The Ministry of Transportation has relaxed the rules that had initially stopped operations for various modes of transportation, which took effect on 24th April 2020.
A series of airlines immediately announced they would resume operations. The three that have confirmed flights are Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, and airlines under the Lion Air Group.
Garuda Reopens Domestic Routes as of Thursday 7th May 2020
Garuda Indonesia has announced the reopening of flight services from Thursday 7th May.
Garuda Indonesia’s Managing Director, Irfan Sebuahutra, said ticket reservations had been available since Wednesday 6th May at 3pm through its official website, Garuda-Indonesia.com.
“Flights are already starting to fly, transporting passengers as well as cargo,” Irfan said.
Vice President of Corporate Secretary of Garuda Indonesia, Mitra Piranti, said that the domestic routes that are being operated have been adjusted to the rules and permissions of the Ministry of Transportation.
“Most of the routes between major cities have been opened. Like Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar, Makassar, and Medan,” said Mitra.
As for international flights, Mitra said, destinations to China and the Middle East are still not operating because the two regions had not yet opened flight accesses.
Citilink Flys Again Starting on Friday 8th May 2020
Following its parent company, Garuda Indonesia, Citilink Indonesia has also announced it its return to serving domestic flights as of Friday 8th May from 12pm. Director of Citilink Indonesia, Juliandra, said the decision to return to serving passengers was accompanied by various strict rules.
“Strict policies are applied to prospective passengers to complete a variety of travel documents that must be uploaded when making a ticket purchase. Among them are a health certificate and documents to show they are free of COVID-19 from a hospital, a letter of assignment from the office or related agencies, travel statements, and various other supporting documents,” said Juliandra.
In addition, prospective passengers are also required to be able to show completed original documents in their physical forms at check-in and are also required to have a return ticket.
Lion Air Group Returns to the Air on Sunday 10th May 2020
The Corporate Communications Strategist of Lion Air Group, Danang Mandala Prihantoro, explained that flight operations will be carried out in accordance with applicable health protocols.
“Lion Air Group submitted a plan to re-operate domestic flight services, which will be scheduled to start on Sunday 10th May,” Danang said through an official statement on Thursday 7th May.
Prior to this, the three airlines under Lion Air Group – Lion Air, Wings Air, and Batik Air – claimed to have been granted the Ministry of Transportation’s permission to conduct special exemption flights on Sunday 3rd May but the plans were mothballed the same day.
Source: Kumparan
Image: Sumsel Update (Garuda), Ini Surabaya (Lion), and Berita Satu (Citilink).