Scoot is set to strengthen its position as a leading foreign carrier serving Indonesia with the launch of a new thrice-weekly Singapore-Pontianak service in June.
The capital of West Kalimantan will become the airline’s 17th destination in the country, marking a milestone in its regional expansion.
Speaking at a media roundtable session in Jakarta last week, Calvin Chan, Scoot chief commercial officer, said the new route will be operated by the airline’s recently inducted Embraer E190-E2 aircraft. With a capacity of 112 seats, the regional jet has been selected to serve the Pontianak market, which Scoot identifies as having potential across business, leisure and religious travel segments.
Alongside the Pontianak launch, Scoot will also ramp up frequencies across its Indonesian network.
Starting in June, flights to Jakarta and Bali will increase to five times daily. Services to Manado will rise from six times weekly to daily, while Lombok will increase from four to 10 weekly flights.
By June 29, Scoot will operate 150 weekly flights across Indonesia, representing a 22 per cent increase in capacity.
In the 2025-26 financial year ending March, passenger traffic to and from Indonesia grew by 25 per cent year-on-year, supported by a 24 per cent increase in capacity.
“We will be the largest foreign airline serving the most international distinct destinations in Indonesia,” Chan said, adding that many of these routes, including Pontianak, were previously unserved from Singapore.
Indonesia is currently the largest contributor to Scoot’s network capacity in both seat count and frequency.
Chan highlighted the role of the Embraer E190-E2 regional jets in supporting expansion. With a 112-seat capacity, the aircraft enable the airline to serve secondary cities where demand is thinner, such as Pontianak.
“This allows us to unlock new points in our network while better matching demand with capacity,” Chan He noted, adding that the airline would continue to develop the route and market, promote the service, and work with trade and travel partners, with the aim of increasing frequency or deploying larger aircraft over time.
He shared that the approach has already been applied in destinations such as Labuan Bajo, which launched with two weekly flights in December 2025 and will increase to three by June.
The airline aims to provide seamless transit through Singapore to the wider SIA network, supporting trade, tourism and economic activity.
Scoot’s global network spans 85 destinations across 18 countries, with more than half of its routes within South-east Asia. “We serve a mix of short, medium, and longhaul routes,” Chan said.
The media roundtable was held in conjunction with Chan’s visit to Jakarta to launch a campaign in Indonesia titled Sambal si Petualang (The Adventurous Sambal). Recognising that many Indonesians consider a meal incomplete without sambal, the campaign allows travellers to bring a “taste of home” on international trips.
Scoot partnered with Jakarta-based visual artist Martcellia Liunic (Liunic) to design three limited-edition travel accessories, including zipper pouches designed to carry packaged sambal.
