Lufthansa expects Indonesia to take off<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Lufthansa German Airlines' vice president for
\nAsia and the Pacific Manfred Reimer said here on Thursday that
\nbusiness prospects in Indonesia remained promising despite the
\ncurrent economic crisis.<\/p>\n
Reimer said that last year's revenue from the airline's
\nIndonesian operation exceeded expectations and the trend was
\nexpected to continue this year.<\/p>\n
\"We have absolute confidence in Indonesia. We have started
\nthis year with revenue 10 percent over our expectations for this
\ncountry and we will continue to take our opportunities,\" he said
\nat TECHNOGERMA Jakarta, the German technology fair.<\/p>\n
\"We will not do stupid things like expand our capacity if we
\ndon't think we will make money from it,\" he added.<\/p>\n
Lufthansa's country manager in Indonesia, Carlos Heinemann,
\nsaid that the airline's load factor in Indonesia was still good
\ndespite the crisis.<\/p>\n
Heinemann said that the airline's average load factor last
\nyear reached over 80 percent and the airline had no plans to cut
\nits flights to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Lufthansa flies from Frankfurt direct to Jakarta four times a
\nweek using Boeing 747-400 aircraft. It also has a code-sharing
\ndeal with Singapore Airlines to carry Lufthansa passengers from
\nSingapore to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Our code-sharing agreement with Singapore Air has enabled us
\nto maintain our load factor above 80 percent despite the current
\neconomic crisis. This year we expect a 100 percent load factor,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The airline reduced its direct flights to Jakarta from seven
\nflights a week to four and added three code-share flights with
\nSingapore Airlines last year due to the slumping load factor.<\/p>\n
\"But we will go back to seven flights again as soon as
\nbusiness returns to normal,\" Reimer said.<\/p>\n
Heinemann said Lufthansa suffered a slump in Indonesia in the
\nfirst semester of last year. The airline's revenue from its
\nIndonesian services was 50 percent lower than in 1997 during the
\nsame period because the airline had to lower its fares by 50
\npercent.<\/p>\n
\"The business is actually just picking up again but it's not
\nyet back to normal,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The number of German visitors to Bali has risen as more
\nLufthansa passengers are avoiding Jakarta by flying direct to
\nBali from Singapore, he said.<\/p>\n
He said, however, that a few isolated cases of violence and
\nunrest had misled international travelers into thinking that such
\noccurrences were common throughout the capital.<\/p>\n
\"Misleading reports have discouraged people from flying to
\nJakarta. So we are helping to promote Indonesia in Germany
\nbecause we have a lot of interest here.\"<\/p>\n
Heinemann said that many Indonesians had shifted from first
\nclass to economy class and business class because of their lower
\npurchasing power.<\/p>\n
\"Demand for first class has dropped by about 30 percent while
\ndemand for business and economy class has increased
\nsignificantly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Reimer said that 1998 was a record year for Lufthansa despite
\nthe Asian economic crisis. He said the airline carried 4.5
\nmillion passengers in 1998, an increase of 8.8 percent compared
\nto 1997.(gis)<\/p>",
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