Airnorth to fly Darwin-Ambon route next June
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)