"The Korean Air will open a charter flight for seven times," Lombok International Airports General Manager I Gusti Ngurah Ardita stated in Mataram District, the capital of West Nusa Tenggara Province, on Monday.
Ardita confirmed the information to journalists after a meeting with the Korean Airs Network and Sales General Manager of South East Asia/Oceania, Bae Sang Wook, and Regional Manager of Indonesia Park Kee Hyun in Mataram, Lombok.
The Gonghang-dong, Gangseo-gu, Seoul-based airline companys aircraft would arrive at the Lombok International Airport (LIA) from July 29 to the end of Aug 2017, Ardita noted.
"This charter flight is, of course, expected to open a fixed route for Korea-Lomboks flights," he noted.
Ardita explained that the arrival of Korean Air to Lombok Island was a result of the last meeting between the LIA and the Korean Air company on April 25, 2017, which was also supported by the regional government and the Tourism Board of West Nusa Tenggara.
Earlier in a separate interview, West Nusa Tenggara Governor TGH Muhammad Zainul Majdi remarked during a visit by South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Cho Tai Young and his wife Madame Cho Gye Young that the flight charter from South Korea to Lombok in Aug 2017 could be continued into a regular flight.
Majdi expected that a regular flight would increase the number of South Korean tourists and ease the investment inflow to West Nusa Tenggara.
The Indonesian government is hopeful of attaining 20 million foreign tourists annually by 2019 amid concerted efforts to make the archipelago a world-class tourism destination, one of which is in Lombok Island. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017
