Scoot- the long haul low cost off-shoot of Singapore Airlines is making a very move.
The airline currently offers In-Flight Entertainment via iPad’s, and is expanding their offering onboard using a service called “ScooTV”.
The service is a streaming media service – think like Youtube/NetFlix/LoveFilm/BBC iPlayer service rather than an iTunes/Google Play service where you buy content and download it for later viewing.
The library Scoot will have contains a mixture of TV programmes and films, which will be refreshed monthly.
There will be in-flight WiFi to support this – although it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to use the WiFi to go beyond the ScooTV “walled garden”
When ScooTV gets up and running you’ll be able to buy the service for S$15 (pre-purchased) or for $16 in flight. If you haven’t got a Tablet, you can rent one at for S$20 (US$16) pre-purchase or S$22 (US$18) on-board. ScootBiz get iPads to use in-flight as a complimentary product.
ScooTV supports the Apple iOS system (requires a plug-in by GoGo which you need to download before the plane) and Android (although the page that will tell you all this seems to be down). However, the service is only compatible with tablet devices (Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Google Nexus 7/10 and probably most of the Android type tablets out there), and not with mobile phones (such as Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy II/III, HTC phones, Blackberry’s, etc). ScooTV will also work with your laptops too.
For Scoot, it’s a win-win proposition. Traditional In-Flight Entertainment systems add serious weight to a plane – where as a streaming system is smaller, cheaper to fit and less maintenance, whilst the airline adds a trolley of iPads (or let the traveller bring their own device to the party).
For the traveller… good luck finding a power socket on a Scoot 777-200. You’ll find mains power in ScootBiz seats, and that’s about it. Still if you’re flying Scoot and want an entertainment option, it shouldn’t be a bad one.
A lot of it will be down to what is in that Streaming Video package, and if you can justify S$15/S$16 to use it.
Whilst Scoot won’t be the first to introduce a service like this (American Airlines and Qantas have been offering such services for some time), this is the first Asian carrier to offer this. It’ll be interesting to see if other carriers jump on as tablet computers become more ubiquitous in travellers bags.
