REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The minimum frequency of flights to and from the island is one of the factors that hampers the development of tourism in Lombok, Head of the West Nusa Tenggara Tourism Office Muhammad Faozal said here on Wednesday.

"Minimum flight frequency is the main reason for the slow development of tourism. Garuda Indonesia is the only airline with a flight from Bali, and it flies merely once a day," Faozal pointed out.

Three airlines---Transnusa Airlines, Merpati and Batavia Air---stopped operations in the region. As a result, there was a drop in the number of tourists, especially those who used connecting flights from Bali, he stated.

Ideally, connecting flights from Bali to Lombok must be available every hour as their minimum frequency makes the travel time from Bali to Lombok longer for tourists, Faozal explained.

"We are targeting tourists from Bali. But with the availability of a minimum number of flights, it is certainly inconvenient for them," he remarked.

However, despite the lack of connecting flights from Bali, the local government welcomes the introduction of more direct flights from a number of cities in Indonesia and from some in neighboring countries.

A number of local airlines offer direct flights to West Nusa Tenggara from seven cities in Indonesia. Also, there are at least 19 direct flights from Malaysia per week.

"We hope the Perth-Lombok route is reopened. It was closed on January 1 this year, after the minister of tourism told Air Asia to put the service on hold," Faozal noted.

Furthermore, Deputy Assistant of the Personal Development Market Segment of the Ministry of Tourism Raseno Arya stated that his institution was targeting the large number of tourists in Bali to pique their interest in Lombok.

Lombok and Sumbawa are trying to become chief tourist destinations of Indonesia, by promoting the natural beauty of their mountains and beaches, as well as their cultural, agricultural and marine products.

The province is aiming to attract 2 million domestic and foreign tourists by 2016.

In the first semester of 2015, from January to June, some 800 thousand tourists visited West Nusa Tenggara through Lombok International Airport, Lembar Harbor, West Lombok and Bali. They visited the three Gilis (islands), namely Trawangan, Air and Meno, in North Lombok district.

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