TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Low-cost carrier Indonesia AirAsia added a new international direct flight route of Jakarta-Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. "The route will be kickstarted on February 6, 2024, with flight frequency of three times a week; Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday," said the Head of Government Relations & Corporate Communications Indonesia AirAsia Eddy Krismeidi Soemawilaga in a written statement on Thursday, Jan. 25.

Eddy said that the flight using the Airbus A320 with a 180-passenger capacity will be the only direct flight in Indonesia that connects Jakarta and Kota Kinabalu.

"This route is 2024's first international route which hopefully will attract visitors of both countries," said Eddy.

The Jakarta-Kota Kinabalu route marked AirAsia's commitment to support the Indonesian government and Malaysia, especially Sabah in improving connectivity and push for improvement in the tourism sector.

The new route, Eddy explained, will be the fifth international route connecting Jakarta to parts of Malaysia. The others are Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Baru, and Kuching. "The first Jakarta-Kuching flight had a 100 percent occupancy rate," Eddy said.

According to the data released by Statistics Indonesia, tourists from Malaysia were ranked first as the largest foreign visitors in Indonesia from the January to November 2023 period with a total of 15.73 percent or 1,639,254 visitors.

JONIANSYAH

Editor's Choice: Indonesia AirAsia Launches Bali-Bandar Lampung Route on January 17

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News