Passengers stunned as President Tharman boards Scoot flight home from Ipoh
Ivan Lim
TNP
August 28, 2025
A Scoot flight from Ipoh to Singapore on Aug 27 had an unexpected passenger: President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.
The flight took off from Sultan Azlan Shah Airport at 5.25pm,.
But prior to take off, passengers noticed a VIP vehicle on the tarmac and wondered who would be travelling with them, Malaysia's Sin Chew Daily reported.
When President Tharman - who was last to board the aircraft - took his seat in the front row, the passengers behind him broke out into applause and he waved in acknowledgment.
The President was in Ipoh for a two-day official visit, during which he was hosted by Sultan of Perak Nazrin Shah. The two met as Chancellors - of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Universiti Malaya (UM) respectively - for the UM-NUS Golf Tournament and a joint seminar.
On Aug 25, Mr Tharman also reportedly flew to Ipoh via Scoot.
The President is not the only high-profile Singapore politician to fly the budget airline.
Last October, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong was similarly applauded when he flew home from Laos on a Scoot flight.
