QNA Bets on Village-Based Umrah to Build Demand for FlyQiswa
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s Umrah market could be entering a nw phase as PT Qiswa Nusantara Aviasi (QNA) looks beyond major cities and travel agencies to build demand from the country’s villages.
The company is developing what it calls a “Village-Based Umrah” model, positioning rural communities as the starting point for Umrah education, customer engagement, distribution networks and, ultimately, passenger demand for its planned aviation ecosystem, FlyQiswa.
Rather than treating villages simply as pools of potential pilgrims, QNA wants to build an integrated network connecting communities with Village Agents, licensed Umrah operators, Saudi hospitality and ground-service providers and aviation services.
The strategy is outlined in QNA’s Qiswa Village Umrah Market Activation Plan, which describes a shift from a “city-centric to village-centric Umrah market.”
For QNA, the strategy is not simply about selling Umrah packages. It is aimed at creating a measurable demand base that could eventually support aviation planning.
Building demand from the ground up
CEO of PT Qiswa Nusantara Aviasi, Ardiyansyah, said the idea reflects Indonesia’s broad geographic distribution, where millions of people live outside major urban centres.
“We see villages not only as places where people live, but as community bases with significant potential to build organised Umrah demand,” Ardi said.
Under the proposed model, the process would run from:
Village → Community → Village Agent → Prospective Pilgrim → PPIU Partner → Saudi Hospitality & Ground Services → Aviation/FlyQiswa.
The structure is intended to function as a market development platform, rather than a conventional promotional campaign.
The strategy effectively reverses the traditional direction of the Umrah market.
Instead of starting with an airport, travel company and available seats before looking for passengers, QNA wants to identify communities, understand demand and then determine the travel and aviation requirements that emerge from that demand.
Turning pilgrim data into aviation demand
For Ardi, QNA’s chief commissioner, the potential value of the village strategy lies not only in the number of Umrah packages sold but also in the information generated by the network.
“We want to build the market first in a measurable way. If we know where pilgrims come from, how many there are, when they want to travel, which airports they prefer and how they travel, that information can form the basis for developing air connectivity,” he said.
The proposed data set includes the pilgrims’ origin, destination, preferred travel dates, group size, preferred airports, schedules, price preferences and seasonal demand patterns.
QNA expects such information could eventually support route planning, capacity planning, aircraft planning and seat allocation.
That creates a direct link between the company’s Umrah strategy and FlyQiswa.
“FlyQiswa is not only about providing flights. What is more important is building healthy and measurable demand so that air connectivity can grow according to market needs,” Ardi said.
QNA targets 1,000 villages
Under its 12-month market activation plan, QNA has set a number of preliminary targets:
- 1,000 villages activated
- 1,000 Village Agents
- 100 regional or district coordinators
- 100,000 leads
- 50,000 qualified leads
- 10,000 high-intent prospects
- An indicative 2,000 pilgrims
The rollout is planned in stages, beginning with 100 villages in the first quarter, reaching 250 cumulatively in the second quarter, 600 in the third quarter and 1,000 by the end of the 12-month period.
QNA stresses that the figures are planning targets rather than guarantees of commercial results.
That distinction is important for potential investors and business partners, as the commercial value of the model will ultimately depend on QNA’s ability to convert community engagement into actual Umrah bookings and, eventually, airline passengers.
Village Agents will not handle pilgrim funds
QNA’s model also places limits on the role of Village Agents.
They are not intended to collect or manage Umrah payments independently.
Instead, their functions are expected to include education, community liaison, marketing representation, lead generation and customer relationship facilitation.
Travel arrangements and pilgrim funds would remain within the domain of licensed PPIU Umrah operators, in accordance with applicable regulations.
QNA therefore positions itself primarily as a market activation and connectivity ecosystem developer, while licensed PPIU partners remain responsible for the organisation of Umrah travel.
From customer database to passenger pipeline
This is where QNA’s village strategy begins to intersect with the economics of aviation.
If the village network generates sufficient demand data, QNA could map the market through a sequence such as:
Origin City → Number of Pilgrims → Group Size → Preferred Airport → Travel Date → Destination → Seat Requirement.
The company describes this concept as a “Passenger Pipeline Generator” for its aviation business.
The objective is to give FlyQiswa a demand-side perspective before expanding connectivity.
“We want to build airline connectivity based on measurable demand. Rather than simply saying there is a market, we want to know where the market is, who the passengers are and when they need to fly,” Ardi said.
For an aviation business, that distinction can be significant.
Airlines face high fixed costs and must manage aircraft utilisation, routes and seat capacity carefully. A stronger understanding of demand can therefore help determine where capacity may be deployed and when.
An opportunity for investors
For investors, the concept offers a different way of looking at the economics of an aviation start-up.
Investment in market development would not be limited to brand awareness. It could also create a distribution network, customer database and potential passenger pipeline.
QNA’s plan identifies several potential assets from the programme:
network, distribution, customer database, customer pipeline and aviation demand data.
The strategy essentially places demand creation ahead of capacity expansion.
In simple terms, the company is attempting to answer a fundamental aviation question before adding capacity:
Where will the passengers come from?
Meeting with Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Villages
The concept gained additional public attention following a meeting between QNA executives and Ahmad Riza Patria, Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions.
The meeting provided an opportunity to introduce the broader idea of empowering rural communities through an Umrah travel ecosystem.
However, the meeting does not by itself indicate a formal partnership between QNA and the Ministry of Villages and Development of Disadvantaged Regions.
QNA has described the meeting as part of communication and an exploration of ideas surrounding the potential development of village communities through the Umrah economy.
A different route to the Umrah market
The strategic shift proposed by QNA can be summarised in a simple change of direction.
The conventional model tends to follow:
Airport → Travel Agency → Pilgrim
QNA is proposing:
Village → Community → Demand → Travel → Airport → Aviation
That is essentially a market-creation strategy.
If the model works, rural communities could become not only sources of Umrah customers but also sources of structured demand information for the aviation business.
This is where FlyQiswa becomes strategically important.
Rather than being positioned solely as an airline product, FlyQiswa is envisioned as part of a broader ecosystem connecting Indonesian villages, pilgrims, PPIU operators, Saudi ground services and aviation.
QNA’s stated long-term objective is the creation of a “QISWA Integrated Umrah & Aviation Ecosystem.”
BUSINESS VERDICT
QNA is attempting to build more than an Umrah travel business.
It is attempting to build the market first.
Villages provide the starting point.
Village Agents provide the distribution layer.
Community engagement creates demand.
The database provides market intelligence.
Pilgrims become a potential customer pipeline.
And FlyQiswa represents the aviation component at the end of the chain.
For investors, however, the key question will not simply be how many villages QNA can activate.
The more important question will be how much of that community-level interest can ultimately be converted into paying pilgrims and recurring passenger demand.
That will determine whether the village strategy becomes a scalable commercial asset or remains primarily a marketing programme.
For QNA, the underlying proposition is straightforward: aircraft need passengers, and passengers require a network that can generate sustainable demand.
“We believe villages are not merely markets. Villages are the starting point for building an ecosystem. From villages we build demand, from demand we build connectivity, and from connectivity we build the future of aviation,” Ardi said. (jamira)
