Garuda reopens Fukuoka-Denpasar direct route<\/p>\n
Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali<\/p>\n
National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has reopened its direct
\nroute between Fukuoka and Denpasar -- which was closed in
\nNovember 2002 -- in order to fight for a 20 percent market share
\nof Japanese passengers this year.<\/p>\n
Garuda's vice president for networking, Simon Pulungan, said
\nat a press conference to announce the airlines' inaugural flight
\nthat the main reason for reopening the route was to challenge the
\ndomination of Singapore Airlines (SQ), Cathay Pacific (CX) and
\nJapan Airlines (JAL).<\/p>\n
\"If SQ does not increase its flights, we have an opportunity
\nto challenge its domination for the Japan-Indonesia route. SQ
\ndoes not have direct flights between Indonesia and Japan, but it
\nhas connections with the Singapore hub,\" he said over the
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
Pulungan said Cathay Pacific also flew to Indonesia from
\nJapan, but with stop overs in Hong Kong. JAL is the only direct
\ncompetitor to Garuda as it has direct flights to Indonesia from
\ntwo Japanese cities -- Tokyo and Osaka.<\/p>\n
To compete with JAL as the only other airline with direct
\nflights from Japan to Indonesia, Garuda is offering tour
\npackages, he added.<\/p>\n
\"The tour packages are suited to the schedule of Garuda
\nflights. Actually, a market still exists and automatically will
\nbe shared. In the future, the competition will be mostly related
\nto the tour packages offered by each airline,\" said the general
\nmanager of Garuda for Nagoya and Osaka, Marco Umbas.<\/p>\n
Besides reopening the Fukuoka-Denpasar route, with flights
\nevery Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, Garuda has also increased its
\nflight frequency between Osaka and Denpasar to five times from
\nthree times a week.<\/p>\n
By resuming flights to Fukuoka and increasing flight frequency
\nto Osaka, Garuda has increased its flights to Japan to 18 times a
\nweek. The airline flies to Tokyo seven times a week and to Osaka
\nfive times a week.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's consul general in Osaka, Pitono Purnomo, said
\nJapan had potential as a tourist market for Indonesia. According
\nto the Japanese statistics agency, Japanese spent 70 percent of
\ntheir leisure time for traveling domestically and internationally
\nin 2001.<\/p>\n
In 2004, almost 17 million Japanese traveled outside their
\ncountry. This number was likely to grow by three million in 2007,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Pitono said, Indonesia could grab only 4
\npercent of Japanese tourists while European countries could grab
\n30 percent, the United States 23 percent, China 17 percent, South
\nKorea 13 percent and Thailand 8 percent.<\/p>\n
\"We must also remember that the Japanese are known for their
\ntight schedules. They don't like to waste time on traveling time.
\nGaruda has to be aware of this,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The direct route will enable Garuda to reach Japan in six
\nhours. It takes nine hours with Singapore Airlines and Cathay
\nPacific including transiting in Singapore or Hong Kong
\nrespectively.<\/p>\n
According to Pulungan, Garuda currently flies Airbus 330 there
\nwith a capacity of 293 seats and Boeing 747-400 with a capacity
\nof 405 seats.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/garuda-reopens-fukuoka-denpasar-direct-route-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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