Pelita Air Opens Jakarta-Balikpapan Route

Pelita Air plane. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Pelita Air has started to open a new Jakarta-Balikpapan-Jakarta flight route from Terminal 3 of Soekarno-Hatta Airport to Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan Airport, Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

The Jakarta-Balikpapan-Jakarta route is a scheduled or regular flight route for the 4th subsidiary of PT Pertamina (Persero) after previously opening flight routes from Jakarta to Bali, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya and the opposite direction.

Main Director of Pelita Air Service Dendy Kurniawan said the inaugural flight to Balikpapan on Monday morning had a load factor of almost 100 percent.

"Of course, it shows that the public's interest in Pelita Air's new flights and routes is extraordinary," Dendy said in a written statement, quoted from Antara, Monday, March 20.

He said it was hoped that the opening of the new route to Balikpapan would also answer Pertamina Group's needs in providing a mode of air transportation for Pertamina Group's business activities in Balikpapan and its surroundings.

"It also answers the needs of the people who are starting to increase their activities in Balikpapan related to the government's plan to create a National Capital City (IKN) in East Kalimantan," said Dendy.

Even though it hasn't even been a year since the launch of the first scheduled flight on April 28, 2022, Dendy sees a very positive response from Pelita Air which has begun to be reflected in the load factor of Pelita Air flights.

In the future, he said, Pelita Air will continue to add new destinations to support national air connectivity with the best service, but still at affordable prices.

Meanwhile, SVP Upstream & Portfolio Co. PT Pertamina (Persero) Business Development & Portfolio Edy Karyanto said that the inaugural flight was a good achievement and a concrete form of Pelita Air's contribution to the Indonesian people in improving air connectivity.

"The public's response to Pelita Air's presence was extraordinary, as evidenced by the almost full occupancy rate this morning to Balikpapan. Of course, going forward, PT Pertamina as the 'holding' of Pelita Air will continue to provide support for Pelita Air's development plans to continue to provide the best service to the people of Indonesia," said Edy.

Using an Airbus A320-200 aircraft with a capacity of 180 seats in economy class or silver class, Pelita Air operates regular flight services for the Jakarta-Balikpapan-Jakarta route every day with a scheduled departure from Jakarta-Balikpapan at 06.30 WIB and arriving at 09.40 WITA, Balikpapan-Jakarta 10.25 WITA and arrives at 11.35 WIB with a flight frequency once per day.