Padang TIME – The West Sumatra Provincial Government is preparing to reopen international flight routes, especially the Padang-Kuala Lumpur route. This readiness was expressed by the Deputy Governor of West Sumatra, Audy Joinaldy in a meeting with all stakeholders related to aviation, tourism immigration, transportation and health which was held Monday, (28/03).
In the meeting it was revealed that the reopening of the flight route is part of the strategy of driving the economy through the tourism sector. One of them is to restore the ease of visiting foreign tourists to West Sumatra, without going through quarantine. This is of course also to support Visit Beautiful West Sumatra next year.
“Later, without the need for quarantine again, the condition is a booster vaccine, it can also be two vaccines by showing a negative PCR test result or antigen. If necessary, we can prepare a PCR counter directly at the airport. The Deputy Governor explained.
In general, he said the West Sumatra Provincial Government is ready to re-open overseas flight routes. According to him, the priority that needs to be done at this time is just to follow the steps that have been taken by the Riau Islands, Bali, or NTB which have already reopened their international flights.
“I am grateful for the readiness and support of various parties in the context of the re-opening of the Padang-Kuala Lumpur flight path. Later we just have to follow it, prepare the steps, what procedures have been passed by other provinces such as Riau Islands and Bali. passed, of course the same,” said the Deputy Governor.
On the other hand, the Air Asia Manager who was also present said that his party had also prepared aircraft for countries that had relaxed international flight regulations. Indonesia is no exception, in this case, especially the city of Padang.
“Even for the Padang-Kuala Lumpur summer schedule, we already have route permits. Air Asia is ready to fly, I don’t think there are any problems, because even though flights were temporarily suspended due to the pandemic, we still continue to update route permits,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Head of the West Sumatra Tourism Office, Luhur Budianda, said that the Dispar was currently studying the mechanism for the re-entry of foreign travel to West Sumatra. And his party is preparing steps to convey this program to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, the Ministry of Tourism and the Covid-19 Task Force so that they can immediately obtain permits.
It is known that currently there are seven airports that have become entry points for foreign flights, namely Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Banten, Juanda in East Java, Ngurah Rai in Bali, Sam Ratulangi in North Sulawesi, Hang Nadim and Raja Haji Fisabilillah in the Riau Archipelago. and Zaenuddin Abdul Majud in West Nusa Tenggara. Considering the Covid-19 situation in West Sumatra, which tends to be safe, he is optimistic that it is time for the Minangkabau International Airport to welcome the arrival of international tourists again.
(Department of Communication and Information Technology of West Sumatra)
