Jakarta. Japan Airlines, the country's national flag carrier and second-largest airline, has started charter flights between Tokyo and Denpasar, Bali, the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism said on Saturday (17/06).

The airline uses Boeing 767-300 aircraft on the flights, scheduled for June 17, 20 and 23, between Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport.

Japan is one of Indonesia's main sources of foreign tourists, with a target of 762,000 visitors this year.

"So far, there are 587 passengers who will embark on the flights from Japan," said I Gde Pitana, deputy for marketing development at the Tourism Ministry, as quoted in a statement received by the Jakarta Globe.

Japan Airlines used to operate direct flights to Indonesia, with around 400 passengers daily, but these were suspended in September 2010 due to internal issues at the company.

"Even though this is only a charter flight, it is an opportunity to welcome Japanese tourists to Indonesia," said Vinsensius Jemadu, assistant deputy for Asia-Pacific market development at the Tourism Ministry.

Besides Japan Airlines, Malaysia-based low-cost airline AirAsia operates the Narita-Denpasar and Mumbai-Denpasar routes.

Indonesia's Sriwijaya Air was also chartered by China's Dong Fang Travel to operate a flight from Guangzhou to Tarakan, North Kalimantan, on July 10.