Manado, N Sulawesi, July 13 (Antara)- Low-cost carrier Citilink Indonesia has planned to operate a regular direct flight serving Manado in North Sulawesi and China, starting late 2016.

"We will attempt to make the Manado-China route operational before 2016," Commercial Director of Citilink Indonesia Hans Nugroho affirmed here, Wednesday.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Manado is expected to increase as they are fond of the sea and culinary specialties, both of which are available in abundance in North Sulawesi, according to Nugroho.

So far, Chinese tourists have visited Manado aboard chartered aircraft operating thrice in two weeks until August 2016.

Citilink, a subsidiary of the Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, has served more than 240 daily flights to 27 cities, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Batam, Bandung, Banjarmasin, Denpasar, Balikpapan, Yogyakarta, Medan, Palembang, Padang, Makassar, Pekanbaru, Lombok, Bengkulu, Jambi, Semarang, Malang, Kupang, Pangkal Pinang, Tanjung Pandan, Solo, Palangkaraya, Pontianak, Manado, Aceh, and Dili.

As many as 1,139,281 Chinese tourists had visited Indonesia in 2015, an increase of 18.77 percent compared to 959,231 visitors recorded in 2014.

Indonesia hopes to attract 12 million foreign tourists this year, particularly from Malaysia, Singapore, China, Australia, and Japan.

***1***

(f001/INE/o001)

EDITED BY INE





(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/O001) 13-07-2016 11:51:12