Three Foreign Airlines will Open New Routes to Toba Lake
10 February 2017 10:32 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Foreign airlines Tiger Air, Silk Air and Air Asia will open new routes to Silangit Airport in North Tapanuli, North Sumatra, according to Lake Toba tourism authority director Arie Prasetyo. The airport is expected to support the development of Lake Toba, which has been named as a new tourist attraction touted to lure 20 million foreign tourists.
“As for Air Asia, the owner of the airline Tony Fernandes had met with Tourism Minister Arief Yahya,” Arie told Tempo yesterday.
The three international airlines, Arie said, will add to the list of existing airlines operating at Silangit Airport i.e. Sriwijaya Air with its Boeing 737-500 aircraft and flag carrier Garuda with Bombardier aircraft. “The introduction of the three airlines will greatly help Toba Lake tourism authority. The target of 1 million tourist arrivals in Lake Toba for 2019 will no longer be a difficult task,” Arie said.
The project to extend Silangit Airport runway to 2,650 meters is underway and expected to complete by September this year. “While waiting for the [runway] extension, Lake Toba tourism authority had met with Singapore Tourism Board. As a result, Tiger Air and Silk Air had promised to operate at Silangit,” Arie said.
Lake Toba tourism authority will manage 600 hectares of land near Sibisa Airport in Toba Samosir. The agency plans to lease the land for a period of 30-80 years. Foreign investors had vowed to build hotels on it, according to Arie. “In March 2017, we will hold a business appointment with Singapore,” Arie said.
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