British Airways, Swiss Air stop Indonesian services<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Swiss Air and British Airways said on Tuesday
\nthey would suspend their Indonesian flights beginning from
\nNovember due to a continued drop in revenue.<\/p>\n
Swiss Air country manager Irma Purba told The Jakarta Post the
\nairline decided to suspend its Jakarta flights because revenue
\nfrom the route was no longer sufficient to support operational
\ncosts.<\/p>\n
"The revenue we obtain from serving Jakarta is not sufficient
\nto support our operations. The erosion in returns is more than 50
\npercent," she said.<\/p>\n
Swiss Air currently serves its Jakarta route via Singapore
\nthree times a week .<\/p>\n
Irma said the decline in the revenue was partly due to the
\nairline's decision to recently reduce ticket prices to
\naccommodate the public's diminished buying capacity.<\/p>\n
Swiss Air began operations in Jakarta in 1980. It suspended
\nits service in 1991 amid the restructuring program of its
\nservices in the Far East region. The airline resumed operations
\nin March last year.<\/p>\n
Irma said the airline was not facing any problems with the
\nload factor for the route.<\/p>\n
"The load factor for the route itself is excellent -- on
\naverage recently at between 70 percent and 80 percent. Though
\nJakarta contributes 20 percent at the maximum to (that figure),"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
British Airways said the main reason behind its decision to
\nsuspend its Jakarta flights was a decline in the number of
\npassengers.<\/p>\n
"Over the last 18 months, we have reviewed the performance of
\nthe Jakarta route in great detail. Unfortunately, even with the
\nmore promising economic indicators of recent times it is not
\npossible for British Airways to make a return sufficient to
\njustify continuation of services at this time," said British
\nAirways manager for Indonesia Claire Hatton.<\/p>\n
"As with other businesses, the less promising economic
\nconditions over the last few months has affected business
\nperformance. In our case, it has caused a decrease in passenger
\ndemand. This is due to a decrease in traffic to Europe and the
\nUnited Kingdom, which are our primary destinations," she said.<\/p>\n
British Airways previously had six flights to Jakarta every
\nweek before slashing the flights to two flights in October 1998.<\/p>\n
The two airline's flight suspension decision was made despite
\na recent optimistic prediction by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts
\nand Culture of a steady increase in the number of inbound
\narrivals this year.<\/p>\n
Inbound arrivals through Indonesia's 13 points of entry in the
\nfirst half of the year revealed that there was more than a 10
\npercent increase, or 1.86 million foreign tourists compared to
\n1.68 visitors in the corresponding period in 1998.<\/p>\n
Inbound arrivals to Jakarta however, remained low due to the
\nunstable political situation. There was an 18.3 percent drop, or
\nonly 606,188 foreign visitors to the capital during the period.<\/p>\n
While Bali and Batam maintained their status as the country's
\nmost visited islands, recording an increase of respectively 32.3
\npercent and 17 percent and welcoming 683,083 and 606,188 visitors
\neach.<\/p>\n
The ministry predicted Indonesia would receive up to 354,150
\ninternational tourists in October, 354,500 in November and
\n404,530 in December.<\/p>\n
This year's visitor arrivals are expected to increase to 5
\nmillion people, from 3.5 million people in the previous year.<\/p>\n
Claire said British Airways would maintain its Jakarta office
\nand would still serve Indonesian passengers traveling to London
\nvia Singapore and Hong Kong through its alliance partners.<\/p>\n
She said the connecting flights from Jakarta to Singapore or
\nHong Kong would be served by airline partners -- including Qantas
\nand Cathay Pacific -- at no additional charge.<\/p>\n
She said the airline might resume services "if market
\nconditions change radically for the better and if returns
\nincrease significantly". (cst)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/british-airways-swiss-air-stop-indonesian-services-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}