W

ith the impressive growth of business between Indonesia and India, the population of expatriates of Indian origin in Indonesia and vice versa has gone up exponentially.  

This has given rise to a huge traffic of air passengers between Indonesia and India which is evident from any Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok-bound flight from Indonesia. These cities are the usual transit points, at present, for the passengers traveling from Indonesia to India and return.

Surprisingly, there are still no direct flights to India from Indonesia which unavoidably burdens each passenger with an extra four to five hours of travel time each way.  The number of tourists too from Indonesia and India to all parts of the world has grown tremendously over the years.  

But unfortunately, there is hardly any exchange of tourists between the two nations.  Again due to absence of any direct flights.

After the visit of President SBY to New Delhi in January 2011, the media in India announced an understanding reached between the two governments to commence direct flights.

But, to our dismay, nothing seems to have come out of it and the traffic since has grown at least double fold. On the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Jakarta, may I request the concerned through your esteemed journal to please initiate daily direct flights between Jakarta and Mumbai?  

This will not only assure good business for the airlines, but also further cement the relations between the two great countries.

Rajiv Behal
Jakarta