Jetstar’s Australian and Asian airlines have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian government, in a move that promises to increase passenger capacity and develop the overall number of inbound tourist arrivals to Indonesia.
In line with government plans to bring 15 million international visitors this year and 20 million by 2019, the agreement is indicative of wider plans from the Indonesian Tourism Ministry to boost its air capacity by four million seats in 2017 and an additional 10.5 million seats by 2019.
Dean Salter and Bara Pasupathi, the respective CEOs of Jetstar and Jetstar Asia, signed the Memorandum of Understanding along with Indonesian Tourism Ministry secretary, Ukus Kuswara and Tourism Minister Arief Yahya.
In a statement, the minister said: “with up to 80% of international tourists arriving into Indonesia by air, the role that airlines like the Jetstar Group plays will be critical in enabling the Indonesian government to achieve its 2017 and 2019 tourism targets.â€
To achieve the goals laid out in the agreement, Jetstar group will implement 25 codeshare and interline full-service carriers. Australia, Singapore and the broader Asia Pacific have been identified as key source markets for Indonesia, in terms of both business and leisure travel.
Combined, the two airlines transported a total of 1.4 million passengers to and from Indonesia in 2016, operating more than 120 weekly flights each week to six destinations throughout the archipelago: Denpasar, Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya, Pekanbaru and Palembang.
Following the announcement, Jetstar confirmed their intentions to open up additional routes to promote international tourism and business travel to popular and lesser-known destinations in Indonesia.
Since they launched in Australia in 2004, Jetstar group have carried more than 200 million passengers. They operate over 4,000 flights every week to more than 75 destinations.
