Indonesia AirAsia (QZ, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) is planning to launch maiden intercontinental services from Praya Lombok International in Indonesia with a route to Perth International operated on board an A320 equipment, kompas.com has reported.
West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor H Zulkieflimansyah said that the route would launch in February 2019 and would be directed primarily towards the prospective Australian tourists. The local government would enter into a partnership with the LCC and purchase half of the seats on every flight, using the funds earmarked by the Ministry of Tourism.
The local government is currently working on restarting the inflow of tourists to Lombok after the island was hit by a massive earthquake in August 2018.
"We have massively promoted NTB tourism to create the awareness that Lombok and [neighbouring island] Sumbawa are safe to visit," Zulkieflimansyah said.
The local government is also talking with Lion Air (JT, Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta) about prospective flights from Lombok to Jeddah International and Guangzhou.
According to the ch-aviation capacity module, Lombok currently sees predominantly domestic traffic with flights to Kuala Lumpur International and Singapore Changi, operated by AirAsia and SilkAir respectively, being the only international routes.
