There are these more or less unknown airlines with which there are few or no intersections due to existing travel preferences. For me personally, Scoot was one of those unknowns. By that I don't mean that the name or the airline background was unknown to me, but that the only two intersections in Europe in the past, Berlin-Tegel and Athens, were connected exclusively non-stop to the home port of Singapore.

Since my personal focus in the past 2 years before the pandemic had been in the USA, there was no suitable opportunity for me to board the eye-catching yellow Dreamliner. The news in mid-July this year was all the more gratifying that Scoot was not only announcing its return to Berlin and now to BER for August 10th, but also that the two only European targets should also be combined with one another. In the remaining summer flight schedule, Scoot will fly the “small” 787-8 Dreamliner three times a week as flight TR3 from Singapore's Changi Airport, initially the approximately 722 km long route to the Greek capital Athens. 9000 minutes later, the onward flight takes place under the same flight number to the German capital, where after another 85 hours of flight for some passengers the journey ends after 2,5 hours.

After a very short standstill at BER of only 60 minutes, the TR723 starts the return journey first to Athens, where another stopover is made before the long return journey home. Since the Athens-Berlin-Athens flights fall under the so-called “5th Freedom Regulation”, Scoot sells these flights from around € 35 one-way on its own website. A few days after the announcement of my return, I started my planning.

A little excursion to Greece in late summer ?!

I haven't eaten Greek for a long time and a look into the pantry showed me that I didn't have any Greek wine either. So the decision was made: Where can you buy better Greek wine than in Greece? Scoot offers a young, fresh and dynamic corporate identity that is tailored to the target market of Asia and is stylishly recognizable. What catches the eye after just a few clicks on the website are the many drawings in comic design that follow and accompany you throughout the entire travel chain. In the winter flight schedule 21/22, which will start shortly, Scoot will serve the "BER" daily according to current plans, with non-stop flights under the VTL regulation being offered again in addition to the flights via Athens to Singapore. The flights on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday lead via Athens, the other 4 days of the week the journey is non-stop.

Arrival

The new Berlin capital airport BER can currently be reached regularly from 12 departure airports in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Due to the corona, all flights are currently handled exclusively via the much discussed (main) Terminal 1. This currently offers two advantages when it comes to getting here. On the one hand, it does not matter which airline is traveling to BER, since the changeover may take place in the same terminal and therefore no annoying bus or suburban train journeys to Terminal 5 (formerly SXF) are necessary. On the other hand, Terminal 1 has its own underground regional and long-distance train station. Just a few steps and minutes after leaving the train, you are already on the arrivals or departures level, unlike in the past in SXF and TXL.

The check-in

The Scoot homepage still contains the information from the time before Corona that web check-in is possible from Berlin. In fact, due to the control of all documentation, this is currently not possible on the Berlin - Athens route. Every passenger in Berlin is directed to the counter, where hand luggage is also meticulously weighed. This shows the small advantage of a departure at noon at BER. In contrast to the classic "rush hour" hours, early in the morning and in the evening, the terminal was only moderately full on this late morning. In the past few days, BER, which some media have dubbed the “Fluchhafen” in the past, has hit the headlines again due to long queues at baggage carousels, chaotic and hour-long check-in procedures and passengers who, due to the conditions on site, make their departures in rows missed. On the day of the test, the check-in took place in area 1 - after showing my reservation, I was asked directly to the empty Scoot Plus / Priority check-in counter and within a few minutes all documents were checked and my paper boarding pass was issued.

Boarding

Just a few minutes later, the security check, which was once again carried out by the staff with the well-known "Berlin friendliness", was over and I found myself in the "Market Place" of BER. Non-Schengen flights are carried out on the upper floor and since the display board indicated the gate with D03 and a walk of 22 minutes, I decided to go straight to passport control after a fixed coffee-to-go. When I arrived in the gate area, this was clear fuller than on my Singapore Airlines flight 6 weeks earlier and at first glance I counted over 150 fellow travelers. Boarding started very punctually and I, as the third passenger, went through the glass pavement this late morning directly to the crew who were already waiting at the door of the Dreamliner. During boarding, they handed out exactly the same hygiene package (mask, disinfectant) that Singapore Airlines currently suffices.

The seat and the cabin

The smaller Dreamliner in the Scoot fleet, the 787-8, offers space for up to 2 passengers in a 335-class configuration. Scoot Plus offers a 2-3-2 configuration in rows 1-3 with space for 21 guests, followed by the "ScootinSilence" area in rows 4-8 in the classic 3-3-3 variant. This area offers an interesting aspect compared to the regular economy series, as it can only be booked by adults and children from 12 years of age. Smaller children and babies are not permitted in the ScootinSilence area.
Furthermore, when de-boarding via the two doors, guests from “Scoot Plus” and “ScooInSilence” are allowed to disembark first, which, depending on the location of passport control at the destination airport, represents a not inconsiderable time saving for a small surcharge for over 300 passengers. The economy cabin comes in blue fabric covers with adjustable headrests, while the seats in Scoot Plus have a dark gray leather look with yellow horizontal stripes. The seats offer a normal seat pitch. Here, however, I would personally consider reserving a seat with more legroom on a flight of over 4 hours. It should also be mentioned that the in-flight hub explicitly refers to the possibility of an "on board seat upgrade". Only one of the flight attendants at Scoot, also known as "Scootees", should be addressed for this.

