Makassar, S Sulawesi (ANTARA News) - State-owned airline company Garuda Indonesia has officially named Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport a national aviation main distribution point by opening 15 routes to East Indonesia and one international flight to Singapore from Makassar as of June 1, 2011.
President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia Emirsyah Sattar said here Tuesday that Makassar had been chosen as a national flight main point after Jakarta and Bali, as a commitment of the state-owned company in supporting the development of East Indonesia according to six corridor based concept set by the government.
The 15 new domestic routes are to Manado, Ternate, Ambon, Biak, Kendari, Balikpapan, Jayapura, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Jakarta, Palu, Gorontalo, Timika and an international route to Singapore.
The new routes will in the future be developed following the increase in the number of aircraft for long- and short-distance flights.
Under the program called Quantum Leap, the Garuda chief planned to increase the number of planes to 153 until 2015 including Boeing 737-800s next generation and Airbus 330-200s, and raising international flight status from four star achieved in 2010 to five star in 2014.
He will also increase the number of 100 seater planes for flights between pioneering cities.
The launching of Makassar airport as a national main flight point was also marked with the signing of an MoU between the Garuda maintenance subsidiary and PT Angkasa Pura I as operator of Hasanuddin international airport for building an aircraft maintenance center in Makassar's old airport.
South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo said the choice of Makassar as an air transportation and distribution point is a repetition of history. "Makassar airport has a strategic position in linking east and west in Indonesia. This moment is a historical repetition that this area was an international trading center in the 16th century," he said in assuring that what Garuda is doing is fulfilling the hopes and needs of the community.
He described that in 2008 there were a total of 48 flights in Makassar, which in 2009 increased to 120 and now the total reached 200 flights of Lion Air and 40 were Garuda flights.
On the occasion, he repeated his proposition to Garuda for Makassar-Jidda direct flights. He said quoting data of the Religious Ministry, 70 percent of Indonesians conducting an umrah (minor haj) and haj came from South Sulawesi. The opening of the route, he said, will make it easier to meet their religious obligations.
The launching of Sultan Hasanuddin international airport as a main point in national aviation by Garuda was conducted at the official residence of the South Sulawesi Governor and attended by Minister of State Enterprises Mustafa Abu Bakar, Air Transportation Director General Heri Bakti, and West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh.(T.H-NG/S012)
President Director of PT Garuda Indonesia Emirsyah Sattar said here Tuesday that Makassar had been chosen as a national flight main point after Jakarta and Bali, as a commitment of the state-owned company in supporting the development of East Indonesia according to six corridor based concept set by the government.
The 15 new domestic routes are to Manado, Ternate, Ambon, Biak, Kendari, Balikpapan, Jayapura, Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Jakarta, Palu, Gorontalo, Timika and an international route to Singapore.
The new routes will in the future be developed following the increase in the number of aircraft for long- and short-distance flights.
Under the program called Quantum Leap, the Garuda chief planned to increase the number of planes to 153 until 2015 including Boeing 737-800s next generation and Airbus 330-200s, and raising international flight status from four star achieved in 2010 to five star in 2014.
He will also increase the number of 100 seater planes for flights between pioneering cities.
The launching of Makassar airport as a national main flight point was also marked with the signing of an MoU between the Garuda maintenance subsidiary and PT Angkasa Pura I as operator of Hasanuddin international airport for building an aircraft maintenance center in Makassar's old airport.
South Sulawesi Governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo said the choice of Makassar as an air transportation and distribution point is a repetition of history. "Makassar airport has a strategic position in linking east and west in Indonesia. This moment is a historical repetition that this area was an international trading center in the 16th century," he said in assuring that what Garuda is doing is fulfilling the hopes and needs of the community.
He described that in 2008 there were a total of 48 flights in Makassar, which in 2009 increased to 120 and now the total reached 200 flights of Lion Air and 40 were Garuda flights.
On the occasion, he repeated his proposition to Garuda for Makassar-Jidda direct flights. He said quoting data of the Religious Ministry, 70 percent of Indonesians conducting an umrah (minor haj) and haj came from South Sulawesi. The opening of the route, he said, will make it easier to meet their religious obligations.
The launching of Sultan Hasanuddin international airport as a main point in national aviation by Garuda was conducted at the official residence of the South Sulawesi Governor and attended by Minister of State Enterprises Mustafa Abu Bakar, Air Transportation Director General Heri Bakti, and West Sulawesi Governor Anwar Adnan Saleh.(T.H-NG/S012)