1) Papua`s economy grows 7.97 percent far above national average

2) Lion Air Group Plans to Operate More Services out of Timika

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http://www.antaranews.com/en/news/103439/papuas-economy-grows-797-percent-far-above-national-average

1) Papua`s economy grows 7.97 percent far above national average

Rabu, 2 Maret 2016 19:02 WIB | 333 Views

Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA News) - Papua, one of the countrys most backward and impoverished provinces recorded a strong economic growth of 7.97 percent in 2015.

The growth recorded by Papua was well above the countrys economic growth of 4.79 percent in 2015, head of the representative office of Bank Indonesia for Papua Joko Supratikto said here on Wednesday.

In the last quarter of 2015, the economy of the province grew 14.08 percent driven by net exports that surged 252.65 percent , Joko said. 

He said consumption that grew 5.87 percent on religious and new year celebrations, also contributed to jacking up the economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2015.

In addition, the investment sector that grew 7.41 percent on government projects also contributed considerably to the economic growth, 

Joko said the economy of Papua is expected to expand in 2016 driven by brisker mining industry. 

"Estimate by Bank Indonesia puts Papuas economic growth at 8.59-9.59 percent in 2016," he said.

Joko quoted reports by mining companies, that Papua exported 1.2 million ounces of gold and 744 million pounds of copper in 2015.

The exports bare predicted to rise to 1.8 million ounces of gold and 1.8 billion pounds of copper in concentrate. 

U.S. mining company PT Freeport Indonesia, the countrys largest copper and gold producer, has large copper and gold mines in Papua. (*)

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HTTP://EN.TEMPO.CO/READ/NEWS/2016/03/02/056750036/LION-AIR-GROUP-PLANS-TO-OPERATE-MORE-SERVICES-OUT-OF-TIMIKA

WEDNESDAY, 02 MARCH, 2016 | 19:56 WIB

2) Lion Air Group Plans to Operate More Services out of Timika

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - One of Indonesia's aviation giants, Lion Air Group, is mulling over the possibility of opening new, scheduled passenger services to Timika in the province of Papua.

The Head of Timika's Agency for Transport, Communications, and Informations, John Rettob said in Timika on Wednesday, March 2, 2016, that Lion Air Group's subsidiaries - Batik Air and Wings Air - have done the preliminary leg work to ensure that Timika's airport is ready to handle its' fleet, which includes checking the readiness of the airport's ground handling team, the availability of a ticketing office, as well as offices for its' staff and other auxiliary services.

"We are welcoming the move, as more scheduled services to and from Timika will mean increased connectivity for residents of the area," said John. "More flights also mean more competitive prices, which is always good."

John also said that despite the fact that Batik Air was recently sanctioned over an incident that struck one of its' airplanes in Jogjakarta, it has begun to move to meet all the prerequisites necessary to begin serving the route. "Once it's done, then Batik Air could begin to develop the capacity of the airport to accommodate its' fleet in Timika," he said.

Batik Air plans to deploy two of its' airplanes to serve round-trip flights between Tangerang's Soekarno-Hatta Airport to Timika via Makassar daily, as well as a daily non-stop round-trip service between Jakarta's Halim Perdanakusumah Airport and Timika.

Meanwhile, Wings Air plans to begin operating daily round-trip flights from Jayapura to Timika via Wamena using its' ATR fleet, starting at the end of March 2016. The same flight will continue on to Tual in Southeast Maluku, three times a week.

To date, only two national carriers serve flights in and out of Timika's Mozes Kilangin Airport - namely flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia and Sriwijaya Air.

ANTARANEWS