Foreign airlines beef up their Indonesian services<\/p>\n
TOKYO (Agencies): Japanese carriers All Nippon Airways and
\nJapan Airlines will set up special flights to Indonesia to
\naccommodate the flood of Japanese nationals fleeing the country,
\nthe Foreign Ministry said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Starting today, the two airlines will send 11 extra flights to
\nIndonesia over three days, the ministry said.<\/p>\n
The flights can transport about 3,400 passengers back to
\nJapan, it said.<\/p>\n
In Manila, Philippine Airlines Inc. said it would use larger
\naircraft on its Jakarta service to fly more Filipinos out of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
\"PAL's regular flight to Jakarta today and tomorrow, using the
\n246-seater A300B4 aircraft, has been upgraded to the 390-seater
\nBoeing 747-200 jumbo jet,\" the company said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\"With the upgrading, 144 more Filipinos can be flown back to
\nManila.\"<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, the airline's regular flight using the 141-seater
\nBoeing 737-300 will also be upgraded to the A300B4, which would
\nincrease seating capacity by 105, the statement said.<\/p>\n
The Philippine foreign ministry estimates there are about
\n3,000 Filipinos in Indonesia, about 2,000 of them in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Three special Singapore Airlines (SIA) flights meanwhile flew
\nhome yesterday carrying 1,131 people from Jakarta, state television
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
It quoted Singapore's Ambassador to Indonesia, Edward Lee, as
\nsaying more than 800 of the passengers were Singaporeans.<\/p>\n
Singapore television quoted Lee as saying help had been given
\nto Singaporeans without funds or passports. Passengers only had to
\nsign a form and pay for their tickets later. Those without
\npassports were issued with certificates of travel.<\/p>\n
It quoted SIA as saying it would operate large Boeing 747
\naircraft over the next three days on its services from Jakarta. SIA
\nnormally operates Airbus A310s, which carry 183 passengers, on the
\nroute. The 747s can carry 400 passengers.<\/p>\n
SIA would mount three additional flights on each of the next
\nthree days. Two extra flights departed for Jakarta on Friday night.<\/p>\n
The Australian government said yesterday it had arranged for
\ncommercial charter flights to assist Australians wishing to leave
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
The move was necessary because of the high demand for seats on
\nscheduled flights from the country, said a statement issued by
\nForeign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer.<\/p>\n
The first of the chartered flights is expected to leave
\nJakarta early today, the statement said.<\/p>\n
Defense force assets, including aircraft, are also ready to
\npull Australians out if needed, the statement said.<\/p>\n
\"As a precautionary measure also, the government has decided
\nto increase the state of readiness of Australian defense force
\nassets, including aircraft, against the possibility that they might
\nbe needed to assist the departure of Australians from Indonesia,\"
\nthe statement said.<\/p>\n
Britain said it was laying on extra flights out of Indonesia
\nand urged British expatriates to consider leaving.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Office also advised Britons not to travel to the
\ncountry unless their journey was essential.<\/p>\n
In a travel advice notice, the Foreign Office said British
\nAirways was running an additional flight from Jakarta to Kuala
\nLumpur on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"British Airways hopes to run other additional flights
\nsubsequently, depending on demand,\" the Foreign Office said.<\/p>\n
The Hong Kong government has asked Cathay Pacific Airways to
\nprovide a special flight to evacuate Hong Kong residents stranded
\nby rioting in Indonesia, a top official said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Secretary for Security Peter Lai the flight was to leave
\nJakarta yesterday for Singapore. Passengers would deplane there and
\ncontinue to their destinations on different airlines, he said.<\/p>\n
Cathay Pacific, Asia's biggest carrier, has switched from
\nAirbus planes to the bigger Boeing 747-400 on all flights from
\nJakarta, \"the biggest we could have,\" said a Cathay Pacific
\nemployee in Hong Kong, who gave her first name as Martina.<\/p>\n
Flights were delayed as the airline was trying to make sure it
\nwas getting out everyone who wanted to leave.<\/p>\n
A private security firm, Jardine Securicor Services, has
\nloaned its 130-vehicle fleet to the Chinese embassy to coordinate
\ndepartures from Jakarta, Lai said.<\/p>",
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