On board the first low-cost flight from Britain to Bangkok

Twelve and a half hours… would you happily spend that long in the air without the usual, generous selection of Hollywood films, and no sign of free meals or snacks, never mind a complimentary G&T?

Perhaps you’d consider it at the right price. Scoot, a low-cost carrier and part of the Singapore Airlines Group, is now tempting Britons with this back-to-basics experience on flights from London to Thailand. Fares start at £200 one way, or from £368 one way for its premium economy service, ScootPlus. Even checked-in luggage (20kg per person) is charged as an extra – from £41 for each bag. Thai Airways, by comparison, typically start from around £550 return.

Scoot launched in 2012, offering routes from Singapore to Australia, China, and India, but it was only on Thursday that it ran its very first flight out of the UK – a non-stop service from London Gatwick to Bangkok, of around 12.5 hours (with some passengers continuing on to Singapore). I joined this inaugural trip for Telegraph Travel to test how its entry level offering fared on a journey UK travellers might more typically take with, say, British Airways.

Ahead of my first experience of Scoot, I asked Campbell Wilson, Scoot’s chief executive, what Britons should expect from the company.

“Scoot is not your typical low cost airline,” he said. “We’re absolutely not cheap and nasty. We’re cheap and cheerful and represent great value.”

In other words, Scoot would prefer to swerve comparisons to certain European cut-price carriers.

To begin with, Scoot is offering a short batch of introductory flights, three times a week until December 27. Then, from March 2022, you’ll be able to board one of its canary-yellow planes at Gatwick year-round. Can it prove a success?

Well, when the December service was announced last month (following the reopening of Thailand to fully vaccinated UK arrivals), travellers quickly snapped up tickets. The initial 329-passenger flights sold out. Meanwhile, Scoot’s 2022 service became that much more appealing over the last week as British Airways revealed it would be suspending its direct service to the Thai capital until next October.

Wilson pointed out that Scoot customers, for extra fees, can customise their flight to suit their priorities: a quieter cabin, perhaps, more leg room, or simply the smallest fare available – not, one might argue, all that different to the budget services that fly across the EU. Despite the £200 starting price, should you try and pick up a last-minute ScootPlus seat for tomorrow’s flight to Bangkok you’ll pay £877.

The seeming clarity of Scoot's pricing is appealing. Indeed, passengers can log into Scoot’s mobile app to see exactly how the costs break down: £82 for air passenger duty; a £16.81 passenger service charge.

Wilson had mentioned that the first few flights (running on Boeing 787s) would be full. Yet, when I reached Gatwick’s North Terminal, I hadn’t quite anticipated the size of the check-in queue. The tangle of Thailand’s entry rules prevented anyone from completing the process online; the litany of paperwork required human approval.

“Scoot?” asked an airport worker, as I blindly barrelled towards the area framed with a halo of the airline’s fluorescent signs. “Over there for the back of the queue”. I surveyed the line, which snaked through a complex network of cordons. My time for a pre-flight meal at Wetherspoons, and last-minute dash to Boots, had quickly dissolved. It was 7.55pm and the flight was due to leave at 9.45. It would be tight.

Two stipulations that are now commonplace across the world – proof of full vaccination (for the moment, that means two jabs) and a negative pre-departure test – are top of Thailand’s regulations.

After supplying proof of these came more layers of admin: a QR code secured as official approval for a Thailand pass, and proof of a travel insurance policy with medical coverage of at least $50,000 and evidence of payment for an SHA++ (Safety and Health Administration) hotel stay of at least one day. The latter has to include the cost of two tests to be taken during your stay. A fear at the back of my mind was that I would test positive on arrival and be spending Christmas in an approved state quarantine facility. But at that moment, my real hurdle was boarding the flight.

Each caller to the check-in desks was asked to lay out their papers. The thoroughness of this process reminded me of my visa appointment at the American embassy back when it sat near Green Park.

Recognition for the amount of admin facing airline staff, and perhaps the thought that by Friday many of us would be basking in Thai temperatures of up to 34C (93.2F), far from the doom-laden UK, held the line’s patience – for the most part.

“Excuse me”, called one passenger. “Are we going to get our flight or not?”

“It won’t go until you’ve all checked in,” replied an airport worker.

The average age of my queueing comrades skewed young. Most looked under 40. There were plenty of single travellers, a few couples, the occasional group of lads and a good smattering of families with children.

The latter group would not, I noted smugly, be sitting in my part of the cabin. I’d opted for Scoot-in-Silence, a section of seats from which under-12s are banned.

By 10.10pm I was hastily presenting my own documentation; by 10.20pm, with a few stragglers behind me, I was marching through security and towards the gate. By this point I was regretting my failure to pack sufficient snacks. As we lined up to file onto the bright yellow Boeing 787, I got talking to a British couple – Dominic (40) and Kirsty (34) – from Suffolk. They’d booked their flight just three weeks previously and were planning to stay out in Thailand for Christmas and New Year.

“We looked at a few places – Costa Rica, Mozambique. The prices for Costa Rica went up a lot, and this one came down a lot – decision made,” said Dominic.

“We’ve travelled a fair bit the last couple of years, we’ve worked the windows of freedom to our advantage,” added Kirsty.

