Samarinda Airport Serves Garuda Indonesia's First Flight And Batik Air Jakarta - Surabaya Route

JAKARTA - Aji Pangeran Tumenggung Airport (APT) Pranoto in Samarinda, has started serving the inaugural flight of Garuda Indonesia airline on the Samarinda - Jakarta route to go home (pp) and Batik Air airline on the Samarinda - Surabaya pp route.

Head of the BLU Airport Organizing Unit APT Pranoto I Kadek Yuli Sastrawan welcomed the opening of this route and hoped that the demand for this route could continue to increase in line with community economic growth and the expansion of connectivity networks.

"The operation of new routes at APT Pranoto Airport by these two airlines is expected to open up great opportunities for connectivity, economic growth, tourism, to easy access to business and government centers, including the capital city of Nusantara (IKN)," said Kadek, Saturday, August 2.

On the inaugural flight ceremony on Friday, August 1, Garuda Indonesia GA 581 operated Boeing 737-800 and Batik Air ID 6684 with Airbus A320 which will operate every day.

Kadek said that currently APT Pranoto Airport has a runway length of 2,250 m x 45 m with a passenger terminal area of 12,700 m2, so that it can accommodate 1.5 million passengers per year.

Kadek further stated that APT Pranoto Airport is ready to serve passengers, both domestic and foreign tourists, to visit leading destinations in East Kalimantan.

Garuda Indonesia Commercial Director, Reza Aulia Hakim explained, the opening of flight routes to and from Samarinda is a real step for Garuda Indonesia to expand the air connectivity network.

"This actively acts as a driving force for economic turnover in the eastern region of Kalimantan, both through tourist and business visits," he continued.

Deputy Mayor Saefuddin Zuhri said the re-arrival of Garuda Indonesia and Batik Air in Samarinda was not just a symbol, but the fruit of the long struggle and cross-sectoral collaboration that had been carried out by local governments for more than a year.

"We do not stop writing, coordinating, diplomacy, and building communication with various parties, both ministries and airlines. Today is the result of this collective effort," said Saefuddin.

He emphasized that this route will have a major impact on accelerating Samarinda development, including ease of community mobility, efficiency in logistics distribution, inflation control, to increasing investment attractiveness.

"Efficient air transportation is the foundation of modern economic growth which is able to open up greater opportunities for the movement of people and goods, as well as reduce logistics costs," he said.