UP IN THE AIR NokScoot Files For Liquidation

Airline carrier NokScoot’s Board of Directors have passed a resolution to liquidate the joint venture company.

The primary reason cited is the economic climate of Covid-19 that has accelerated the airlines demise.

NokScoot is a joint venture between Singapore’s Scoot who are a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines and a Thai-listed group which includes shareholding by Thai Airways International.

It’s important to note the Nok Air, the Thai domestic carrier is continuing to fly local routes.

The mounting instability of the global aviation industry is set to hit tourism destinations hard.

One key example of this is Japan’s Hokkaido which had seem growing airlift from Thailand. As NokScoot now exit the Sapporo route and Thai Airways International have reported they will cease flying the route, the impact to that market in terms of seat capacity and connectivity is substantial.

For Phuket, there remains uncertainty with TG who indicated they might not reactivate flights to such key feeder markets of Stockholm, Vienna, Moscow, Milan and Rome. Come winter, it’s likely the ‘snowbird market’ will be using the Middle Eastern carriers to come to the island but again seat capacity will be severely diminished.

Looking at airlift, this week’s news that private equity firm Bain Capital was looking to bail out Virgin Australia is a storyline that is likely to be replayed with other key strategic airlines. That said, for Asia’s large stable of low-cost airlines, the reality is many of these will fall by the roadside in the coming year, given the prolonged sidelining of international travel.