Jeju Air is preparing to bring back its route between Seoul and the Indonesian island of Batam, restoring a link that will connect South Korea's largest low-cost carrier with the Riau Islands during the upcoming Northern winter season.
According to schedule filings, the airline plans to resume the Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Batam (BTH) service during the Northern winter 2026/27 season, with the first flight available for reservations from December 23, 2026 at the earliest. Upon resumption, Jeju Air intends to operate two weekly flights on the route.
The service will be flown with the Boeing 737-800, the workhorse narrowbody that forms the backbone of Jeju Air's fleet. Filed timings show flight 7C2701 departing Incheon at 17:55 and arriving in Batam at 23:05, while the return, flight 7C2702, leaves Batam at 00:05 and lands back in Incheon at 08:35.
Batam sits just across the Singapore Strait from Singapore and has become an increasingly popular destination for leisure travelers and cross-border traffic. For Jeju Air, reinstating the route adds another Southeast Asian point to a network that has leaned heavily on the region as demand from Korean outbound travelers has grown.
The Boeing 737-800 is well suited to the sector. With a typical single-class or two-class layout seating in the region of 180 to 189 passengers, the narrowbody offers the range and economics that low-cost carriers rely on for medium-haul flying across Asia, and it allows Jeju Air to add frequencies gradually rather than committing to daily service from the outset.
Operating twice weekly on resumption gives the carrier room to test demand on the route before considering any expansion. Seasonal and resumed services are a common feature of low-cost network planning, allowing airlines to match capacity to the winter travel period when leisure demand to warmer destinations typically rises.
With reservations opening for travel from late December, the Seoul-Batam route rounds out Jeju Air's winter schedule as the airline continues to build out its Southeast Asian offering. Passengers looking to book the service will be able to do so ahead of the December start, subject to the airline's final schedule confirmation.
Sources: AeroRoutes. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By Elena Vargas.
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