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AirAsia opens new route to Silangit, eyes more destinations
Low-cost airline AirAsia is set to open direct flights to Lake Toba in North Sumatra from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, aimed at bringing more tourists to Indonesia from the neighboring country
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ow-cost airline AirAsia is set to open direct flights to Lake Toba in North Sumatra from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, aimed at bringing more tourists to Indonesia from the neighboring country.
AirAsia will operate four flights a week from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to Silangit International Airport and back starting on Oct. 28.
During its promotional period, a one-way ticket will cost Rp 100,000 (US$6.91).
Silangit Airport will bring tourists closer to Lake Toba and Samosir Island in North Sumatra, which have been selected as two of the 10 priority destinations by the government. The airport’s development is part of the government’s efforts to increase tourism in the area.
On Thursday, AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes said the new route would hopefully bring in more foreign tourists to Lake Toba, not only from Malaysia, but also from other countries such as China and Australia, by enabling them to fly straight to the airport with a stopover at the airline’s main hub in Kuala Lumpur.
“We’re using this hub to connect people from around our network to bring them to Silangit,” Tony said.
Coordinating Maritime Minister Luhut Pandjaitan lauded the airline’s efforts to be one of the first ones to open a direct international flight to Silangit Airport.
The new route could also help the government achieve this year’s target of 500,000 tourists visiting Lake Toba, he added.
Luhut said the route could help the government achieve its target to welcome 20 million foreign tourists in 2020 and bring in $20 billion, which would increase the country’s foreign exchange reserves and lower its current account deficit.
As of the first quarter of this year, Indonesia recorded a current account deficit of $5.5 billion as the rupiah weakened against the United States dollar.
Bank Indonesia (BI) projected the current account deficit would widen to $25 billion. However, the central bank said the figure would still be under the 3 percent threshold.
Luhut said he hoped AirAsia would increase its flight frequency to Silangit Airport as more projects, including hotels, were under construction in the area.
AirAsia Indonesia president director Dendy Kurniawan said the airline was open to the possibility of adding more flights and even adding more routes to the airport if the demand increased.
Aside from focusing on developing the new route to Lake Toba, AirAsia is setting its sights on opening more routes to Indonesia’s other priority destinations, such as Belitung Island in Sumatra and Banyuwangi in East Java.
Dendy said the airline was planning to launch a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Belitung this year to increase the number of tourists to Indonesia. However, the route to Banyuwangi would still have to wait until the government built the necessary infrastructure, he added.
“The government still needs to build immigration [offices] at the airport in Banyuwangi before it can welcome foreign tourists.”
AirAsia will not be the only airline to provide direct flights from Malaysia to Silangit. The subsidiary of homegrown Lion Air, Malindo Air, will also fly directly from Subang four times a week starting on Aug. 17 with fares starting at Rp 543,000.
Meanwhile, flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia also provides chartered flights from Singapore to Silangit via Jakarta three times a week to support tourism in the area, with fares ranging from Rp 2 million to Rp 3 million. (ris)
