Opening more gateways<\/p>\n
The new Indonesia-Singapore air service agreement to be signed
\nin Central Java later this month bears a new, fundamental
\ndevelopment. For the first time, Indonesia's bilateral civil
\naviation pact will include private airliners. As Minister of
\nTransportation Haryanto Dhanutirto told newsmen after a meeting
\nwith President Soeharto early last week, two more domestic
\nprivate carriers, in addition to the state-owned Merpati and
\nprivately-owned Sempati Air, will be allowed to serve Singapore
\nunder the new air agreement.<\/p>\n
That is indeed a fundamental shift in the government's civil
\naviation policy. In the past, bilateral air agreements have been
\ndesigned only to serve the interests of the national flag-
\ncarrier, Garuda Indonesia. Sempati has been serving several
\nregional service routes, such as Singapore, Taipei and Australia,
\nover the past year, but those services were possible only because
\nGaruda did not fully utilize the service capacity granted it
\nunder the bilateral air pacts with those countries.<\/p>\n
The new development is actually the natural consequence of the
\nlicense given to private airliners in the late 1980s to operate
\njet planes. And it will obviously also enhance the growth of
\nsecond-tier carriers in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, more ASEAN countries will adopt such a multi-
\nairline policy in their bilateral aviation pacts to accommodate
\nsmaller carriers. We hope that Thailand's Bangkok Airways,
\nSingapore SilkAir, Malaysian Pelangi Air and the Philippine
\nAerolift will soon be able to serve Indonesia's provincial cities
\nas well.<\/p>\n
Because the ASEAN countries are developing the growth-triangle
\nconcept of promoting economic linkages among their provinces,
\nsuch as Batam-Singapore-Johor, North Sumatra-Penang-Phuket, the
\nsecond-tier carriers could play an important role in facilitating
\nsmoother flows of people and goods. Since these carriers usually
\noperate small airplanes, they are more commercially viable in
\nplying the regional service routes.<\/p>\n
The smaller airlines also could contribute greatly to
\npromoting intra-ASEAN tourism which, along with the high growth
\nof their economies, is poised to expand rapidly in the years to
\ncome. With the process of the ASEAN Free Trade Area underway,
\neconomic linkages between the ASEAN countries will intensify and
\nthe demand for air services will increase.<\/p>\n
The new Indonesia-Singapore air agreement also will provide a
\nstrong boost to the Indonesian tourism industry, given the
\nimportant role of Changi airport as the hub for tourists
\ntraveling to the other ASEAN countries. Because Singapore
\ncarriers will be allowed to directly serve 10 cities in
\nIndonesia, and because Mandala, Sempati, Bouraq and Merpati will
\nbe allowed to link more Indonesian cities with Singapore, foreign
\ntourists will have a richer variety of package tours, using
\ndifferent gateways, to choose from when they come to Indonesia.<\/p>\n
That will in turn encourage revisits. A tourist, for example,
\ncould fly in through Solo and spend his entire vacation in
\nCentral Java. The following year he could enter Indonesia through
\nUjungpandang and spend his holiday in South Sulawesi. In fact, a
\nforeign tourist could visit Indonesia 10 times without going
\nthrough the same gateway. That is one of the distinct advantages
\nwhich Indonesia, as the world's largest archipelagic country, can
\noffer.<\/p>\n
Even more encouraging is the fact that the new bilateral air
\nagreement with Singapore will soon be supported by restructured
\nservice routes within Indonesia. The revamping of the domestic
\nroutes, which is being finalized, will add 14 new service routes
\nto improve the efficiency of inter-province flights and to
\npromote a better hub-spike system in the domestic air service.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/opening-more-gateways-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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