TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Carrier PT Garuda Indonesia is set to open Surabaya-Medina-Jeddah route.
This route is opened to response to the people’s increasing interest to go on a minor pilgrimage (umrah) to Saudi Arabia.
"We plan to open the route on November this year," said Garuda Indonesia President Director M Arif Wibowo in Surabaya on Thursday (26/5).
Arif said the new route is also one of Garuda’s efforts to its business expansion and broaden its network, particularly in the Middle East region. However, Arif did not mention what type of aircraft that will be used for the new route.
In 2015, Garuda Indonesia transported about 745 thousand passengers to the Middle East region and the new route is expected to increase the number into 850-900 thousand passengers.
MOHAMMAD SYARRAFAH