Starting on 28th October 2019, Batik Air began operations on a new direct route connecting Jakarta with Timika in Papua. The new and improved access to Papua offers travellers in Indonesia the chance to visit one of the country’s most naturally beautiful and culturally distinctive locations.
“We hope the new Jakarta-Timika route will be able to support the government’s programme to achieve the target of attracting foreign and local tourists,†said CEO of Batik Air Achmad Luthfie in an official statement. Set to run a daily schedule, Batik Air’s newest flights will be serviced by Airbus A320-200 aircraft, which have the capacity for 12 business class and 144 economy class seats. Each is equipped with in-flight entertainment.
The first flight on the new service (ID-6186) departed from Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 12:05 a.m. local time and arrived at Mozes Kilangin International Airport in Timika, Papua, at 7:15 a.m. According to the new flight schedule, the return flight (ID-6187) will take off from Timika at 7:55 a.m., arriving in Soekarno-Hatta at 10:50 a.m. Timika is two hours ahead of Jakarta.
In addition to the new Jakarta-Timika flight, Batik Air also launched another service to Timika from Sultan Hasanuddin International Airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi. This service adds to the airline’s existing connections to Sorong and Manokwari in West Papua, as well as Jayapura and Merauke in Papua. Like the Jakarta flight, the new Makassar-Timika service will operate once daily.
Batik Air is a subsidiary of Indonesian low-cost carrier Lion Air. The airline provides a personal television (in-flight entertainment system) in every seat, along with light snacks and free meals, seat pitches of 32 inches (81 cm) for economy class and 45 inches (114 cm) for business class, and a free baggage allowance of 20 kg (44 lb) for economy class and 30 kg (66 lb) for business class. As of September 2019, Batik Air serves over 45 domestic and international destinations, including Singapore, Chennai in India, Perth in Australia as well as Guilin and Kunming in China.
