"Yesterday, I directly witnessed Malaysia Airlines open a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Pekanbaru (Riau Province)," he noted, during The Weekly Brief with the Sandi Uno virtual event on Monday.
In addition to Malaysia Airlines, the airlines Jeju Air from South Korea has also opened a flight to Manado, North Sulawesi, after the two parties signed an agreement.
"We appreciate and thank those parties that have facilitated this," he remarked.
Moreover, state-run airline Garuda Indonesia will begin operating a flight from Japan to Bali three times a week, on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The plan is to open this flight at the start of November 2022.
Officially, Garuda Indonesia will announced that Japanese tourists can travel to Bali from any where.
Uno estimated that Narita and Osaka in Japan will be the departure location for tourists travelling to Bali, much like during the COVID-19 pandemic period.
"After we fought, finally more direct flights came to Indonesia," he said.
He said he expects that the direct flights will not only depart for overseas from each destination, but also return to Indonesia.
During the occasion, Uno also condemned catcalling toward tourists, which ruins the image and reputation of Indonesian tourism.
This statement came as a response to suspected catcalling toward a tourist that visited the tourism destination Gili Trawangan, North Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, which became viral on TikTok.
"Catcalling is a heinous act toward tourists or anyone, usually the opposite sex," he remarked, while adding that such actions are considered an annoyance.
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Translator: M Baqir I A, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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