An AirAsia plane parked at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport's Terminal 3. (GA Photo/Mohammad Defrizal)
BY :NUR YASMIN
OCTOBER 04, 2019
Jakarta. Budget carrier AirAsia Indonesia officially launched three new domestic and international routes in a ceremony in Belitung in the province of Bangka Belitung Islands on Wednesday.
AirAsia Indonesia is a subsidiary of Malaysia's biggest budget carrier AirAsia.
The three new routes will offer direct flights from Belitung to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and from Jakarta to Sorong and Jakarta to Belitung. Sorong is in West Papua.
The Belitung-Kuala Lumpur route had its maiden flight on Oct. 2 and the Jakarta-Belitung route on Oct.1.
The Jakarta-Sorong flight was first offered on Oct. 3.
The launch party took place at the H.A.S. Hanandjoeddin Airport in Belitung and was attended by the special staff for law and bureaucracy reformation at the Transportation Ministry Umar Aris, Malaysia's Ambassador to Indonesia Zainal Abidin Bakar, Belitung district head Sahani Saleh and AirAsia Indonesia deputy chief executive Veranita Yosephine.
"We hope these new flights will have a multiplier effect on tourism and economy in Belitung," Umar said on Wednesday.
“The new flight from Kuala Lumpur to Belitung should bring more tourists to this island," Air Transportation Director General Polana Pramesti said in a Transportation Ministry statement released on Friday.
AirAsia will use an Airbus 320 with a capacity of 180 seats on the Jakarta-Sorong route, which is expected to bring more tourists to Raja Ampat and other tourist destinations in West Papua.