They were happy with the budget offering of Scoot, adding that they were “chomping at the bit” to get out of the UK. The conversations I overheard on board suggested this was a common theme.

Finally, I was boarding the plane. “Hello Ma'am”, said a cabin crew member as I stepped through the door. Dressed in Scoot’s uniform of black with yellow racer stripes, she handed me a “care kit” of hand sanitiser, wipes and a mask.

Wilson had told me he was proud of his “fun” crew of “wonderful extroverts”, which did briefly pique my concern that there might be school trip-style singalongs, perhaps even some plane bingo.

I soon found, however, that the crew were friendly, but unintrusive (that said, their showmanship shone in the final hour of the flight – they gathered the handful of children on board to take part in a Christmas quiz, passing around prizes and leading them into a mini chorus of festive tunes, rounded off with Jingle Bell Rock).

By 12.25am, two hours and 35 minutes later than scheduled, we were off the ground.

I’d come prepared to miss the little luxuries I savour on long-haul routes: a cellophane-wrapped blanket and fluffy socks, free tea and coffee and my own charging point (you'll only find this in ScootPlus).

Scoot has three straightforward entry level options: Fly (no checked-in luggage and no in-flight meals), FlyBag (20kg of luggage for an extra £37) and FlyBagMeal (options such as chicken biryani are £9 when bought in advance). You can choose your desired seat (I’d secured a front row for a little extra stretch) for up to £43.

The economy seat width (18 inches) and pitch (30-31 inches) is on par with other long-haul carriers; travellers who opt for the “stretch” seats will enjoy a pitch of 34 inches or more. As such, space didn’t feel too stingy.

Where it did feel a little lacking was on food and drink; mostly due to the flight delay and therefore my failure buy anything at Gatwick. I wasn’t alone. I heard one passenger a few rows back ask for a free glass of water. “I haven’t even had dinner,” she added.

At the very first opportunity, I requested my own reserved meal. The veggie korma with basmati rice arrived with a three pack of double chocolate lava cookies and a small bottle of water.

It was, according to the menu on ScootHub – the airline’s ‘portal’, accessible through your own device, where you can also play games and buy services (in seat power being the only one on offer) – “a delectable Indian Jain coconut curry loaded with legumes and vegetables served with basmati rice”. What I found was a generous heap of rice accompanied by peas swimming in an fairly bland sauce.

Other hot meal options included chicken biryani and mum’s fried rice (“homestyle fried rice topped with chicken chunks, oriental chicken sausage and crab stick”). As I non-meateater, one suitable option out of a total of three may be as much as you might expect.

While the food left me a little disappointed, an expected upside of the budget model was getting more sleep. The lack of seatback entertainment meant no distractions, from my own screen or those flashing throughout the cabin.

The onboard Wi-Fi (with packages starting from £4) failed to keep me awake either. As has been the case for nearly every in-flight Wi-Fi service I’ve attempted, I couldn’t (using my level of purchased data package; higher levels of data are available) efficiently send emails, scroll social media or browse the news. Personally, I enjoy tuning out of online chatter while in the air. And, indeed, Campbell said Scoot’s target market are “young or young at heart” leisure travellers – most won’t be desperate to be keeping up with business mid-flight.

One of Scoot's major selling points might tip the balance for Britons who are wary of travelling with an unfamiliar airline: a free one-time date change is available for bookings made up until March 31, 2022 – an essential option these days, given the continuing border rules changes related to the pandemic. Changes can be made up to four hours before the scheduled departure time.

As for my spot in Scoot-in-Silence, aside from one vocal baby, I didn’t catch a peep from the youngsters further back on the plane. A wander down the cabin while the lights were low showed my fellow passengers were also taking the opportunity to rest. Protecting the deliciousness of a few hours of slumber is probably worth the extra £43 charge, however.

Despite tickets being snapped up for these first flights, there were at least five middle rows where one person was enjoying all three seats to themselves. A cabin crew member confirmed the flight was fully booked so it wasn’t clear why these passengers hadn’t joined.

More than two thirds through the flight, I’d decided I’d quickly forgo the extra food that would be factored into a trip to Bangkok with a bigger-ticket airline. If I were a little older, were less able bodied or had children to look after I might think differently.

Families with infants may be put off by the fact Scoot does not provide bassinets (nor does it allow them on board); and almost 13 hours with a baby on your lap sounds tricky. The interlude of the children's prize giveaway – announced with a blast of Mariah Carey as the cabin crew (wearing antler headbands and Santa hats) pushed a tinsel strewn trolley to the centre of the plane – may have been a welcome distraction for some parents.

Without the two-hour hold up that kicked off the flight, most of my niggles would’ve been averted.

I asked what Scoot would do to ensure similar problems do not occur on future flights from Gatwick to Bangkok. A spokesperson said: "The health and safety of our customers remain our priority, and we ensure stringent checks are conducted amidst the Covid-19 pandemic".

Had I had more time after security, a Wetherspoons fry-up, and stocking up on a Boots meal deal, would have seen me through the flight without the need to rely on Scoot’s menu. Unless you’re craving some hot food, it’s an add-on you can do without. Treat the flight as you might an extra long train journey: prepare your own entertainment, sustenance and clothing to fend off the plane chill.

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