SINGAPORE – There was hardly an empty seat on budget carrier Scoot’s brand-new Embraer E190-E2 jet plane as it took off from Changi Airport at 4.07pm on May 7.

The Brazilian-made aircraft landed in Krabi, Thailand, 1½ hours later, after a smooth journey on its first commercial flight out of Singapore, barring a 20-minute delay on its departure.

Scoot, the low-cost arm of Singapore Airlines, also started Embraer flights to Hat Yai in southern Thailand the same day.

With the addition of the plane, the frequency of Scoot’s flights to Krabi and Hat Yai will go up from seven times a week to 10.

In all, Scoot will fly the Embraer aircraft to six destinations in South-east Asia for a start.

Two of these, Koh Samui in Thailand and Sibu in Malaysia, are new routes for the airline, made possible by the smaller jet.

To commemorate the historic moment in Singapore aviation, passengers on the 112-seater aircraft’s maiden flight to Krabi were given a model of the plane, a greeting card and elephant pants – baggy cotton trousers that are a popular tourist souvenir from Thailand.

It was the first time that an Embraer aircraft was being operated by a Singapore carrier, and the first time in decades that a plane not made by aviation giants Airbus and Boeing had been added to a Singapore carrier’s fleet.

It was also the first time that the E190-E2 jet was flown commercially within South-east Asia.

There are currently two of these aircraft in Singapore, with the second having arrived on April 29. Scoot said this second jet is in the final phase of preparations before it starts commercial operations.

The plan is for a total of nine E190-E2 planes to be delivered to the airline, with three more to arrive in the second half of 2024 and the remaining four to arrive by end-2025.

Scoot chief executive Leslie Thng said the carrier will add another three to five new destinations in South-east Asia to its network later in the year with the delivery of more Embraer jets.

These could include Subang Airport near Kuala Lumpur, which Scoot is interested in flying to, he said on May 6 at a media briefing.

According to Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times, Mr Thng said Scoot is waiting to see whether the airport will allow narrow-body jets to operate there before making a decision.

“We strongly believe that with this new-generation aircraft, we will continue to expand our presence in the region,” he later said on May 7 at a launch event for the Embraer planes at Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Mr Thng told reporters that the inaugural flights to Krabi and Hat Yai were almost full, and bookings for the upcoming flights to Koh Samui and Sibu have been strong.

Without providing specifics, he added: “We are now 5 per cent above 2019 levels in terms of capacity. We have totally recovered from Covid-19.”

Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, who was guest of honour at the launch, said the addition of the new Embraer planes here is an important milestone for Changi Airport’s continued growth.

He said Singaporeans will benefit from more travel options and service offerings as the smaller passenger capacity makes these aircraft ideal for opening new routes to smaller but growing markets.

This will help to enhance the Singapore air hub’s network connectivity in South-east Asia, Mr Chee added. Using planes of the right size for these specific routes will also enable more fuel-efficient operations, thereby reducing carbon emissions, he said.

At the launch, attendees got a first look at the interior of the single-aisle Embraer plane, which has an all-economy configuration and two seats on each side of the aircraft. This means that unlike Scoot’s other planes – the Airbus A320 and Boeing 787 – there are no middle seats.

Mr Sim Kok Chwee, 64, a customer service agent at ground handler Sats who was on the inaugural flight to Krabi, said: “I was extremely excited. It is a really lovely aircraft to fly in. It has got nice big windows, so it’s a bright cabin with good views.”

The aviation enthusiast added: “My personal hope is that they’ll fly the E190-E2s to places like Bagan in Myanmar. Maybe to parts of Vietnam where we currently don’t have direct flights.”

Mrs Kendra Low-Sanjay, who has been a flight attendant with Scoot for the past 12 years, said the design of the E190-E2’s overhead bins makes it easier for cabin crew to close them as they do not need to stretch to reach the compartments.

The 36-year-old will start training on the new planes next week. “I am pretty excited because I did a demonstration tour a few months back, and I was pretty impressed by the interior and how spacious it is.”

Not all the passengers on board the Embraer flight to Krabi were conscious of the features that come with the new jet.

A 28-year-old fire safety officer, who was travelling with his wife to the Thai resort town for their honeymoon and wanted to be known only as Shyuk, said: “As long as we end up safe, I’m good.”