on the inaugural flight of Scoot will be doing.
Scoot, the Singapore-based low-cost airline, is naming its 12th Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft after the Indian art form. The aircraft will be delivered next week and is from among the 20 Boeing 787-800 that the airline has ordered.
“To commemorate our India services we have decided to name the aircraft after an ancient Indian art form. The name expresses desire — the desire to fly. This is the first time that Scoot has named an aircraft after a country other than our home base Singapore. We always follow quirky names,” said Bharath Mahadevan, Country Head - India, Scoot.
The aircraft was supposed to be delivered for the first flight to India in May but as the manufacturer needed a lead time of up to six months to paint the aircraft, it was painted in May and is being delivered now. Scoot launched its India operations on May 24 with a daily service to Chennai from Singapore.
The other aircraft in the Scoot fleet also have ‘different’ names like ‘Dreamstar’, as it was the first Dreamliner that the airline got. Another one is called ‘Spirit’ as Spirit Airlines in the US copied the Scoot campaign.
The newest name was picked through a contest with ‘Thaliavar’ (Tamil for leader, boss, and very often used for Rajnikanth) being in the running along with something connected with Sachin Tendulkar — be it his birthday or jersey number.
Jaipur will be third city after Chennai and Amritsar to which Scoot is expanding in India. “ We are evaluating other points in India,” Mahadevan said in response to a question on whether the airline plans to make use of the India-ASEAN open sky regime.
The agreement allows airlines from the ASEAN region to operate unlimited flights to 18 tourist destinations in India including Goa, Patna, Port Blair, Vizag, Kochi and Varanasi.
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