"Garuda will open a new domestic route following new airplanes bought by the airline company," he said.
According to him, the new domestic route linking Padang to Medan had been canceled once before.
"The new route was planned to open at the end of 2011," he added.
Dedi Irawan said passengers` enthusiasm in visiting Medan was great but not enough planes. Therefore, he added, the new route was opened following a strong demand for flights to Medan for tourists.
Besides adding the new domestic route, Garuda Indonesia would like also to add new five routes in five cities in Indonesia.
"The five routes will be launched soon to develop tourism destinations in West Sumatera," he said.
Meanwhile, for a new international route linking Padang to Singapore, the Management of Garuda Indonesia was still considering it, he said.
"The company (Garuda Indonesia) will think in terns of business value in opening the new international route. We won`t open the route if it is only to meet a request from government request, because its operational cost is quite high," he added.
(Uu.F013/H-NG/O001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
