The airline - a subsidiary of the Malaysian budget airline - will fly six times a week between Singapore and Pekanbaru, the capital city of the Riau Province.

By year-end, the airline will launch Singapore-Padang.

With AirAsia's entry, there are now 12 airlines operating more than 630 weekly passenger flights between Singapore and 12 cities in Indonesia, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said.

Air links between the two countries are growing strong, said CAAS director-general and chief executive officer, Lim Kim Choon.

Last year, 1.96 million visitor arrivals came from Indonesia, which accounted for nearly 20 per cent of the total visitors to Singapore.

Total passenger movements by air between the two countries hit 3.86 million - up by 6.5 per cent over 2006.

AirAsia Indonesia is the third airline to commence operations in Changi Airport this year.

The airport is now served by 80 scheduled airlines.