Merpati drops plan to terminate 80 routes<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines has
\ndropped its plan to terminate its 80 unprofitable routes
\nfollowing an objection from the ministry of transportation.<\/p>\n
Merpati's spokesman, Tondo Widodo, said yesterday that the
\nairlines would comply with any government instruction.<\/p>\n
"We'll follow the policy," he said.<\/p>\n
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said the
\ngovernment would not allow Merpati to terminate 80 routes mostly
\nin the eastern region, which the airline announced last week,
\n"unless there are already other airlines serving the areas".<\/p>\n
He said such terminations could hamper economic development in
\nthose areas.<\/p>\n
"Merpati is only allowed to gradually reduce the flight
\nfrequency on the unprofitable routes such as those having an
\naverage of 30 percent or 40 percent of load factor to one time
\nper week," he said.<\/p>\n
For instance, the Jakarta-Malang route which only had 10 or 15
\npassengers per flight could be reduced to a weekly service, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
If the routes continued to have few passengers, the government
\nwould make them pioneering routes, meaning that Merpati would be
\nentitled to receive a regular subsidy from the government, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Merpati closed several routes last month, including Jakarta-
\nMalang, Jakarta-Batam and Kupang-Dili.<\/p>\n
Merpati unveiled its plan earlier this week to revitalize its
\nfinancial structure. The airline would stop serving 80 routes
\nwith low load factors, mostly in the country's eastern region.<\/p>\n
In a hearing with House of Representatives members, the
\ncompany reported that it had posted a total loss of Rp 137.1
\nbillion last year and another Rp 38.4 billion loss in the first
\nquarter this year.<\/p>\n
The airline, which has just separated from its parent company
\nGaruda Indonesia, wanted to concentrate on more profitable
\nroutes.<\/p>\n
Merpati also planned to set up alliances with overseas
\nairlines to be more competitive in the regional aviation market.
\nMerpati has approached several international air carriers,
\nincluding Taiwan's EVA Air.<\/p>\n
Tondo refused yesterday to elaborate on the alliance plan.<\/p>\n
"It's not the right time to talk about that," he said.<\/p>\n
EVA Air's Jakarta representative, Peter Chen, told The Jakarta
\nPost that airlines never rejected opportunities for cooperation.<\/p>\n
Chen said EVA Air had held several meetings with Merpati
\nmanagement. "There's a possibility but it will depend on the
\n(Indonesian) government.<\/p>\n
"Meanwhile, there are a lot of alliances which depend on each
\nof the governments," he said, adding that EVA Air had set up
\nalliances with Garuda, All Nippon Airways and Air Macau.<\/p>\n
He said airlines always wanted to explore any opportunity,
\nlike Merpati which had shown interest in expanding its
\ninternational routes. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/merpati-drops-plan-to-terminate-80-routes-1447893297",
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