Domestic airlines to fly abroad

JAKARTA (JP): All but one domestic scheduled airlines but one will be permitted to fly abroad by 1998, Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto said yesterday.

After reporting to President Soeharto at the Merdeka Palace, Haryanto said international destinations, including countries in Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region, will be open for all scheduled airlines, except Dirgantara Air Service.

"This is globalization and we have to be brave enough to penetrate markets. If not, we will be the loser," Haryanto said.

He said that Indonesia has introduced a limited open sky policy and allowed a number of foreign airlines to fly to any city in the country. In return, Indonesia has to allow all its airlines to penetrate other countries.

Currently Indonesia has six domestic scheduled airlines: the country's flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, Merpati Nusantara, Sempati Air, Bouraq Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Dirgantara Air Service. The first four have flown international routes. However, they fly only to neighboring countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Australia.

Haryanto explained that the government is giving the airlines two years to prepare themselves to benefit from the new freedom.

"Don't just fly without earning any money," Haryanto said, adding that there should be an equal distribution of routes, especially the "fat" (popular) ones, so that no single airline will monopolize the fat routes.

Equal chances

"All airlines will be given equal opportunities, according to their capabilities. No single airline should take all the routes. So far, Garuda Indonesia has flown all the routes. So, in addition to Garuda, those routes should not be given to Sempati only or Merpati only," Haryanto said.

The start of domestic scheduled airlines service of international routes will force Garuda, which has enjoyed a long monopoly over Indonesia's international commercial flights, to compete with them, as well as with foreign airlines.

"We are not paying attention to Garuda only, but also to other airlines. Garuda has to survive. Garuda has to be able to compete, not only with foreign airlines, but also with domestic airlines. We still have until 1998," Haryanto said.

He said the participation of domestic airlines in international services will not reduce Garuda's existing international flights. Instead, the government is giving Garuda the choice of which routes it wants to keep, as well as seeking to open new routes to countries like South Africa.

"South Africa is a potential market. Singapore Airlines and Malaysian Airways have flown there. But we haven't. This is a challenge. I pushed Garuda (to open flight to South Africa). But Garuda, like a donkey, stayed in the same place and didn't even move. So, I should give the chance to other airlines," Haryanto said.

Haryanto hinted that airlines which want to expand their flights to international routes have to strengthen their fleets either by buying or leasing new aircraft.

Yesterday Haryanto also reported to Soeharto about progress of his "crash improvement program" at Jakarta's Tanjung Priok port.

He explained that zero waiting time for container vessels had increased to 78 percent as of this month from merely 12 percent in May. Waiting time of up to two hours decreased to 17 percent from 38 percent and waiting time of between two and eight hours fell dramatically to five percent from 50 percent.

The container port, however, still faces the problem of crane shortages, which hampers average daily loading-unloading productivity, Haryanto said.

Average daily productivity decreased to 1,933 boxes between Oct. 6 and Oct. 10, from 2,233 boxes between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5.

"It happened because a number of cranes have cracked and are even broken here and there because of being overloaded. We have ordered some new cranes. Hopefully the ordered cranes will arrive in the third or fourth week of this month," Haryanto said.

The improvement of services at the port has prompted the Asia North America Eastbound Rate Agreement group of shipping lines to drop its threat to impose surcharges on users of its services at the port. (rid)