VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Lion Air will suspend flights on the Manado-China route in anticipation of a coronavirus outbreak. "This will take effect from February 2020. In the last few remaining days, (the flights will only operate) to take back the guests," Danang Mandala Prihantoro of the Corporate Communications Strategy of Lion Air Group, said in a statement here Tuesday.

The flights to several Chinese cities will be suspended or cancelled in stages until further.

"On the Manado-China routes, there are Manado - Tianjin - Manado; Manado - Fuzhou - Manado; and Manado - Hangzhou - Manado," Danang said.

The upcoming flights until late January will only take the Chinese back to their hometowns.

The temporary suspension is part of an anticipatory measure following a travel ban by the Wuhan authorities based on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Lion Air will monitor the situation in Wuhan, where the virus originated and will keep passengers informed about the latest updates, according to him. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry has issued a travel advisory to its nationals who intend to visit China.

"Indonesian citizens who are still at home should reconsider their plan to visit China and have the wisdom to select and respond to the circulating information related to the outbreak of 2019-nCoV," acting spokesman of the ministry Teuku Faizasyah said during a press briefing in Jakarta recently.

However, the Foreign Ministry has not yet issued a travel ban for China, Faizasyah said.

"We are only advising citizens who wish to or have plans to travel to China, to exercise caution and avoid areas which based on open information have been affected or have the potential to be affected by coronavirus," he said.

He also advised Indonesians planning to visit China to access information on the location of destination through SafeTravel application provided by the Foreign Ministry.

"Through the application, anybody can understand the extent to which the Foreign Ministry recommends those wishing to travel," he said.

The information on the application is provided based on clear criteria and open information so that it can be accounted for, he added.

In the application, Hubei Province in China where Wuhan City is located is in red, which means Indonesian citizens 'cannot' visit it due to a health threat. (ANTARA)

PT Cahaya Matahari Rembulan, an Indonesian travel agent, will send 174 Chinese tourists currently visiting Solo since January 23, Central Java, back home amid the coronavirus outbreak originating from Wuhan, a Chinese city. "At present, there are 174 Chinese tourists in Solo. We will send them back home on Wednesday (January 29)," Pupun Pantiana Gunmantono, director of PT Cahaya Matahari Rembulan, said here Tuesday.

"After their return, we will halt the tour packages indefinitely because we cannot take the risk," he said.

Initially, the travel agent planned to bring 174 Chinese tourists from Kunming on January 30, but the plan was canceled and the company refunded the tourists' money because the flights serving Solo-Kunming and Kunming-Solo were stopped after the last flight on January 23, 2020.

PT Cahaya Matahari Rembulan has been frequently taking Chinese tourists from Kunming to Solo by a chartered flight by Citiling once a week.

PT Angkasa Pura, operator of the Adi Soemarmo international airport in Solo, confirmed the temporary closure of flights from and to China.

"There are no more passengers from there (China) for now. There will be one last flight taking back Chinese passengers here," Abdullah Usman, general manager of PT Angkasa Pura office in Adi Soemarmo Airport, said.

The flights to and from China will be resumed when the coronavirus outbreak ends, he said.

"The distance between Kunming and Wuhan is a lot, but we will halt the flights, anyway," he added. (ANTARA)

The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore said that no Indonesian in the island republic was infected with the coronavirus (2019-nCov) until Tuesday (January 28).

There are seven confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Singapore but none of them has affected Indonesians, chief of the embassy's information, social and cultural function, Ratna Lestari Harjana, said in an application message on Tuesday.

"All the patients are from Wuhan, China, and are now being treated at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases and Sengkang General Hospital of Singapore," she said.

The embassy expressed hope that all Indonesians must stay alert over the virus and keep their bodies and environment clean, keep abreast of information from the Singapore Government and the Indonesian Embassy.

"The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore will keep monitoring and providing the latest information on handling cases of the said virus," she said.

She said the Singapore Government has set up a Multi-Ministry Taskforce on the Wuhan Coronavirus aimed at coordinating with the Singapore Government's responses in addressing the spread of the virus.

In addition, Singapore has also adopted principal steps, including issuing a call to its citizens not to unnecessarily travel to China.

It also heightened screening efforts on the air border using thermal scanners. To handle passengers of flights from China, an airport health team has been set up. (ANTARA)

The Banda Aceh municipality has set a target of attracting at least one million tourists by 2021, according to a local official. "We are upbeat that the target could be achieved given the fact that the number of tourists to Banda Aceh has continued to rise consistently," Banda Aceh Mayor Aminullah Usman said in a statement here Tuesday.

Banda Aceh has intensified tourism promotion both locally and nationally through various media outlets in the country.

Devastated by a deadly tsunami and earthquake 15 years ago, Banda Aceh was formerly home to the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam.

He hoped the tourists would come to the city whose nickname is the "Veranda of Mecca" and enjoy the scenery of the city and the remnants of the sultanate.

The number of tourists visiting Banda Aceh in 2018 reached 393,700 and that increased to 503,992, or 28 percent in 2019.

"In 2017, 288,388 tourists visited Banda Aceh, and the figure rose to more than 500 thousand in 2019," he said.

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is still a magnet and a religious tourism icon of Banda Aceh, in addition to other interesting tourist attractions.

"From cultural preservation, arts and culture, culinary, and of course Aceh's most famous coffee. Banda Aceh has also been nicknamed 'the City of 1,001 coffee shops', a cup of coffee with a million flavors - a million stories," he explained.

Banda Aceh also shares a border with Aceh Besar and Sabang so the area is known for its marine tourism, beaches, and beautiful natural panorama.

"In the past, Banda Aceh used to be synonymous with tsunamis and prolonged conflict, but now it has turned into a beautiful, safe and comfortable city to visit. Come to our city and see for yourselves," Mayor Aminullah said.

President Director of Sindo Media Sururi Al Faruq, who signed an agreement to promote the city of Banda Aceh, concurred that the capital of Aceh Province is very attractive to people of Indonesia and international visitors.

"We are keen to report positive things about Aceh, especially Banda Aceh to be better known. That is one of our functions as a media so that tourists do not only visit Solo, Yogyakarta or Banyuwangi, but also Banda Aceh," he said. (INE/ANTARA)