Seven new airlines set to take to the skies<\/p>\n
Debbie A. Lubis, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Seven new airlines are set to enter the domestic airline market
\ndespite the already stiff competition in the industry, which has
\nbeen weakened by years of economic hardship at home.<\/p>\n
According to data from the Directorate General of Air
\nTransportation at the Ministry of Transportation, the seven new
\nairlines are Alatief Alair International, Asia Avia Megatama,
\nBali International Air Services, Nusantara International
\nServices, Rusmindo Internusa, Indonesian Airlines Avi Patria and
\nSatrio Mataram Airlines.<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear, however, whether the new airlines will
\nserve only domestic routes.<\/p>\n
Top officials of the airlines could not be reached for
\ncomment.<\/p>\n
\"We are ready to operate scheduled commercial flights by May,\"
\nLyndon Tobing, an operational staff member at Bali Air told The
\nJakarta Post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He said the airline was considering five routes, but he
\ndeclined to name them.<\/p>\n
Separately, an official at Indonesian Airlines, Avi Patria,
\nsaid the airline would fly the Jakarta-Surabaya route starting
\nnext month.<\/p>\n
The entry of the new airlines, which will compete with 15
\nexisting airlines, should benefit customers as prices are likely
\nto go down.<\/p>\n
But it will be a turbulent sky for the industry.<\/p>\n
Although the government earlier issued a decree allowing
\nairlines to raise prices by up to 20 percent, many airlines said
\nthey would rather cut their ticket prices to attract customers
\namid the tight competition.<\/p>\n
There has already been one victim of the tough competition.
\nAwair International, a relatively new player in the domestic
\nairline industry, announced on Wednesday that it would
\ntemporarily suspend commercial flights starting March 8.<\/p>\n
The airline, which has been serving the Jakarta-Denpasar,
\nJakarta-Surabaya and Jakarta-Medan routes, says it will resume
\noperations in June, possibly with new routes.<\/p>\n
Some are quite optimistic that the domestic airline market has
\nstarted to recover. They cited the surprisingly 24.19 percent
\nsurge in the number of airline passengers on domestic flights to
\n7.67 million between January and September last year.<\/p>\n
They also said that the new autonomy policy boded well for the
\nairline industry as businesses and economic activities would
\ndevelop in provinces and regencies outside of Jakarta.<\/p>",
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