Garuda to Reopen Jakarta-Pontianak Route

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia will reopen the Jakarta – Pontianak flight route beginning October 8, 2007 after it terminated its service to the West Kalimantan provincial capital in 2005 as the Antara News explains.

“Our flight schedules for Jakarta – Pontianak flight services will be set at 11 am Western Indonesian Standard Time (WIB) and for Pontianak – Jakarta at 12.50 WIB,” Garuda`s General Manager Wempie Ohoiwotun said here on Sunday.

Using Boeing 737-300, Garuda will serve the Jakarta-Pontianak route once a day.

He said that Garuda will reopen the route because Pontianak had become a big market for Garuda.

West Kalimantan also has the potential to attract foreign tourists, particularly those from Australia, he said.

West Kalimantan`s airport is the biggest one in Kalimantan. Airlines that have flight services to Pontianak included Lion Air, Batavia Air, Sriwijaya Air, Adam Air, Kalstar, Indonesia Air transport, and Deraya Air Service.

Garuda Indonesia will also increase its flight frequency from Central Java`s Semarang city to Singapore to five from four times a week starting next year.

“If its fleet makes it possible Garuda will fly the route every day due to strong demand,” Head of the Central Java Information, Communication and Public Relations Office Saman Kadarisman said over the weekend.

To anticipate the possible closure of its Semarang-Singapore route, the national flag carrier changed its morning flight to night one using its idle plane, he said.

Given the change in flight schedule, Garuda flew to Singapore via Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Jakarta in the morning and flew back to Semarang in the evening, he said.