The entertainment and wifi

Scoot offers various options for the design of the flight via the in-house Scoot Hub. Since no monitors are installed in the 787, neither in the economy nor in the premium area, all content must be played on your own device via a QR code affixed to the front seat and the hub mentioned above. It is possible to order food and drinks at the seat, play a selection of free games, follow the airshow and read some selected content, for example information on some of the destinations to which Scoot flies. It is also possible to unlock the socket at the seat via the portal, but for a fee; this may also be necessary on a 12-hour flight.

The WiFi offer is also chargeable, which is not billed to the minute at Scoot, but according to the booked data plan. There are various packages between 20 and 200MB on offer, whereby the costs are up to 29 euros per package, which is why excessive and unnecessary use could be quite costly.

The in-flight service

It should be mentioned in advance that an assessment is difficult. After the start, all items pre-ordered by guests were distributed in the first 10 minutes. After that, about 1 hour after take-off, a flight attendant happened to pass by on the way to the Scoot Plus area to take some of the rubbish away. In general, any form of actively offered service was waived on this flight. About 25 minutes after the start, there was a very brief announcement that food and drinks could be ordered via the Scoot Hub.

The prices there were only shown in SGD - Singapore Dollars. A can of iced tea was offered from SGD 4. Various hot meal combinations are offered online in advance; the choice for spontaneous purchases on board is considerably smaller. If you have an appetite for the well-known, small, gray aluminum dish with a warm snack on such a medium-haul flight, it is better to book it in advance. On the test day, pre-ordered menus were then served together with a snack and a cold, non-alcoholic drink - a small bottle of water.

In addition, a small snack bag in the corporate design of Scoot with 10 small, non-alcoholic cold drinks and 2 snacks will be offered online in advance. This was not available for spontaneous purchase on board. I had already decided in advance for the “Snooze Kit” at a price of 3 €, in my opinion a must for every collector. This includes a yellow fleece blanket designed by Scoot, a sleeping mask and an inflatable neck pillow. Everything was shrink-wrapped into a package and handed over by a flight attendant immediately after take-off.

The price as well as the chosen tariff

Scoot offers 2 tariffs on the Berlin - Athens route. These are divided into Scoot Economy and the Scoot “Plus” tariff. Scoot Plus includes a premium seat (not a full flat, corresponds to the current industry standard of a premium economy seat) in the first 3 rows of the Dreamliner, and also includes various additional services such as a 30 kilo free baggage allowance, 2 pieces of hand luggage, a pre-order meal and 30MB WiFi. The Berlin - Athens route is offered from around € 35 one-way in Economy Class and from € 179 in ScootPlus. The price of the Scoot Economy Class is officially divided into “Fly”, “FlyBag” and “FlyBagEat” right from the start. It should be mentioned that these are the same optional surcharges right at the beginning of the booking, as well as later when these are added individually.

There is de facto no savings, which is why, in my opinion, it is only about "options" and not a separate tariff. Everything, except for a randomly allocated seat in Economy Class, can be customized during the booking process. Since I had decided on further flights in the further course of the little trip to Greece (another trip report will follow shortly) I booked an Economy Class ticket with 20 kilos of free baggage, a seat reservation in the "ScootinSilence" area and for the first part of the trip out of curiosity that extra snooze kit. Including all fees and additional services, I paid € 108,62 for the ticket.

The author's conclusion

The route from Berlin to Athens is currently served by 4 different airlines on a regular basis. Scoot is offering an absolutely competitive product with an affordable entry-level price on the “5th Freedom Flight”. Anyone looking for “fireworks of service” or a high-quality cabin product on board has come to the wrong address. Overall, Scoot offered an absolutely solid “you get what you pay for” product on the test flight, which means that every traveler can put together their own individual package.

This is certainly one of the reasons why Scoot has just been voted “World's Best Long Haul Low Cost Airline 2021” at the SkyTrax Awards. The cabin of the 4 year old “little” 787-8 Dreamliner 9V-OFH looked very clean, simple and practical. The crew acted routinely and, if visible, friendly. Personally, I was a little irritated by the very passive on-board service. As a result, the “Scootees” seemed almost invisible for the duration of the flight, far away from take-off and landing. It should also be mentioned that the Athens-Berlin-Athens flight is only a by-product for Scoot, as the focus is of course on the onward journey to Singapore, which roughly a third of the fellow travelers used on the test day. This short 787 flight made me think with a little sadness of the former LAN connection Frankfurt - Madrid, which I had used several times in the past few years.

Since Scoot only heads for Athens and Berlin in Europe and has served both connections non-stop from Singapore in the past, there should currently be a nice opportunity for some aviation geeks to put the airline and aircraft through their paces within Europe. Due to the low entry price as well as the pleasant flight times in both directions, a self-booked and responsible onward journey from Athens, for example to one of the countless and beautiful islands, is theoretically possible. Should Scoot also offer the flights beyond the currently published flight schedule in the summer flight schedule of 2022, I will definitely use the connection again.

Note: The flight took place under the hygiene and entry standards of the respective countries valid on September 18, 2021.