Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A mysterious respiratory disease and the war in Iraq have dealt a
\ndouble blow to Indonesia's airline industry, causing a
\nsignificant drop in passenger numbers and a sharp rise in
\noperational costs.<\/p>\n
The president of the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia,
\nIndra Setiawan, said the airline industry was expecting lower
\nrevenue as a result of the Iraq war and the outbreak of the
\nSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).<\/p>\n
Indra, who is also chairman of the Indonesian National Air
\nCarriers Association, said that since the emergence of SARS
\nseveral weeks ago, Garuda's daily load factor to and from
\ncountries affected by the disease -- Singapore, Hong Kong, China
\nand Vietnam -- had dropped to 60 percent from the 80 percent.<\/p>\n
In normal conditions, he said, Soekarno-Hatta airport in
\nJakarta receives at least 900 passengers a day from those four
\nSARS-affected countries, while Ngurah Rai airport in Bali
\nreceives about 1,000 travelers.<\/p>\n
The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a travel advisory
\non March 15 for those four countries in a bid to halt the rapid
\nspread of the disease.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has also urged citizens not to visit the four
\ncountries until the health crisis is brought under control.<\/p>\n
SARS, which scientists say is caused by a new virus strain,
\nhas spread across many parts of Asia, Europe and America since
\nthe first case was reported in China late last year. In China,
\nauthorities say the disease has claimed 34 lives.<\/p>\n
As for the impact of the Iraq war, Indra said Garuda's load
\nfactor to and from the Middle East had dropped to 20 percent from
\n70 percent prior to the war.<\/p>\n
The sharp decrease in the number of passengers bound for the
\nMiddle East has forced Garuda to cut its flight frequency to the
\nregion from eight times a week to two or three times a week.<\/p>\n
The president of state-owned domestic airline Merpati
\nNusantara, Hotasi Nababan, said his company would raise ticket
\nprice by between 10 percent and 12 percent this week due to the
\nrising price of fuel as a result of the Iraq war.<\/p>\n
He said the price of aviation fuel had increased by 25 percent
\ndue to the war.<\/p>\n
Hotasi also said SARS had affected Merpati, despite the fact
\nthat the airline only serves domestic routes. He said the load
\nfactor on domestic flights had dropped 5 percent due to the
\ndecrease in foreign arrivals to the country.<\/p>\n
He said Merpati would suspend service on several domestic
\nroutes considered \"unprofitable\" as part of a cost-cutting
\nprogram to deal with the impact of the Iraq war and SARS.<\/p>\n
He declined to identify the routes.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/brendi-a-witularb-the-jakarta-post-jakarta-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }