Scoot reached a new milestone this week when it launched its first genuine long-haul route and its inaugural service to Europe.

Singapore Airlines’ low-cost carrier touched down in Athens on Tuesday morning, following a direct flight from Changi Airport. This also makes it the only airline operating non-stop flights between Singapore and Greece.

The route will now operate four times a week, departing Singapore every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. All flights will be operated using Scoot’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which features economy and premium economy cabins, plus in Wi-Fi. The flight time is approximately 11.5 hours.

“Scoot is currently the only airline and low-cost carrier offering direct flight between Southeast Asia and Greece,” said Lee Lik Hsin, CEO of Scoot. “With our debut into long-haul operations, Scoot is planning to launch five more new destinations in the next year, including one long-haul destination and four new short to mid-haul routes. This will open up new travel options for Asian travellers as well as European ones now with the start of our Singapore-Athens service.”

This expansion comes at an important time in Scoot’s history; it was recently confirmed that the airline will merge with sister low-cost carrier Tigerair Singapore on 25 July 2017. Following this move, Scoot’s operating code will switch from the current “TZ” to Tigerair’s “TR”, while Tigerair’s aircraft will take on Scoot’s branding.

The merged Scoot is expected to operate a fleet of 40 aircraft by 31 March 2018, comprising 16 twin-aisle 787s and 24 Airbus A320s. The airline said its strategy is to use Tigerair’s short-haul network to “fuel connecting traffic to the long-haul flights operated by Scoot”, including the Athens route.