Low-cost carrier Citilink Indonesia, a subsidiary of flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, kicked off regular flights from Jakarta to Dili in Timor-Leste, with a transit stop in Denpasar, on Friday.

“The regular flight service to Dili is an effort to expand connectivity and to accommodate the demands of our customers,” said Citilink Indonesia’s chief commercial officer, Andy Adrian, while welcoming the first regular flight at the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport in Dili.

Previously, Citilink Indonesia had served the Denpasar-Dili route with scheduled charter flights in cooperation with one of the local airlines in the country. That service was offered from September 2015 to January 2017.

Andy expressed his confidence that the airline would be able to compete with other airlines connecting Denpasar and Dili, as the market would keep expanding.

“2017 will be a big year for Citilink, because [the airline] will expand its operations in eastern Indonesia and in the wider region, including Timor-Leste,” said Andi.

Two other airlines – Sriwijaya Air and its subsidiary Nam Air – currently fly from Denpasar to Dili. About 300 people fly from Denpasar to Dili and vice versa every day.

For the inaugural flight from Jakarta to Dili, Citilink carried 80 passengers on an Airbus A320 aircraft, which has a capacity of 160 passengers.

The flight departs from Jakarta at 4:55 a.m. and from Dili at 1:20 p.m. local time.

The inaugural flight was welcomed by Indonesian Ambassador to Timor-Leste Sahat Sitorus, Timor-Leste Deputy Transportation and Communication Minister Inacio Freitas and Timor-Leste Air Navigation president Romualdo da Silva, among other people. (bbn)

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