Airline alliances, LCC subsidiaries: Scoot may join SIA-Lufthansa JV

As full service airline groups rapidly expand into the long haul low cost sector, questions on whether to include LCC subsidiaries in intercontinental JVs naturally emerge. Scoot's upcoming launch of service to Berlin adds urgency to bringing Scoot into the JV that Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa launched in 2017.

The Singapore Airlines-Lufthansa JV currently includes SIA's full service regional subsidiary SilkAir but excludes the LCC subsidiary Scoot. SIA and Lufthansa are now working to add Scoot to the JV, a sensible move as it will enable Scoot to start cooperating rather than competing against Lufthansa.

SIA began codesharing with the Lufthansa LCC subsidiary Eurowings in 2017 but Lufthansa does not yet codeshare with Scoot. There is also no relationship yet between Scoot and Eurowings, which has been expanding in Berlin - opening up the possibility of Scoot using Eurowings to feed its new Berlin-Singapore flights.