Semarang, capital of Central Java, located on Java?s north coast will soon be served by two international airlines and one additional domestic airline, said Anom Fitrhanggono, General Affair and Communication Section Head of PT Angkasa Pura of the Ahmad Yani Airport in Semarang.
The three airlines are?SilkAir,?Tiger Airways?and?Citilink, who will fill a number of empty slots abandoned by the now bankrupt Batavia Air.
Both SilkAir and Tiger Airways are expected to serve the?Singapore-Semarang?route starting June 2013, while Citilink will flyJakarta-Semarang?starting May this year.
The new flights are warmly welcomed by the tourism industry seeing that this year has been designated the Visit Central Java 2013 Year, facilitating tourists to visit this wonderful destination.
Semarang is the entry gate to a visit to the mighty?Borobudur?and?Prambanan?temples, the?Dieng highlands, the Peranakan Batik producing center at?Pekalongan, as well as the furniture center at?Jepara,?Kudus?and?Demak, and the dive destination of?Karimunjawa.
Semarang itself is wellknown for its heritage of the 15th century temple built by Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho, elsewhere known asAdmiral Zheng He, when he set foot here.
Meanwhile, General Manager of the Ahmad Yani Airport said that the airport is in the process of expanding its apron to accommodate 10 aircrafts from the present 5 planes. The airport’s terminal capacity will also be increased from 4,000 passengers to 15,000 passengers.
Separately, CEO Citilink, Arif Wibowo confirmed that next to the airline?s new route to Semarang, other new routes will be fromJakarta?to?Bengkulu, Jakarta-Jambi,?Jakarta-Pangkalpinang?(Bangka)?and Jakarta ??Tanjungpandan?(Belitung).
(Source : Bisnis Indonesia)