AEC Feed

AirAsia Indonesia has opened new international routes to Mumbai and Macau to tap into high demand among tourists from the two countries.
“The growing number of Chinese and Indian tourists coming to Indonesia boosts our spirit to launch the new routes,” Dendy Kurniawan, AirAsia group chief executive for Indonesia, said as quoted by Tempo.co.
He said the airline was committed to supporting the Indonesian government’s efforts to develop tourism by extending its route network and offering services at affordable prices.
AirAsia Indonesia is set to operate a direct flight from Jakarta to Macau three times per week in a first phase starting on August 7 and four times per week starting on September 1 for the second phase. With promotional fares for the period of August 7 to June 5, the new service will use an Airbus A320-200 that can accommodate 180 passengers.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai route will start on May 19 and connect to Bali – with a transit of 65 minutes in Kuala Lumpur. AirAsia X Indonesia plans to serve the flight seven times per week using Airbus A330-300 aircraft that can accommodate 377 passengers. – The Jakarta Post

Widodo proud of progress of maritime sector 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has claimed that investment in the maritime sector is showing good results and supporting the maritime axis vision that he declared three years ago.
The so-called maritime highway programme, which aims to connect western and eastern Indonesia through regular freight services, had reduced prices of goods in eastern Indonesia by 20-25 per cent, he said.
He also noted good progress in the expansion of Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta, which accommodated a large ship carrying 10,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers last week to serve a direct route between Jakarta and Los Angeles.
Widodo said he considered this a breakthrough, because it eliminates the need to trans-ship cargo in Singapore.
“We hope another big port, Kuala Tanjung Port, will be finished this year. We need to work with other big ports that have wide networks,” he said. – The Jakarta Post

Malaysia has the most Wazers in region 
Malaysia has the highest number of Waze users in Asia and is among the top five worldwide. Waze is a community-based traffic and navigation application.
Mona Weng, Waze global strategic partnerships manager, said the growth of the app in Malaysia was seen most strongly in the past couple of years.
“I think there is a big traffic issue and Waze is the way to get around it,” she said, adding that the growth in the number of users could also have coincided with the smartphone penetration in the country.
She said Waze was now seeking government partners under its “Connected Citizens” programme to share publicly available data so that motorists spend less time on the road. This can include road closures for planned events or construction as well as those due to emergencies or weather. Currently, Waze is working with the government of Malaysia’s Selangor state to allow motorists to file complaints on potholes, which are then channelled to local councils for action. – The Star