TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - West Nusa Tenggara’s Lombok International Airport has added additional flights up to late night flights from Lombok to other Indonesian major cities following the magnitude 7 earthquake that hit the area on Sunday, August 5.
“We had just conducted a meeting with several air carriers and decided to increase the number of flight schedules,” said I Ngurah Ardita, the general manager of Lombok International Airport on Monday, August 6.
Besides adding flight schedules, several airlines, including Garuda Indonesia, will switch to airplanes with larger capacity.
Read: Singapore Minister Survives Lombok Quake
The additional flight schedules have yet to be officially elaborated since the meeting is still ongoing. This strategy, said Ardita, is meant to transport large numbers of passengers intending to leave the Lombok airport.
During its normal operations, the Lombok International Airport only operates up to 12:00 midnight, but following the earthquake on Sunday, the airport has temporarily operated for 24-hours straight.
Read: Jokowi Orders Wiranto to Lead Disaster Management of Lombok Quake
“This is an emergency situation that drove passengers to flock the airport, which is why we will operate it for 24 hours,” said Ardita.
According to the data provided by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the death toll of the Lombok earthquake has increased to 91.
ANTARA
