Indonesia offers in-air visa service

Garuda Indonesia launched an immigration-on-board service on Saturday for Shanghai travelers to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, as part of its effort to improve tourism between China and Indonesia.

The service means that immigration officers will provide visas on arrival to passengers on board a Garuda Indonesia flight from Shanghai to Jakarta, said Faik Fhmi, service director of Garuda Indonesia.

The airline has already introduced the service on other air routes — from Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Osaka to Jakarta and Denpasar in Indonesia.

Fhmi said to obtain the immigration-on-board service, passengers from Shanghai must first purchase a visa-on-arrival voucher at Garuda Indonesia check-in counters at Pudong International Airport. During the flight, two immigration officers will conduct passport checks and issue visas. Passengers who have been given the entry visa will also receive a special card that must be returned to the ground immigration officers upon arrival before leaving the airport.

"We aim to increase Chinese passengers for Indonesia from last year's 600,000 to 1 million this year by providing such a convenient service," said Fhmi.

The airline plans to add 24 new airplanes to its fleet this year to open new domestic routes to meet increasing demand from tourists from China, he said.