Singapore travellers to Indonesia’s Riau province can now fly direct to Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau, as Jetstar Asia commences its first service from Singapore today with a flight full of businessmen and families on holiday.

The inaugural Jetstar Asia flight from Singapore to Pekanbaru – the first of three return services per week – landed today at 9.25am at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport.

The city of Pekanbaru is the largest city in Riau and home to more than six million residents and base to some of the world’s largest resource-based businesses.

Mr Francis Loi, Head of Commercial for Jetstar Asia said: “The growth potential for Indonesia continues to be a priority of growth for Jetstar Asia as we continue to bring low fares for our customers in both countries.

“As the only low fares airline flying this route direct, our travel partners and customers have welcomed direct services to Riau, being able to take full advantage of our convenient weekday and weekend schedule and services.

“During the weekday, the schedule allows for travellers to arrive in Riau in the morning with much of a full day ahead for meetings. Travellers can also gain access to the rest of Sumatra, visiting the centre of Malay culture in Indonesia and historical sites such as the An-Nur Mosque and Sang Nila Utama Museum,” Mr Loi said.

The Riau province has one of the fastest growing economies in Indonesia and is a rich source for mega-sized companies in the industries of petroleum, wood-sawmill, crude palm oil, and rubber-processing,” Mr Arsjad Juliandi Rachman, acting Governor of Riau said.

“We are very pleased to welcome Jetstar’s direct services from Singapore to Pekanbaru as the service will give Singapore businesses and international travellers a convenient option to fly direct instead of through the other major cities in Indonesia,” Mr Rachman added.

Mr Jaya Tahoma Sirait, General Manager, PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero) at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II Branch Office said:" The Sultan Syarif Kasim II International airport which is operated by PT Angkasa Pura II (Persero), together with all stakeholders including airlines are committed to contribuing to the development of Pekanbaru's tourism and economy. 

"The new terminal which commenced operations in 2012 is one of our efforts to provide enhanced services to the public, and also one of our ways to attract airlines to introduce more flights from and to Pekanbaru," said Mr Sirait.

The new return service operates by an Airbus A320 on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, with a flight time of an hour.

Jetstar Asia’s network in Sumatra continued to deepen with this route after the inaugural flights to Palembang in Sumatra commenced on 3 December last week.

Jetstar Group currently operates up to 122 services weekly to the Indonesian cities of Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Palembang, Pekanbaru and Bali.