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Wings Air opens commercial flight from Gorontalo to Palu
Wings Air has opened a new service from Gorontalo to Palu, which was recently hit by an earthquake and tsunami.
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A Wings Air plane takes off. The subsidiary of Lion Air Group has opened a Gorontalo - Palu route with 72 seats. (Kompas.com/File)
W
ings Air, a subsidiary of Lion Air Group, opened a Gorontalo – Palu route on Tuesday morning following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Palu, Donggala and Mamuju in Central Sulawesi on Friday.
Yasir Hasan, the manager of Lion Air Gorontalo, told Antara that the new service could accommodate 72 passengers and that 45 tickets had been sold by 10 a.m. local time.
Read also: Chaos in Palu after quake as survivors deal with hunger, thirst
The flight is scheduled to start at 7 a.m., however Yasir could not guarantee it would be on time. “It depends on the conditions at Mutiara Sis Al-Jufrie Airport,” Yasir said.
The commercial route was initially planned to be opened on Monday, but it was rescheduled as the airport's runway was crowded with evacuees, leaving no space for aircraft to take off and land.
Read also: How you can help Palu earthquake victims
Nevertheless, the route has given hope to people in Gorontalo who want to fly their families out of Palu or go to the province. “It’s been three days and we cannot decide whether to travel by land or sea because there’s no flight to Palu,” said Hartati who wanted to help her family in Palu. “We just heard the news [of Wings Air service] and immediately booked tickets.” (wir/kes)
