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Is Jetstar launching direct flights to Lombok?

Indonesia's tourism leaders are on a mission to send more Aussie holidaymakers to islands beyond Bali this year, and they want Australia's low-cost airline, Jetstar to help make it happen.

Indonesia’s tourism leaders are on a mission to send more Aussie holidaymakers to islands beyond Bali this year, and they want Australia’s low-cost airline, Jetstar to help make it happen.

Speaking to media in Sydney this week, Wonderful Indonesia’s Director for APAC Tourism Promotion, Vinsensius Jemadu revealed that the pair are in the process of cooking up a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which could result in additional flights on existing routes and maybe even new operations to the marine island of Lombok.

Jemadu said the government is really pushing for Jetstar to resume operations to and from the island west of Sumbawa because it has many of the same marine features that attract Aussies to Bali, but without the crowds.

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“Indonesia really wants Jetstar in Lombok and we’re encouraging the airline to fly back there.”

Vinsensius Jemadu, Wonderful Indonesia Director for APAC Tourism Promotion

A Jetstar Spokesperson told KarryOn that the airline is “constantly monitoring demand across markets and will share news in future if we consider expanding our network from Singapore and Australia”.

The Spokesperson continued saying that the airline is proud of its current network of six Indonesian destinations between Jetstar Australia and Jetstar Asia.

“In May 2017, both airlines signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Tourism to work closely to bring even more international visitors to Indonesia.”

Jetstar Spokesperson

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According to Jemadu, currently 80 percent of Australians travelling to Indonesia only visit Bali and will do so repeatedly without considering other islands.

However, with a bold 1.8 million Aussie arrival target for 2017 (a 34 percent increase on last year), tourism leaders are hoping to entice new Australian visitors by exposing them to 10 other tourist islands, including Lombok and Jakarta.

Lombok is located one hour east of Bali and is home to the country’s second largest volcano, Gunung Rinjani.

Would you be keen on Jetstar flying to Lombok?