REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BATAM - Indonesian airlines, Garuda Indonesia, will open new flight route from Makassar (South Sulawesi) to Medan (North Sumatra) to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) in February 2014 to facilitate Umrah pilgrims arriving from Sumatra.

The Garuda Senior Manager of Business Development Region I Sumatera Husein Abdurrrahman said in Batam, on Friday, that umrah pilgrims from Sumatra typically departed for Jeddah via Jakarta, making the ticket more expensive and the trip much longer than necessary.

"With the new flight route Makassar-Medan-Jeddah, we hope the umrah pilgrimage will be more affordable and easier for customers," Husein noted.

Besides this, the opening of the new route to Jeddah was also expected to decrease foreign flight density at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Garuda will operate the Boeing 747 plane 400 series with a capacity of about 300 persons and will fly four times a week.

According to Husein, due to the high interest in travelling to Mecca, based on 95 percent booked seats from Jakarta to Jeddah, Garuda has targeted 70 percent of the seats for the new route being booked. In the near future, Garuda will also open new flight route between Surabaya (East Java) and Jeddah to meet the high demand from customers in East Java.

"The high demand during umrah has increased even further in Jakarta, and by opening new routes from other cities to Jeddah, we want to contribute toward easing flight traffic at Soekarno-Hatta Airport," Husein claimed.

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