TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Managing Director of Lion Group, Captain Daniel Putut Kuncoro Adi said that his company will serve the first umrah flight from Kertajati Airport, Majalengka, on Saturday, October 13.
“We start with once a week flight frequency. Up to this year’s Umrah season, the slot is already full,” he said at Gedung Sate, Bandung, Tuesday, October 9.
Lion Air will use Boeing 737-800 Max8 made in 2018 with the capacity of 176 passengers. “Our hope is it (the flight) will increase. We are ready to serve every day. For now, we start with one [flight] in a week,” Daniel said.
Read: Ombudsman: Kertajati Airport Not Ready to Accommodate Hajj Flight
The flight route is from Kertajati to Madinah, and the return flight is from Jeddah to Kertajati.
Daniel said that Lion Air has planned to replace the aircraft with a larger one. “We have an Airbus 330 with a capacity of 440 passengers, then a Boeing 747 with a capacity of 500 passengers,” he said.
Samira Ali Wisata’s Managing Director, Fauzi Wahyu Muntoro, said his Umrah travel agent DGI (Dini Group Indonesia) could get 90 people in a month, to depart from Kertajati Airport.
President Director of West Java International Airport (BIJB) Virda Dimas Ekaputra said that Lion Air agreed to serve the Umrah flight from Kertajati Airport twice a week.
West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said the Umrah flight service from Kertajati Airport had long been awaited by the West Java people.
AHMAD FIKRI
