General manager of Garuda Indonesia's Jayapura office branch, Agny Gallus Pratama, informed here on Friday that Garuda will prepare one aircraft at Sentani Airport, Papua, to serve flights to Biak, Timika, and Merauke.
"So far, the aircraft is stationed in Jakarta, and if it flies to Jayapura, it must transit at Biak first, so this scheme must be changed," he said.
He explained that earlier, Garuda Indonesia flights from Jakarta to Jayapura had to transit at Makassar and then Biak or Timika.
Therefore, Garuda Indonesia will serve the Jakarta-Jayapura route directly, and the fleet readied at Sentani Airport will serve flights to other regions in Papua, such as Biak and Timika, he said.
Moreover, the new direct flight from Jakarta to Jayapura will support the 2023 Sail Teluk Cenderawasih (STC), which will be held from November 1–7 in Biak Numfor, Papua, he added.
"This is one of our priorities, especially in Jayapura so that flights in Papua can be easier and faster," he said.
He added that his side is also working with other airlines to provide cargo services to the mountainous regions of Papua.
Pratama earlier said that Garuda Indonesia is focusing on cargo services to support the export of products from Jayapura to overseas locations.
Garuda is offering special prices to entrepreneurs in Jayapura for the cargo services.
"Currently, we are focusing on export cargo services from Jayapura to abroad for entrepreneurs in Jayapura who want to carry out exports," he said.
He affirmed that Garuda will fully support native Papuan entrepreneurs and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and exporters in Papua.
The national flight carrier will also increase the frequency of its flight services on the Jayapura-Jakarta route to ten times a week starting from the end of October this year.
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Translator: Ardiles L, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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