Balikpapan, E Kalimantan (ANTARA) - Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said on Wednesday that his ministry is coordinating with the Transportation Ministry to address the issue of limited domestic flights to East Kalimantan.
The growing demand for flights to the province has raised airfares. Increasing flight schedules to Balikpapan and Samarinda, the province's two major cities, is a key solution.
He said that he received many complaints about the high prices of domestic flight tickets to East Kalimantan, which some travelers find even more expensive than international flights.
"It was not necessarily the price, but the limited availability of domestic flight tickets," Uno said, responding to the issue of expensive flights to East Kalimantan.
ANTARA observed from some travel service providers that all flights to the province from seven major cities in Indonesia—Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Makassar, Denpasar, Manado, and Banjarmasin—are sold out until May 4.
"This must be solved immediately," Uno said.
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He said that the scarcity of flight tickets to East Kalimantan is due to limited flights and increased people's activities, along with the relocation of the national capital to Nusantara.
"People who left East Kalimantan during Eid have not been able to return here because of the limited seats," he said.
Tourism Minister collaborates to boost East Kalimantan flights
File - Passengers wait for departure time at APT Pranoto Airport in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on December 20, 2018. (ANTARA FOTO/Yulius Satria Wijaya/foc)
