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THE OPENING of the Taipei–Manado flight route by the TransNusa airline because it was considered to strengthen connectivity and encourage visits by foreign tourists, especially from the Taiwan market, was appreciated by the Ministry of Tourism.
According to the Deputy for Marketing at the Ministry of Tourism, Ni Made Ayu Marthini, the new route was the result of a collaboration between TransNusa and Cocos Tour, with support from the government and IETO Taipei in response to the increasing interest of Taiwanese tourists in visiting Indonesia.
“Connectivity is the key to expanding access and increasing the competitiveness of destinations. Direct flights from Taiwan have been long awaited. We hope this route attracts more tourists to Indonesia in a sustainable manner,” said Made in a written statement in Manado, recently.
According to him, the Taiwanese market is showing a growth trend with strong interest in natural tourism and special interests such as fitness, marine tourism and culinary. Manado is considered to be one of the favorite destinations because of its underwater potential and close cultural character.
Data from the Ministry of Tourism records that tourists from Taiwan throughout 2025 reached 204,704 visits, an increase of 11.65% compared to the same period the previous year which recorded 183,341 visits. Taiwan is also consistently included in the top 20 countries contributing to foreign tourist visits to Indonesia.
Made assesses that the presence of this new route can strengthen the tourism ecosystem and open up economic opportunities for the people of North Sulawesi. The inaugural flight took place on February 14 2026 from Taipei at 14.00 local time and arrived at Sam Ratulangi Airport at 18.00 WITA.
The reverse route departs from Manado at 09.00 WITA and arrives in Taipei at 13.00 local time. The flight uses an Airbus A320 aircraft with return schedules on 14, 18 and 22 February 2026.
Meanwhile, the Head of IETO Taipei, Arif Sulistyo, said that the direct route shortens travel time while opening up opportunities for tourism, trade and investment cooperation between the two regions.
He said that his party would continue to support strengthening promotion and cooperation in strategic sectors so that routes could operate sustainably. [traveltext.id/photo special]
