TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -Low-cost carrier Citilink Indonesia is planning to open Jakarta-Dili route in a bid to improve connectivity and accommodate air transportation demands.

“Citilink this year will also provide regional flights. Dili will become the first regional destination served by Citilink,” Citilink Indonesia CEO Juliandra Nurtjahjo said on Tuesday in a press release.

According to Juliandra, the new flight rout will served on a daily basis starting from May 12. Citilink has operated scheduled charter flights serving the Denpasar-Dili route from September 2015 to January 2017 in collaboration with a Timor Leste-based airline.

“The route will be a connecting flight from Jakarta with a transit point in Denpasar and operated fully by Citilink Indonesia,” Juliandra said.

According to Juliandra, the increasing number of tourists and business travellers from Dili to Jakarta has led Citilink to opening a new regional route. Juliandra said that the new route is expected to accommodate growing demands and improve its services.

Citilink will use Airbus A320 aircrafts with an average age of four years and a capacity of 160 passengers for the flight route that takes around 1 hour and 50 minutes one-way.

The airline will operate the new route at 4:55 a.m. from Jakarta and transit through Denpasar at 9:25 a.m. The return flight will operate at 1:20 p.m. local time.

LARISSA HUDA