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Batik Air now serves Chennai – Bali route
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The new service only offers one flight per day with one transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Shutterstock/File)
On July 23, Lion Air Group’s Batik Air has opened a new route from Bali to Chennai in India.
The new service only offers one flight per day with one transit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
“The plane departs from Denpasar at 11:10 p.m. to Kuala Lumpur and then to Chennai at 6:20 a.m. The return flight from Chennai departs at 8:55 a.m. to Kuala Lumpur and then headed to Denpasar at 4:35 p.m.,” explained Lion Air Group Public Relations manager Andy M. Saladin.
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The opening of the new flight to India is based on the statistics that show the increasing number of tourists from India coming to Indonesia. In 2015, the archipelago welcomed 271,252 Indian tourists and the number went up to 376,802 in 2016. This year, the government has set a target to attract at least 550,000 Indian tourists.
“Indian tourists love exotic destinations, such as Sumba in Indonesia and Bali with its exotic tourist attractions,” Andy added.
Festivals and events in Bali also play a role in attracting tourists from Indonesia. Andy also said that most of them on average travel for six to seven days with 36 percent of them love to spend their time exploring cultural sites.
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“Indian market is a potential one. In 2016, Indonesia greeted almost 300,000 tourists from India; that’s equal to almost 1,000 people flying to Indonesia every day although no direct flight was available from India to Indonesia back then. Moreover, Chennai is a business city where they can spend around US$1,000 per visit,” explained he ministry's deputy assistant for Asia-Pacific Tourism Promotion Vinsensius Jemadu.
Vinsensius also explained that both countries share some cultures and histories together, such as Ramayana and Mahabharata stories.
“There’s a cultural similarity that can become the magnet for Indian tourists to come to Indonesia. Moreover, there are plenty of Indonesians of Indian descent who live in Medan and haven’t met their relatives for a long period of time. Now it’s easier for them to reunite with the availability of flights from India to Jakarta and Denpasar,” Vinsensius added. (kes)
