Indonesia’s TransNusa will soon commence international operations, revealed Bernard Francis, Group Chief while speaking to local media. The airline, which initially served as an Indonesian domestic carrier, is now transiting to international destinations, offering full-fledged airline facilities and services.
The airline will start scheduled operations connecting Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta and Kuala Lumpur starting April 14, 2023.
Following this route, the airline will start scheduled services between Jakarta and other Malaysian airports. The airline has aspirations beyond point-to-point market and is planning to connect with other airlines operating in Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The airline is planning to deploy its three A320-200 and A320-200 on the route offering twice daily services. The airline hopes to meet strong passenger demand on this route.
Speaking on potential partnerships Francis said: “We are talking about potential codeshares with other regional airlines that operate (from) Kuala Lumpur and, similarly, also from Terminal 3, we could work with other airlines. We want to also have interline and codeshare opportunities by flying to an airport that serves many airlines, that would widen our opportunities to work with other airlines and grow our market,”
TransNusa has already gained approvals from both the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities and has already sold over 800 tickets on the route. The airline is awaiting the green light to Johor Bahru. It currently has two bases in Indonesia, which are in Bali and Jakarta.
“For now, we will stick to Kuala Lumpur Subang as everybody is interested in it, we will try to fulfil the demand and have our flights depart from Subang by the end of the year. We are already discussing an opportunity to fly to Johor Bahru from Jakarta. I've met with Sabah Tourism and Sarawak Tourism to explore opportunities. It's a greenfield market, not many direct flights,” Francis added.