'Air seating capacity needs to be doubled'
'Air seating capacity needs to be doubled'
JAKARTA (JP): The annual seating capacity of international air
flights serving Indonesia needs to double to 13 million if the
country is to meet its target of 6.5 million annual tourist
arrivals by 1999.
Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng told a tourism
coordination meeting at the Ministry of Tourism, Post and
Telecommunications yesterday that more overseas air carriers must
be encouraged to serve Indonesia.
"International air seat capacity is currently only some seven
million per annum, out of which 30 percent is provided by local
airlines and 70 percent by overseas air carriers," Andi said.
"This is far lower than the 16 million seats provided by 86
airlines serving our neighbor, Singapore."
The ministry's deputy director general for travel development,
Azhari Abdullah, told reporters that two airline seats are needed
for each tourist expected to visit Indonesia.
A ministry official, Faried, explained that this ratio of seat
capacity against tourist arrivals is calculated on the assumption
that a jet generally has a load factor of 70 percent, while its
passengers also include Indonesians traveling abroad.
Indonesia is presently served by six domestic air carriers and
37 foreign airlines.
Several more foreign airlines - including Northwest and United
Airlines of the United States, Air Mauritius, and ANA of Japan -
have pledged to open routes into the country.
Indonesia has prepared 23 airports as international gateways
into the archipelago.
Services
The major air entrance points are Jakarta, Surakarta (Central
Java), Surabaya (East Java), Denpasar (Bali), Medan (North
Sumatra), Manado (North Sulawesi), Ujungpandang (South Sulawesi)
and Lombok (West Nusa Tenggara).
Abdullah said that Indonesia needs to improve its airport,
immigration and accommodation services if it is to attract more
foreign tourists.
"Immigration, quarantine, customs and excise services at
airports are no doubt very important to give tourists a good
first impression," he said.
Mastery of foreign languages by officials and guides is also
important, he said.
"We have to follow the trends of our market. If the trends
show more travel by East Asians, we have to prepare more people
speaking Japanese or Mandarin, for instance."
Indonesia aims to increase annual revenue from foreign tourism
to US$8.9 billion by 1999.
The country is expected to generate $6.27 billion from foreign
tourism this year, compared to $5.2 billion gained from 4.3
million visitors in 1995 and $4.7 billion from 4.01 million
tourists in 1994. (icn)