Tigerair Mandala opens Jakarta-Hong Kong route

JAKARTA. Tigerair Mandala launched its inaugural flight from Jakarta to Hong Kong last week, making it the first Indonesian low-cost carrier to connect the two cities.

The airline’s president director, Paul Rombeek, said that Tigerair Mandala which officially began its Jakarta-Hong Kong flight on Wednesday was proud to be the first local low-cost carrier (LCC) to offer this service.

“We are always excited whenever we open a new route, but this one is different,” he said in a press conference in Hong Kong on Thursday. “Our Jakarta - Hong Kong route is our longest and farthest route so far [...] Moreover, we are the first Indonesian LCC to fly direct from Jakarta to Hong Kong,” he added.

He said that the company expected to offer a daily journey after Idul Fitri. At present, the airline serves the Jakarta-Hong Kong route four times a week.

“We don’t necessarily want to steal market share from existing market players; Garuda [Indonesia], Cathay [Pacific], Air China; but we want to create our own segment, which is the local segment,” Rombeek said.

As the city dubbed “Asia’s World City”, Hong Kong is known for its metropolitan charm, multicultural environment and strong cultural heritage. The city is also popularly known as a shopping haven in Asia, and offers an endless line of street food stalls and restaurants that serve anything from Asian, the Middle East, Europe or America.

Besides shopping and culinary, Hong Kong also offers other attractions. Victoria’s Peak, Hong Kong Disneyland, Ocean Park, Avenue of Stars, Madame Tassauds and Ngong Ping 360, are some of the other tourism attractions the city has to offer. The combination of these experiences is what makes Hong Kong one of the top travel destinations for Indonesians.

According to data from Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB), Indonesians traveling to Hong Kong reached 521,000 in 2012, an increase of 15 percent from the preceding year. Rombeek said that Tigerair Mandala expects to help increase the number further with this new route.

“Prior to the inaugural flight, we have done a series of promotions on this route, from special fares and mall exhibitions, to consumer quizzes,” he said. “The fact that the customers are very excited makes the launch of this route even more special.”

With the addition of Hong Kong, Tigerair Mandala is now serving seven domestic routes after its revival back in mid 2012. The cities served include Jakarta, Denpasar, Pekanbaru, Medan, Padang, Surabaya and Yogyakarta.

The carrier also serves four international routes, connecting to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and — the latest — Hong Kong.

Tigerair Mandala currently operates nine new Airbus A320 planes to serve 46 flights per day, targeting 2.1 million passengers this year. The LCC is slated to also launch the Surabaya-Bangkok route on Aug. 2.

Rombeek said that the company eyes to have 25 planes operating by 2015.

Earlier this month, Tigerair Mandala, formerly known as Mandala Airlines, officially renamed itself in conjunction with Tiger Airways’ re-branding as Tigerair.

In this re-branding process, the company’s name remains unchanged from PT Mandala Airlines, however the brand name has changed to Tigerair Mandala, as Rombeek said the company is proud of its Indonesian Mandala heritage, but also wanted to leverage many aspects from the Tigerair Group.

Tigerair Mandala’s main shareholder is prominent investment company Saratoga Capital, while Tigerair controls a 33 percent stake in the airline. (Fikri Zaki Muhammadi)