The Times was told that the flight by Scoot Airlines (SQ8345), originally scheduled to depart from Macau to Singapore this Saturday, June 12, was re-scheduled to take off on Sunday midnight on the spur of the moment.
The change was announced yesterday by Singapore-based airline Scoot to the affected passengers via a digital memo, and the decision was attributed by the company to “operational constraints arising from the growing scale of the Covid-19 outbreak.”
The amendment came after, on June 7, the Macau SAR government announced that a collaboration deal was made between the authorities and Scoot Airlines to deploy two weekly flights to help Macau residents return home by transiting via Singapore’s airport.
In an interview with Sara Ng, manager of local travel agency, Sincerity travel, she said that the airline’s sudden change of plan has caused significant troubles for the agency and passengers.
“Due to the changed schedule, some passengers suddenly found themselves unable to catch another flight from Singapore Changi Airport to other European cities like Paris,” Ng said.
Scoot Airlines is a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines – the flag carrier airline of Singapore. Ng told the Times she had made queries to Singapore Airlines for the reason behind the rearrangement but had not received any responses.
When asked if Scoot’s rearrangement has anything to do with the government’s deal with Scoot, Ng said she is not certain of the link between the two events.
Though a partnership has been made between Scoot and the SAR government, it is not a government-led operation. Ticketing affairs must be handled by the travelers themselves.
The SQ8345 flight was originally to depart at almost 6 p.m. on June 12 from Macau and arrive in Singapore at around 10 p.m. on the same day. However, it was substituted by another flight (TR905) which will depart at 00:15 on June 13 and arrive at around 4 a.m. that day in Singapore.
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