The first direct connection between Australia and the Indonesia island of Lombok today took to the skies, with Jetstar becoming the first carrier to service the route.
Its inaugural Perth-Lombok service took off this morning with more than 150 passengers on board the Airbus A320 aircraft.
Speaking to a media delegation at Perth Airport this morning, head of commercial Nigel Fanning described the launch of services as “history in the making”.
“It marks our fifth destination in Indonesia taking us to 66 in total,” he said.
Chief executive David Hall anticipated that Lombok would soon become one of the most popular destinations on its network, with Indonesia the second most popular overseas holiday destination for Australians.
“Lombok is a beautiful part of South East Asia and we’re proud to make this vibrant destination more accessible for Australian travellers,” he said.
Meanwhile, Perth Airport executive general manager Fiona Lander underlined the “affinity” Western Australians have with Indonesia, predicting the new service would prove popular.
“We worked collaboratively with Jetstar to establish this new service and we’re delighted that Western Australians and Indonesians will have this exciting direct travel opportunity.”
The four times weekly service departs Perth on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday with a flight time of approximately three hours and 40 minutes.
