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Citilink has officially launched its route between Perth and Jakarta, with the first flight touching down in Perth over the weekend.
Flight QG556 landed in Perth at 12:11am on Sunday, on board the Airbus A320neo aircraft PK-GTI. It took off for Jakarta at 1:44am as QG557, landing in the Indonesian capital at 5am local time.
Citilink, the low-cost arm of Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, will fly return between Perth and Jakarta three times per week, and earlier this month resumed a daily service between Perth and Denpasar. Both routes use Airbus A320neo aircraft.
Flights from Jakarta to Perth will depart Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, returning to Jakarta on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
“These services will bring almost 190,000 additional seats to the market, which is fantastic news for those travelling for leisure, business or education,” said Kate Holsgrove, Acting CEO of Perth Airport.
“Indonesia is our nearest neighbour and one of the most popular tourism destinations for Western Australians, and as a significant trading partner with a population of 273 million, these new services to Indonesia only brings further business and trade opportunities.”
According to Citilink Indonesia CEO Dewa Rai, the new routes are “quite promising”, as Australian tourists had some of the highest numbers visiting Indonesia last year – the fourth highest of any country, per Indonesian government data.
“With the recently received global award from Skytrax, Citilink is highly optimistic that this award gives us an advantage of added value in attracting the public’s interest. This can be applied for Indonesians and foreign tourists alike, to visit Jakarta, Denpasar and Perth respectively,” he said.
“The opening of these new international routes is expected to improve bilateral relations between the two countries so that they can increase the potential for cooperation in various sectors such as culture, economy, politics, social and so many more.”
The Perth to Denpasar and Perth to Jakarta routes are currently both served by Indonesia AirAsia, while Jetstar, Batik Air and Batik Air Malaysia also fly between Perth and Denpasar.
