Published on March 17, 2014
Hong Kong-based carrier, Dragonair announced in its official press release on 5th March 2014 that starting 27th April 2014 the airline will commence a twice-weekly service to the romantic island of Bali, flying Thursdays and Sundays.
The island of Bali and its capital city Denpasar will become Dragonair’s first destination in Indonesia.“This adds one of the world’s most popular leisure destinations to Dragonair’s growing network and provides a new travel option for its passengers” stated Dragonair.
The flights will be served by Airbus A330-300 aircrafts in a two-class configuration, featuring the airline’s new Business Class and Economy Class cabins with its brand new on-demand in-flight entertainment systems.
Dragonair is a subsidiary of Hong Kong’s flag carrier, Cathay Pacific, and an affiliate member of the Oneworld Airline Alliance. Cathay Pacific currently operates a daily service between Hong Kong and Bali, and together with Dragonair, the two airlines will operate a total of nine weekly flights on the Denpasar route.
The opening of the new route is expected to bring more international tourists from the People’s Republic of China to Indonesia. “We’ve seen an increase in the occupancy rate in our flights (from Hong Kong) to Denpasar, Bali,” Cathay Pacific country manager Patton Chan said in a media briefing on Thursday, 13th March 2014, as reported by thejakartapost.com.
“Dragonair flies to a lot of cities on mainland China. We can help bring more Chinese tourists to Indonesia,” he added, citing that the airline flies to 47 destinations, including 22 cities, in mainland China. “I hope they (Chinese tourists) don’t just go to Bali but also to other parts of the country,” he continued.
Other airlines currently serving the route of Hongkong-Bali include Garuda Indonesia, Hong Kong Airlines, and Tigerair Mandala.
Citilink Targets 5 New International Routes After Johor Baru, Malaysia
Meanwhile, after the opening of the Surabaya-Johor Baru, Malaysia route on 15th March 2014, Indonesian low cost carrier Citilink aims to serve 5 new international routes in the Asia-Australia region. Targeting a total number of 8.2 million passengers in 2014, the subsidiary of Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia looks to expand its routes to Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia (on 3rd April), Singapore (in May), Hongkong, Taiwan, and Perth-Australia.
Surabaya, capital city of East Java is the second largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta.
“Citilink is expanding its flight activities which previously only focused on domestic flights” said Citilink Director Arif Wibowo during the inaugural flight from Surabaya to Johor Baru in Surabaya, Saturday, 15th March 2014, as reported by detik.com.
With the opening of new international routes and the growing number of flights, Indonesia is now more easily accessible by air. Through this development, the country has also expanded its connectivity with major cities in the Southeast Asian Region and other parts of the globe including with Hong Kong and Australia.
Photo Courtesy http://www.dragonair.com/
