Acting NTB Regional Secretary Lalu Moh Faozal said the requests for additional flight slots reflect the surge in bookings by festival participants.
"Based on traffic at four airports, there’s a noticeable increase in passenger numbers heading to NTB between July 23 and 25 from routes such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, and Makassar," he said at a press conference on Monday.
Among the airlines, Garuda Indonesia has applied to add flights on the Jakarta–Lombok route, Citilink on the Surabaya–Lombok route, Wings Air on the Denpasar–Lombok route, and Lion Air on the Makassar–Lombok route.
"These additional flights also include return trips from Lombok," Faozal added.
In addition to air travel, the provincial government is optimizing sea transportation via entry points such as Lembar Port in West Lombok (from Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya), Tanjungwangi Port in Banyuwangi (East Java), and Senggigi Port (connecting to Padang Bai and Benoa in Bali).
For land transportation, electric vehicles and shuttle buses will be prepared to transport participants and spectators to and from sports venues.
Meanwhile, NTB Governor Lalu Muhamad Iqbal said that at least 15,400 participants have registered for Fornas VIII so far. The number is expected to increase ahead of the opening on July 26.
"Our target is 18,000 participants, and we hope it could reach 20,000," he added.
He also expressed hope that, given the high number of attendees, businesses such as hotels and airlines will avoid raising prices excessively.
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Translator: Nur, Kenzu
Editor: Anton Santoso
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