Garuda sees clear skies for new Vietnam route<\/p>\n
Adianto P. Simamora
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nHo Chi Minh City, Vietnam<\/p>\n
Despite its absence for about six years, the country's flagship
\ncarrier Garuda Indonesia does not seem to be finding any
\ndifficulty in luring customers back for its new Jakarta-Ho Chi
\nMinh City route.<\/p>\n
In fact, all of the 134 seats were sold out for its flight
\nfrom Ho Chi Minh City's Tan Son Nhat Airport to Jakarta last
\nFriday after reopening the route on Dec. 16.<\/p>\n
Because of this, Garuda marketing and sales executive Joko
\nTriatmoko and company spokesperson Singgih were forced to
\npostpone their flight home after accompanying 17 travel agent
\nrepresentatives and nine journalists from Indonesia for a four-
\nday tour to Vietnam in conjunction with the reopening of the
\nroute.<\/p>\n
Garuda suspended the route in October 1997 following the late
\n1990s regional financial crisis after serving it for more than
\neight years.<\/p>\n
Garuda now flies to Ho Chi Minh City three times a week -- on
\nTuesdays, Fridays and Sundays -- using Boeing B-737-400s. It
\noffers two classes, business and economy.<\/p>\n
Currently Garuda is offering a promotion package for the
\neconomy class at US$379 (the normal price is $400). The business
\nclass is offered at $655.<\/p>\n
\"Passengers will transit in Singapore but there will be no
\nchange of aircraft,\" Joko said.<\/p>\n
\"The flight via Singapore is comfortable because there are
\nplenty of connecting flights to other destinations such as
\nAmsterdam, Denpasar and Surabaya on other Garuda flights.\"<\/p>\n
Singapore has another advantage as a stop-over because there
\nare more passengers available than those departing from Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Joko said that the total number of Indonesians visiting
\nVietnam was expected to increase by 30 percent to about 17,492
\npeople in 2003, up from last year's 13,456.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, visitors departing from Singapore to Vietnam are
\nexpected to increase by 9 percent to 105,905 from 90,429 in 2002.<\/p>\n
For the past six years, no Indonesian airlines have served the
\nroute and people from Indonesia have to fly other carriers mainly
\nSingapore Airlines or Vietnam Airlines to go to Ho Chi Minh City.<\/p>\n
Singapore Airlines flies seven times a week, while Vietnam
\nAirlines flies 12 times a week from Singapore to Saigon.<\/p>\n
Joko said one of the flights, GA-868, departs from Jakarta at
\n6:45 a.m. local time and arrives in Singapore at 9:20
\na.m.(Singapore time). It then departs Singapore at 10:45 a.m. and
\narrives in Ho Chi Minh City at 11:45 a.m.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the GA-869 flight departs Ho Chi Minh City at 1:35
\np.m. and arrives in Singapore at 4:25 p.m. It departs from
\nSingapore at 5:15 p.m. and arrives in Jakarta at 5:50 p.m. local
\ntime.<\/p>\n
According to Joko, travelers from Indonesia were now seeking
\nalternative tourist destinations in Asia region.<\/p>\n
\"That's why, we are optimistic that more Indonesians will
\nvisit Ho Chi Minh City in the near future,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that Ho Chi Minh City, the economic powerhouse of
\nVietnam would also be one of the prominent investment
\ndestinations in the region.<\/p>\n
Among the famous places in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as
\nthe Pearl of the Far East are the historic French-built landmarks
\nsuch as the Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral; the Cu Chi tunnels
\nwhere the Viet Cong hid during the Vietnam-American war as well
\nas boat rides on the Mekong river.<\/p>\n
\"Tourist destinations here are easy to sell, but we want first
\nto boost awareness among the Indonesian people about Vietnam,\"
\nJoko said.<\/p>\n
In addition, said Joko, the visa-free facility for citizens of
\nthe two countries would further help encourage Indonesians to
\nvisit Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and Vietnam agreed on Dec. 4 to waive visa
\nrequirements for tourists from both countries.<\/p>",
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