Garuda Indonesia has established a new Surabaya-Jember route, utilizing the ATR-600 aircraft, which can seat 70 passengers.

'€œWe hope that this will be ready to operate in June and Garuda Indonesia will be the pioneer of Surabaya-Jember flight route and vice-versa,'€ said Garuda Indonesia sales and marketing director Erik Meijer in Surabaya, East Java, on Sunday as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said the airline was currently waiting for Notohadinegoro Airport Jember to finalize its preparations to accommodate the flights .

'€œThe Surabaya Jember route will be eventually include a third destination, Denpasar, Bali. So, we want to connect people in Jember to two cities [Surabaya and Bali],'€ Meijer further said.

Garuda Indonesia also plans to use the same aircraft to serve the Surabaya-Banyuwangi route.

Meijer said the inaugural flight from Juanda Airport in Surabaya to Blimbingsari Airport in Banyuwangi was a step the right direction toward strengthening domestic services.

'€œThe inaugural flight take off in May and al, the preparations have been made. We this will go a long way to support the development and progress of cities in East Java,'€ said Meijer.

Separately, East Java Governor Soekarwo warmly welcomed Garuda Indonesia'€™s plan to operate new routes between Surabaya, Jember and Banyuwangi.

'€œThe presence of flight services to Jember and additional flight services to Banyuwangi will contribute to the province's economy,'€ he said. (ebf)