Airfreight service restriction criticized<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government's plan to limit international air
\nfreighters' services to Batam island in Riau province will make
\ncargo services more costly, an executive said.<\/p>\n
Jean-Paul Moreau of Air France Cargo said here yesterday that
\nif the requirement was fully enforced the operational costs would
\nbe much higher even though the landing rates at Batam's Hang
\nNadim Airport were lower.<\/p>\n
\"It will be costly for any air carriers which have passenger
\nservices to Jakarta, for instance, to fly to Batam for the cargo
\nservice,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The government plans to close all other Indonesian airports to
\ninternational cargo jets. The policy will therefore force
\ninternational cargo jets serving Indonesian destinations to
\nreroute their services to Hang Nadim Airport.<\/p>\n
Although the airport offers lower landing fees and cheaper
\naviation fuel to attract international cargo jets, it is still
\nshort of cargo handling and other related equipment.<\/p>\n
Moreau said that his company had not received any official
\nnotice from the Indonesia government advising it to fly to Batam
\ninstead of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The plan was initially introduced to optimize the utilization
\nof Hang Nadim Airport, in which huge amounts have been invested
\nto expand its capacity to handle airplanes of up to 747-400s.
\nHang Nadim's runway has been extended to more than 4,000 meters,
\nlonger than Jakarta's Cengkareng airport's, and its apron can
\nhost seven Boeing B-747-400s, three Boeing-737s and three F-28s
\nsimultaneously.<\/p>\n
Hang Nadim was designed to rival the modernistic Changi
\nAirport in Singapore, which is just some 25 kilometers from
\nBatam. Hang Nadim has been renovated to meet many international
\nstandards, but only for passenger services.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto has frequently
\nsaid that all foreign cargo planes must land in Batam so that
\nHang Nadim would become the country's air cargo center.<\/p>\n
The minister claims that all international air cargo carriers
\nmust load and unload in Hang Nadim and that only domestic air
\ncargo companies may handle domestic cargo storage and
\ndistribution. This would protect the country's domestic airlines
\nin air freight services, he said.<\/p>\n
But no law has been passed to that effect.<\/p>\n
Officials at the Ministry of Transportation and the
\nDirectorate General of Air Transportation were unavailable for
\ncomment yesterday.<\/p>\n
Promising<\/p>\n
Moreau said that Indonesia had had a promising air cargo
\nbusiness in recent years.<\/p>\n
\"Out of some 202,000 tons of cargo transported by Air France
\nwithin Asia annually, 14,000 tons were from Singapore, Kuala
\nLumpur and Jakarta. Cargo from Jakarta accounts for some one-
\nthird of the 14,000 tons,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Asia, Air France Cargo, which owns 12 air freighters, also
\nflies to Japan, Thailand, India, Korea, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong
\nKong.<\/p>\n
The company currently operates a once a week service linking
\nParis and Jakarta by Boeing 747-200 cargo jet. In addition, Air
\nFrance operates A-340 passenger jets daily between Paris and
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
According to Moreau, his company, the third largest air
\nfreighter worldwide after Lufthansa and Korean Air, has
\nsigned a cargo cooperation agreement which allows airlines to
\nshare cargo capacity.<\/p>\n
He said neither the haze from local forest fires or
\nIndonesia's currency turmoil had affected Air France Cargo's
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
\"We have been affected in Malaysia and Thailand (due to the
\nthe recent plunge in the ringgit's and baht's value) as we use
\nlocal currencies, but we quote in U.S. dollars in Indonesia,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The haze has affected passenger air services, not cargo
\nservices, he said. (icn)<\/p>",
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