Silk Air'€™s first commercial Singapore-Yogyakarta flight landed at Adi Sucipto International Airport, Yogyakarta, at 10 a.m. local time, on Monday, marking the opening by the Singaporean airline of the new service that will fly three times weekly.

'€œWe chose Yogyakarta because it'€™s a tourism destination with potential for high passenger volume,'€ said Silk Air chief executive Leslie Thng who was on Monday'€™s maiden Singapore-Yogyakarta flight.

As a tourism destination, Yogyakarta has incredible attractions for visitors from various countries. Among the tourist attractions are Borobudur and Prambanan temples designated by UNESCO as world heritage sites.

Yogyakarta is also blessed with an abundance of natural riches and Javanese cultural heritage, making it the second-most popular tourist destination in Indonesia after Bali.

Adi Sucipto airport will not only facilitate Singaporean tourists who want to enjoy the cultural richness in Yogyakarta but will also be the gateway for Indonesians on shopping trips to Singapore.

To bridge the two flows Silk Air will fly on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays. The routes will be served by the airline'€™s Airbus A319s and A320s with capacities of 180 seats, including 12 seats in business class.

Silk Air will depart for Yogyakarta from Singapore'€™s Changi Airport at 8:10 a.m. local time and arrive at Adi Sucipto at 9:30 a.m. It will return to Singapore at 11 a.m. and arrive in Changi at 2:25 p.m. local time.

'€œThis new route has quite a big market potential,'€ said Leslie.

Head of Yogyakarta tourism agency M. Tazbir said he was optimistic that the new Singapore-Yogyakarta route would boost the number of Singaporean tourists visiting the city.

'€œThe number of Singaporean tourists visiting Yogyakarta reached 6,000 in the first half of this year,'€ said Tazbir. (ebf)

Popular

Volcano erupts in North Sulawesi, hundreds evacuated

Dubai roads, airport reel from floods after record rains

Ramadan boosts consumer confidence, retail sales