Merpati to operate eight more aircraft<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Merpati Nusantara Airlines, a subsidiary of
\nstate-owned Garuda Indonesia Airlines, will soon operate eight
\nmore jet aircraft, according to the airline's president.<\/p>\n
Budiarto Subroto said Wednesday the new aircraft were two
\nAirbus 300-600, three Boeing 737-200 and three BAE-146.<\/p>\n
\"All the aircraft will be operated under an operating-lease
\nsystem,\" he said at the launch of the airline's new tour
\npackages.<\/p>\n
He said Merpati would offer several domestic and regional tour
\npackages as of Feb. 1. It expects to attract about 15,000
\ntourists this year and 25,000 a year by 1999.<\/p>\n
One of the packages includes trips to 14 tourist destinations
\nsuch as Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Minangkabau in West Sumatra,
\nToraja in Central Sulawesi, Manado in North Sulawesi, Ambon,
\nLombok and Bali.<\/p>\n
This package, dubbed Paket Wisata Pesona Indonesia '97, will
\nbe run by Merpati and the Smailing Tur travel agent.<\/p>\n
Another package includes a visit to the tomb of President
\nSoeharto's late wife, Tien Soeharto, at the Astana Giribangun,
\nKaranganyar, cemetery in Solo, Central Java.<\/p>\n
Budiarto said that 100 people a week were expected to use this
\npackage, launched in conjunction with Sahid Hotel.<\/p>\n
Regional packages will include trips to Malaysia and
\nSingapore. These will be run in conjunction with the travel
\nagents Lion Tur and Busindo Ayanda Tur.<\/p>\n
Merpati will start flying between Jakarta and Singapore from
\nFeb. 1, using a Fokker 100 which can hold up to 98 people.<\/p>\n
These flights will leave Soekarno-Hatta airport at 7:05 p.m.
\nand arrive at 9:40 Singapore time. The flight is scheduled to
\nreturn to Jakarta at 11:25, arriving at 23:25.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said
\nthat Merpati had suffered an estimated loss of Rp 137.12 billion
\n(US$57.27 million) last year, up from Rp 132 billion in 1995.
\n (02)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/merpati-to-operate-eight-more-aircraft-1447893297",
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