Bouraq to link Manila and Manado later this year

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and the Philippines have agreed to appoint Bouraq Airlines, one of Indonesia's six scheduled air carriers, to link Manila and Manado in North Sulawesi.

"The service will begin later this year and we will operate either Boeing 737-200s or HS/BAE-748s three times weekly," the company's vice president, Eddyono Salatun, told a press conference here on Saturday.

He said that Indonesia and the Philippines previously appointed Garuda Indonesia and Bouraq Airlines and Philippine Airlines as designated air carriers to create a beneficial, reciprocal air relationship between the two countries.

Bouraq, whose fleet comprises seven Boeing 737-200s, three turbo-prop VC-840s, two Cassas and 15 turbo-prop HS/BAE-748s, has served the route linking Davao in the southern Philippines and Manado since March. Bouraq operates B-737s twice a week on that route.

Director General of Tourism Andi Mappi Sammeng said that the Manila-Manado service is expected to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting North Sulawesi and other areas in the eastern part of the country.

"The Bouraq flights can bring tourists from Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Guam and the American West Coast, who are visiting the Philippines, to Indonesia," he said.

Andi said Taiwan's Trans Asia Airlines will also fly to Manado starting on Friday.

"The flight will link Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Manado.

The number of tourists visiting Indonesia during the first five months of this year rose by 21.5 percent to more than 1.25 million people over the same period of last year. Of the total, 2,281 entered Indonesia through Manado.(icn)