Western Australia’s peak tourism body has welcomed the announcement of a new daily air service from Jakarta to Perth.
Garuda Indonesia will operate the flights, which will commence on June 28.
Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said the new service was the result of months of negotiations backed by the state government.
“This Jakarta air service is about bringing Indonesian visitors to WA, rather than just WA tourists going to Bali,” Mr Hall said.
“This new daily service will attract tourists, business travellers, conference delegates and international students alike from Indonesia and South East Asia.
Mr Hall said he expected visitor numbers to grow from the 32,000 Indonesians that visited Western Australia last year.
According to state government figures, Indonesian visitors contributed $110 million to the WA economy last year.
Tourism Minister Kim Hames said the flights would strengthen the state's trade relationship with Indonesia.
Garuda Indonesia Australia vice president Bagus Siregar said WA had become a very important port for the airline.
“We’ve launched this service to respond to the growing demand, particularly from the business community," he said.
"With the new non-stop flights, Jakarta is just under 5 hours away, which makes it very convenient for our corporate travellers.
"We foresee that the daily service will also attract many leisure travellers, as Jakarta is not only a popular Indonesian destination but also known as Asia’s newest gateway to the globe.”
