LOW-COST airline AirAsia has announced plans to open four new international routes from Indonesia to India, Japan, Macao and Shenzhen this year.

　　The route from Jakarta to Shenzhen via Singapore will be put into operation Oct. 17, following Jakarta-Macao service that will start Aug. 17.

　　Indonesia AirAsia will buy two aircraft, an Airbus A320 and A330, to add to its existing 24 aircraft fleet.

　　Indonesia, an important country under China's Belt and Road Initiative, has been maintaining active trade ties with Shenzhen.

　　This will be the second air route linking Shenzhen and Jakarta, after the direct flight that opened in September last year by China Southern Airlines to enhance trade, tourism and personnel exchanges.

　　Indonesia AirAsia CEO Dendy Kurniawan was quoted by Xinhua as saying Tuesday that the action was taken to support Indonesia's tourism program by bringing in 15 million foreign tourists in 2017. A total of 11.4 million foreigners visited the country last year and AirAsia contributed to 25 percent of them through its international flights.

　　The two routes are among the six new routes that three Indonesian airlines will open to China starting in June to attract more Chinese tourists.

　　Sriwijaya Air will launch three new routes in June from Jakarta to Nanning, Jakarta to Haikou, and Denpasar to Nanning. Indonesia plans to fly from Denpasar to Chengdu this year. The airline company currently operates regular flights between Jakarta and Denpasar to three Chinese cities: Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai.

　　In 2017, Indonesia expects to receive 2.1 million tourists from China, higher than last year's figure of 1.43 million.