Thursday, March 01, 2012

Pontianak - Flying into Zero Equator


IT is a place of many similarities and diversities. Think of Pontianak as a city in Sarawak or Sabah, but on the other side of the border.

The capital of West Kalimantan, Indonesia, is home to more than four million people.

Amazingly, it offers nearly the same tourism attractions as Sabah and Sarawak when it comes to culture, as Dayaks and Malays make up the majority of its populace with similar food, music and practices.

ZERO DEGREE

Yet, Pontianak is also unique. It is one of the few places in the world situated at zero degrees on the equator line when it was recorded by a Dutch geographer 84 years ago.

“We are Equator Asia, and we are very proud of this,” says West Kalimantan district secretary Assoui Hamdi.

There is a monument to mark its unique location. The 84-year-old monument is said to have slightly shifted southwards but based on GPS reading from the actual line and taken every noon between March 21-23 and Sept 23 every year, there are no shadows at the monument.

This debunks any other readings on the GPS and confirms that the monument is still right on zero degrees latitude.

FLIGHT TO PONTIANAK

Pontianak is six hours drive from Kuching while air travel takes 40 minutes. Indonesian airlines such as KalStar Aviation and Batavia Air serve the Kuching-Pontianak route and Malaysia Airlines’ subsidiary, Maswings, has introduced its services in this region.

With Borneo being part of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), Maswings entry into the market serves another connectivity option for Borneo.

“We are connecting Borneo with the world and we provide another option for travellers who wish to go beyond Borneo,” says chief executive officer Datuk Captain Mohd Nawawi Awang.

Maswings began operating the route on Feb 6 and serves 17 flights weekly, compared to daily flights by KalStar Aviation and three times weekly by Batavia Air from Pontianak.

“Our entry to the market has increased the seat capacity to 1,042 a week or 66,052 yearly, so we hope visitors will increase from both side of the border,” says Nawawi.

After two decades of talk between the BIMP-EAGA region leaders, the improved air connectivity can finally tap the 70 million population of potential markets in the region, with Sabah and Sarawak positioning themselves into the market.

Indonesian visitors coming to Kuching showed an eight per cent increase last year with 415,276 compared to 383,710 in the previous year.

Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Pontianak - Flying into Zero Equator
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