Air France not to reduce flights despite slump

JAKARTA (JP): Air France said yesterday it had no plans to reduce its Jakarta-Paris service despite a sharp decrease in passenger volume in the first semester of this year.

The airline's regional general manager, Christian Herpin, said the airline would maintain its six weekly flights serving Paris- Jakarta route, although its load factor had dropped to 55 percent from the usual 85 percent.

He said the decrease in load factor and a 40 percent cut in fares had lowered revenues from the route by about 40 percent in the first semester of this year.

He expected the airline would suffer a deficit on the route this year.

Herpin said the timetable of six flights weekly serving Jakarta-Paris was part of the airline's long-term plan.

"Even with the crisis, it is part of our five-year strategy."

In April, Air France added one flight, an addition to the five existing flights serving the Jakarta-Paris route, with one stop in Singapore.

"We are not only considering the short term. We prefer to wait and see and invest for the long term. Indonesia is a country with more than 200 million people, it has great potential for tourism and business, so we would be crazy not to invest here."

The crisis, in which the rupiah's value against the U.S. dollar has plunged by 80 percent since July last year, has drastically reduced the number of the country's outgoing travelers.

This year, the nation's tourist sector reeled from multiple blows of international media reports on the social unrest, the uncertain political situation and a choking smog from massive forest fires.

Fears over social unrest caused by the crisis and by political tensions surrounding the presidency have already prompted a large number of foreign tourists to cancel their plans.

Herpin said the number of foreign visitors would likely rise in the second half of this year because of cheaper travel here.

In Indonesia, Air France recorded a 20 percent increase in sales for passenger and cargo services last year.

"We are aiming for a 3 percent growth in the market share of Europe-Jakarta flights within three years," Herpin said. He added the airline has a 7 percent share of total Europe-Jakarta traffic.

Air France will increase its capacity by 12.4 percent by adding new routes and increasing frequencies on existing services globally, he said.

"By the end of 1999, it is expected that Air France will have achieved the 40 percent expansion on the Europe and Asia routes as planned." (gis)