Cathay to serve more flights to Indonesia<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific Airways
\nwill gradually increase its weekly flight frequencies to
\nIndonesia to 28 flights beginning next week from 19 flights at
\npresent to meet rising demand, a senior executive said.<\/p>\n
Cathay Pacific country manager for Indonesia James Ginns said
\non Thursday that nine new flights were added to Indonesian
\ndestinations as the company saw a 30 percent growth in passenger
\nrevenue last year.<\/p>\n
\"A 30 percent growth is very impressive, and last year we
\nfound that our flights couldn't meet the high demand,\" he told a
\npress briefing.<\/p>\n
Ginns said that the forthcoming schedule of 28 flights
\nexceeded the level of 24 flights a week before the economic
\ncrisis started to hit the country in September, 1997.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong-Jakarta afternoon route will be increased to a
\ndaily nonstop flight, from only three times a week previously.<\/p>\n
\"In addition to that we also have our daily morning flights to
\nHong Kong via Singapore,\" Cathay's assistant manager for
\nmarketing and passenger sales Ida Sylviana Bekti said.<\/p>\n
Hong Kong-Surabaya nonstop flights will occur three times a
\nweek instead of the previous two times a week, and the Hong Kong-
\nDenpasar nonstop route will be flown eleven times a week from the
\nprevious seven times.<\/p>\n
Ida said the load factor for all of last year averaged 75
\npercent for all destinations in Indonesia, he said, adding that
\nthis was an ideal percentage for an airline service to have.<\/p>\n
\"75 percent is a comfortable load factor, more than 80 percent
\nwould mean that we were losing bookings,\" Ginns said, explaining
\nthat more than 80 percent would mean that the airline had to
\nreject some of its potential passengers.<\/p>\n
He said that he expects the load factor to stay at an average
\nof 75 percent this year, despite the slight drop in the first two
\nmonths of 2001 due to the aftermath of the double peak season
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
\"This is just a momentary phenomena, and I'm optimistic that
\npassenger levels will pick up again for the rest of the year,\"
\nGinns said.<\/p>\n
Before the country's economic crisis, the airline had an
\naverage load factor of 80 percent, which dropped to between 55
\npercent and 60 percent during the Asian economic crisis, he said.<\/p>\n
Ginns said that the market was still highly inbound, with only
\na small outbound market from Bali.<\/p>\n
\"A large segment of passengers to Surabaya are businesspeople,
\nmany ethnic Chinese use the routes for family reunions, while
\nDenpasar is largely a tourist market,\" he said, adding that
\nJakarta was similar to Surabaya with a small leisure market for
\noutbound travelers and not much inbound.<\/p>\n
Surabaya operations contributes 20 percent to Indonesian
\npassenger revenue, Ginns said.<\/p>\n
He said that although its Indonesian operations were
\nimproving, Cathay Pacific had no short-term plan to expand its
\nservices to include other destinations around the country.<\/p>\n
\"We would rather increase flight frequency to existing points
\nin Indonesia.. but we are always open to the possibility of
\nadding more destinations,\" Ginns said, explaining that the
\nairline was aware of the great potential of other parts of
\nIndonesia as a tourist destination.<\/p>\n
Cathay Pacific began flying to Indonesia in 1961 initially
\nwith Jakarta as the sole destination, followed by Denpasar in
\n1972, and Surabaya in 1995.<\/p>\n
The airline operates 68 aircraft including Boeing 747-400,
\nBoeing 777-300 and 200, Airbus A340-300, and Airbus A330-300.<\/p>\n
It will deploy 10 new aircraft this year, including the Airbus
\nA330-300, and two Boeing 747-400 freighters. (tnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cathay-to-serve-more-flights-to-indonesia-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}