Int'l flights good sign for Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Slamet Susanto and Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
After struggling for over 30 years to realize its dream of having
\nan international airport of its own, Yogyakarta's wishes will
\nsoon come true.<\/p>\n
Today, Feb. 21, 2004, Adisucipto Airport launches its first
\ninternational connection to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with national
\nflag carrier Garuda.<\/p>\n
Preparations have been made prior to the first international
\nflight, including arranging a special greeting ceremony for the
\nMalaysian delegates who will come to the city on launch day on
\nboard the same plane to be used for the first Yogyakarta to Kuala
\nLumpur flight from the airport. The delegates are scheduled to
\nstay for three days in the sultanate city to enjoy its tourist
\nattractions and those of its surroundings.<\/p>\n
Many, including Yogyakarta provincial secretary Bambang
\nSusanto Priyohadi, have expressed optimism that the new status of
\nAdisucipto Airport will have a significant influence on economic
\ndevelopment of the province.<\/p>\n
\"We dream of making Yogykarta a service city, in which various
\nproducts from the neighboring cities of Central Java, such as
\nSurakarta and Wonosobo, will be distributed through Adisucipto
\nAirport,\" Bambang told The Jakarta Post in an interview.<\/p>\n
Bambang had high hopes that within five years such a plan
\nwould come true.<\/p>\n
Discussion with the target regions, including Wonosobo for its
\nmushroom products and Surakarta for its fish processing
\ncompanies, according to Bambang, had also taken place.<\/p>\n
\"Singapore, for example, has expressed a commitment to buying
\nfreshwater lobster products. The prospects for others, including
\nhandicrafts, vegetables and tourism, I think, will be just as
\ngood. All will generate profits,\" Bambang said
\noptimistically.<\/p>\n
Bambang added that to support the plan, a number of new
\ninternational connections would also be opened in cooperation
\nwith airlines. These include connections to Singapore, Bangkok,
\nChiang Mai and Perth.<\/p>\n
Other preparations, he said, included the provision of
\nsupporting infrastructure such as an international terminal,
\ncargo terminals, an immigration office, a quarantine office and
\nfiscal counters, all to international standards.<\/p>\n
\"We have done it in cooperation with PT Angkasa Pura. An
\ninternational team also came to inspect the facilities and
\ndeclared they merited the status (of an international airport),\"
\nsaid Bambang, adding that the airport would be expanded to the
\nnorth where malls and shopping centers would be built to make it
\na multifunction airport.<\/p>\n
Garuda Indonesia Yogyakarta general manager Singgih Prawatyo
\nalso expressed the same optimism, arguing that the market for
\ninternational flights in the city was crystal clear. One, he
\nsaid, was migrant workers, hailing from Central Java. The
\nprovince had dispatched hundreds of thousands of migrant workers
\nevery year but they departed mainly through Jakarta's Soekarno-
\nHatta International Airport.<\/p>\n
\"If previously, migrant workers departed from Jakarta, I'm
\nsure they will depart from Yogyakarta from now on. Besides being
\nnearer, it will also be much cheaper to depart from here. This is
\ncertainly a market with much potential, besides businesspeople
\nand tourists,\" Singgih said.<\/p>\n
The fact that over one-third of the first 90 passengers to go
\nto Kuala Lumpur from Yogyakarta would be migrant workers, he
\nsaid, further confirmed his optimism. Of the 90 initial
\npassengers, 39 were workers due to be employed in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"The Yogyakarta provincial manpower office also recorded that
\nsome 4,000 workers from the area have been sent to Malaysia every
\nyear,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A Garuda Boeing 737-300 airbus will fly from Yogyakarta to
\nKuala Lumpur three times per week. The remaining four days of the
\nweek will be for the Semarang, Central Java, to Kuala Lumpur
\nroute.<\/p>\n
\"We shall increase the flight frequency if we assess that the
\nYogyakarta to Kuala Lumpur route is a success, which we feel
\ncertain it will be, especially as many Malaysian students study
\nin Yogyakarta, and vice versa,\" Singgih said.<\/p>\n
Similarly, head of the Yogyakarta provincial trade office
\nSyahbenol said that the province's economic wheels would turn
\nmuch more rapidly with the new status of the airport, as
\ncommodities could be exported more quickly. With three flights a
\nweek to Kuala Lumpur, he said, some 38 tons of commodities could
\nbe exported to Malaysia per month.<\/p>\n
\"The Sadeng is this a trade name or a fish type? If the
\nlatter, should be capitalized; if latter, uncapitalized fish
\nproduct, which has been difficult to market abroad due to the
\nlack of speedy transportation, can be transported to Malaysia
\nsoon, not to mention large orders of handicraft products from
\nMalaysia,\" Syahbenol said.<\/p>\n
With direct international flights, said Syahbenol, Yogyakarta
\nneed not be dependent upon regional flights such as those from
\nBali and Jakarta, which had so far been the main entry point to
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
\"I'm certain that economic growth here will increase two or
\nthree times more than hitherto, from 4 percent per year
\npreviously to 8 percent to 12 percent per year in the future,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the Indonesian Hotels and Restaurants Association
\n(PHRI) of Yogyakarta Stef B. Indarto emphasized, however, that
\nthe most important thing to consider was the readiness of
\nYogyakarta people, especially those in tourism-related
\nbusinesses.<\/p>\n
\"An international direct flight will bring extraordinary
\nchanges. We must therefore be ready for it, both mentally and
\nprofessionally,\" he said.<\/p>",
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