Susi Air Immediately Serves Balikpapan-Mamuju Flights Starting September 1, 2022

Susi Air plane. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The airline Susi Air will soon serve the flight route from Balikpapan City, East Kalimantan Province, to Mamuju City, West Sulawesi Province (Sulbar).

The Acting Governor of West Sulawesi, Akmal Malik, said that he had signed a memorandum of understanding with Susi Air for the opening of the Balikpapan to Mamuju flight route.

He said the signing was carried out by the President Director of PT Sulawesi Barat Malaqbi (Perseroda), Arianto Burhan Makka, and the President Director of PT Asi Pudjiastuti Aviation which oversees the airline Susi Air, Zulkarnaen Adinegara.

In addition, it was witnessed by the President Commissioner of Susi Air, Susi Pudjiastuti, who is a former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.

The Governor of West Sulawesi said, with this collaboration, the airline Susi Air will start flying the Balikpapan-Mamuju flight route starting on September 1, 2022.

According to him, the airline Susi Air will use a new aircraft serving the Balikpapan-Mamuju route, so that it will save operational costs.

"If the aircraft is used, the operational costs will be efficient, besides that the travel time will also be faster, besides that it will maximize service to passengers," he said, quoted from Antara.

He conveyed that with the Balikpapan Mamuju flight route service, the people of West Sulawesi who were going to Kalimantan no longer needed to go to Makassar to go to Balikpapan.

"So far, the people of Mamuju, have to go to Makassar Sultan Hasanuddin Airport, which is 450 kilometers from Mamuju City, if they want to go to Balikpapan, but this can already go directly to Balikpapan via Mamuju Airport," he said.

He said, with the Balikpapan-Mamuju flight route using Susi Air aircraft, the new state capital (IKN) in Kalimantan would be easier to reach.

The Governor said that the West Sulawesi government had carried out the mandate of Indonesian President Joko Widodo, to open access for flights to IKN from Mamuju City, and Mamuju was ready to become an IKN buffer area.

"The wheels of the economy of the people of West Sulawesi will also move more positively with the existence of new flight routes to and from Balikpapan and make the position of West Sulawesi more strategic as a support for IKN," he said.