Garuda increases Aceh flights

MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): Garuda Indonesia Airways has expanded the flight frequency on its Medan-Banda Aceh service from seven flights to nine flights a week.

"From now on we will serve two flights a day every Thursday and Saturday," Aryo K. Bardijan, sales manager of the Garuda office in Medan, said on Tuesday.

He said Garuda would depart Medan on those two days at 9:20 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.

Demand for air travel from the province has increased in recent weeks due to the disruption of bus services from Banda Aceh to Medan in North Sumatra, according to Aryo.

"We previously expanded our flight capacity by replacing the operations of small planes with the larger ones. But that was not enough," he said.

Garuda replaced the operation of its 92-seat capacity Boeing 737-500 planes with the larger 124-seat Boeing 737-400 planes late last month. (udi/39)