Operations, Seran Velu. At right is the Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia, Jahar Gultom.
KUCHING: The inaugural flight from Pontianak to Miri by Xpress Air will be on Dec 12, with the flight from Pontianak to touch down at Miri Airport at 4pm. Xpress Air will fly the Miri- Pontianak route twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Departures from Pontianak are at 1.25pm (Indonesia time), arriving in Miri at 4pm (Malaysia time) while departures from Miri will be at 4.50pm (Malaysia time, arriving in Pontianak at 5.25pm (Indonesia time).
There is a time difference of one hour between Malaysia and Indonesia, meaning that the flight from Miri to Pontianak takes 1 hour 35 minutes. Assistant Minister of Tourism, Datuk Lee Kim Shin said that this new route will benefit greatly Miri and Pontianak in terms of tourism and business, as well as neighbouring Brunei.
“Upon arrival on Dec 12 at 4.00pm, the ai rcraf t wi l l be given the water salute, followed by speeches from Xpress Air, Consul General of the Republic of Indones ia, Jahar Gul tom and State Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports, Datuk Abdul Kar im Rahman Hamzah.
“After the ceremony, the aircraft will then fly back to Pontianak for another symbolic inaugural flight ceremony,” said Lee in a press conference held at Bangunan Baitulmakmur yesterday. Present at the press conference were Jahar Gultom and Xpress Air Head of International Operations, Seran Velu. Lee explained that this flight connects to Jogjakarta on the same aircraft.
There are also plans to establish a connecting flight from Miri to Bandung via Pontianak in the future. Jahar said that thi s Miri – Pontianak air route would greatly facilitate travelling back home for the over 100,000 Indonesian workers in Miri and another 56,000 in Brunei.
“Usually, they (Indonesian workers) would take the bus back to Pontianak, which takes about 18 hours from Miri. “This air route will greatly decrease their travel time and enable them to go home more often.
“I hope that through this airline, we are able to strengthen bilateral relationship between Indonesia and Sarawak,” said Jahar. Xpress Air has been operating in Sarawak since 2013. If this route performs well, another airline company, Lion Air might also want to establish its own Miri- Pontianak flight.
