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THE JEMBER Regency Government announced plans for a pioneering flight for the Jember route to Sumenep, Madura and vice versa. The first flight will be carried out on January 10. Ticket prices are very cheap, in the range of IDR242,000-IDR247,000 per person, because they are accompanied by subsidies from the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation.
According to the Head of Jember Regency, Hendy Siswanto said, this is a central program that provides an opportunity for the Jember-Sumenep flight route. The pilot program from the Ministry of Transportation for our airport can become operational. The aircraft operating is the Cessna Grand Caravan type. It is run by the airline Susi Air, a company owned by the former Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Susi Pudjiastuti.
“The maximum capacity of the aircraft can accommodate 12 people. The frequency of flights is only carried out every Tuesday or one round trip a week. The flight schedule starts from Sumenep Trunojoyo Airport at around 12.04 WIB, and arrives at Jember’s Notohadinegoro Airport at 12.44 WIB. The ticket price is IDR242,000,” he said.
Next, continued Hendy Siswanto from Jember’s Notohadinegoro Airport at 12.54 WIB until returned to Trunojoyo Sumenep Airport around 13.34 WIB. Ticket prices increased slightly IDR247 thousand.
“I was surprised by the presence of this program. This is because it is felt to complement the celebration of the 94th anniversary of Jember Regency. It is hoped that this flight will revive Notohadinegoro Airport which was vacuumed during the COVID-19 period and left behind by three major airlines.
Hendy sees that the Jember-Sumenep route has the potential for aircraft passenger occupancy to be fulfilled. This is related to the background of some residents of Jember and the surrounding area in the former Besuki Residency who are of Madurese descent.
“The projection, in our opinion, will be quite potential. Moreover, in Jember there are quite a lot of people of Madurese descent, almost 56.4%,” Hendy remarked.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Jember Transportation Agency, Agus Wijaya, claims that the upcoming flight will add to the list of modes of transportation. The effect, will further increase the mobility of the population to stimulate the economy.
“In addition, flights shorten travel time and efficiency for officials in their activities outside the city. We hope that all inter-sectoral regional apparatus organizations will support the Department of Transportation’s efforts to revive the airport. So, if there is a business trip, you can use the Grand Caravan aircraft,” he noted.
He explained that recently, the arrival of a Cessna aircraft on the Jember-Surabaya flight route at Notohadinegoro Airport was the first. However, impromptu cooperation. Without any planning, a collaboration emerged between the Jember Regency Government and PT Amaya Alam Semesta (AAS).
The government of Jember Regency is said to have provided a guarantee of IDR1 billion for the aircraft charter company from Malang City so that it will operate the aircraft. The guarantee deposit is sourced from dividends or profit sharing for storing hundreds of billions of rupiah in Jember regional cash at Bank Jatim.
Likewise, the Head of the Jember Branch of Bank Jatim Wawan Budi Rachmanto acknowledged this by saying that his party was also bound by a cooperation agreement between the Jember Regency Government and PT AAS. [sources/photo special]
