Airnorth to fly Darwin-Ambon route next June

By Riyadi

AMBON, Maluku (JP): Merpati airlines suspended its Darwin- Ambon route last August but Darwin-based Airnorth Regional plans to fly the route twice a week starting next June.

Airnorth's general manager, John Hardy, said yesterday his airline had learned from Merpati's mistakes and would fly 17-seat British Fairchild Metro 23s.

"Later we will use bigger aircraft when the number of passengers improve. But we have to start with small. Otherwise, you will lose your money," Hardy said.

When business blossomed Airnorth would change to Brazilia EMB120s, which could carry 28 passengers, Hardy said.

Merpati served the Ambon-Darwin route twice weekly from June 1995 until last August. It suspended the flight because of too few passengers.

The minister of transportation, Haryanto Dhanutirto, said Merpati suffered significant losses from flying the route.

Merpati used 75-seat Fokker-28 on the route but averaged only 15 people a flight.

Haryanto said he welcomed any initiative from Indonesia or Australia to revive the route.

But he said he was not yet informed about Airnorth's plan to introduce scheduled flights for the route.

"What I understand is that they will fly the route with chartered aircraft," he said.

Hardy said he had not yet got approval from the Indonesian government for scheduled flights and was in Ambon to finalize arrangements with his Indonesian partner.

"We still have to meet some government requirements. There are still some things to fix up ... once we settle everything, we will start it in June," Hardy said.

An official from Australia's Transport and Regional Development Ministry, Tony Wheelens, said Airnorth's plan should not meet any problems from the Indonesian side because it was already under the airlink agreement between the two countries.

"If Merpati want to fly the route tomorrow, we will let them," Wheelens said.

He said the opening of the Darwin-Ambon route would enhance tourism in Ambon because the two cities had strong historical ties.

Relations between Darwin and Ambon date back to the early 1940s when a Darwin-based battalion, known as Gull Force, left for Ambon at the outbreak of World War Two in the Pacific.

Almost 700 Australians are buried or commemorated in the beautifully landscaped Ambon War Cemetery. Between December 1941 and January 1942 the 1,131-strong Gull Force helped defend Ambon from the Japanese.

The Gull Force Association's members regularly visit Ambon on ANZAC Day. ANZAC Day is Australia's annual commemoration of its war veterans and war dead and falls on April 25.

Today, Australia's foreign minister, Alexander Downer, will mark ANZAC Day here.

Downer and Indonesia's coordinating minister for production and distribution, Hartarto, launched yesterday the Australia- Indonesia Development Area, which links Australia and eastern Indonesia.

Downer said Ambon and other parts of Indonesia's eastern provinces had strong tourism potential.

"Australians have traditionally gone to Bali, but anybody who has traveled around eastern Indonesia knows that there are many other beautiful parts of the country where tourism can be developed," Downer said. (rid)