THE absence of direct air connectivity between India and Indonesia may soon become history as the Indonesian government is now working to remove the deadlock that has impeded Indian outbound traffic to the archipelago.
Rizali W Indrakesuma, Indonesia’s ambassador to India, said: “Three private carriers have expressed interest to begin flights on India routes, and the Indonesian government will be taking a call on these requests soon…The Indonesian government was not willing to transfer the Garuda rights to any private airlines earlier, but it has realised that it cannot rely only on Garuda.”
Both Lion Air and AirAsia are understood to have approached the Indonesian government for approval of routes to India, while the third carrier was not revealed.
“Besides this, Garuda Indonesia will soon be signing a codeshare agreement with Jet Airways,” added Rizali.
“We expect a significant increase in travel both ways once direct air connectivity is established. All neighbouring destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore are reaping the benefits of tourism because they have direct air connectivity with India. Our target for 2013 is 200,000 Indian tourists.” Last year, 150,000 Indians visited Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the trade is anticipating the breakthrough in direct links between the two countries.
Expecting a surge in Indian arrivals is Paul Edmundus, managing director of Floressa Bali Tours: “(Direct flights) should have happened a long time back as we could have had large numbers (of Indian tourists) like other ASEAN destinations.”
Sanjay Maniar, director, Travelaid India, said: “Bali is a popular destination, but with direct flights we can look beyond Bali to Jogjakarta, Manado, Solo and Bandung. Packages to Indonesia will be easy (to sell) with direct flights as we have the advantage of visa on arrival.”
