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itilink, the low-cost arm of national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, has hired dozens of new pilots to support the expansion of its fleet. Ten new aircraft are expected to enter service this year and next year to cater to growing air travel demand amid the government’s tourism drive.

Citilink on Monday took on 70 new pilots, who will be further trained at the Garuda Indonesia Training Center and should be ready for regular flight operations next year.

“We do this to anticipate the need for pilots for five new aircraft to be delivered this year and another five next year,” Citilink president director Albert Burhan said recently.

The plan will increase Citilink’s fleet to 49 aircraft from 39 at present and the number of pilots to 395 from 325 at present, in light of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s tourism drive. The government is specifically promoting 10 tourism destinations and aims to attract 20 million foreign tourists a year by 2019.

Citilink said the five Airbus A320 Neo aircraft to be delivered next year boasted a fuel-saving capacity of 15 percent and could be utilized for long flights. Delivery of the aircraft would begin as early as January.

Albert said at least two of the aircraft arriving next year would be used for the airline’s charter flights to cities in northern China, including Beijing, and to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. “Our existing A320s can only do those flights with two stops. With these new aircraft, we can do it with just one stop,” he said.

The company also expressed its hope that such a strategy would put it in a stronger position to compete with other airlines, such as Air Asia and Qatar Airways, which were already able to fly to Jeddah with just one stop.

Currently, the airline carries passengers to 27 cities with 234 flights a day.

Citilink is also optimistic about reaching its targeted 12 million passengers this year. As of June, the company has flown around 5.2 million passengers, Transportation Ministry data show.

“The figure can be bigger than that by the end of the year, as this first half was low season,” Albert added.

The company has previously stated plans to fly to Jayapura, Papua, by October this year in a bid to tap the eastern Indonesian market.

Fellow budget carrier Air Asia is also considering an expansion of its route network in the near future to include tourism spots beyond the major destinations. The Malaysia-based carrier aims to offer flights to places with growth potential in ecotourism, shopping and culture.

“We have been studying all the places that we think can make the next Bandung or the next Bali,” Air Asia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said.