EVA Air and Merpati to link Bali and Taipei

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines and EVA Air of Taiwan have signed a commercial agreement expanding both passenger and cargo services linking the tourist island of Bali in Indonesia and Taipei.

Merpati's marketing director, Toto Nursatyo, told The Jakarta Post here yesterday the agreement would be beneficial for the two airlines.

"The agreement, prepared last April, is effective as of July. Each of the airlines will serve thrice weekly flights," he said.

He said the route linking Denpasar in Bali and Taipei in Taiwan was prospective.

"We have studied the growth of passengers on the route which is now up to 25 percent per year," he said.

He said Merpati would start to serve the new route in November. "We're still waiting for additional fleet," he added.

Merpati is assigned to serve the country's domestic routes, but the government has licensed the airline to fly to Melbourne and Port Hedland in Australia, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Merpati also plans to fly to Hong Kong this year.

Merpati's fleet includes F-100s, F-29s, F-27s, CN-235s, Advanced Turbo Propellers (ATPs) and Casa-212s, Twin Otters and A-310s and BAe-146 (Jumbo Lino) planes.

EVA Air said it would introduce the new nonstop flights tomorrow.

Using 212-seat Boeing B767-200 aircraft on the route, EVA Air will offer its new service on Wednesday, Friday and Sundays.

Regularly scheduled flights will depart Taipei's Chiang Kai- Shek international airport at 10:45 a.m. and arrive at the Ngurah Rai international airport in Denpasar, Bali, at 4 p.m. Return flights will leave Bali at 5:15 p.m. and arrive in Taipei at 10:30 p.m.

"The new route complements EVA Air's existing twice-weekly service to the South Sea, via Kaohsiung, and enhances its links to the Indonesian market."

In addition to Bali, Eva Air has regular flights linking Taipei and Jakarta and Taipei and Surabaya in East Java via Kaohsiung.

"Bali is the most popular leisure destination in Indonesia," said EVA Air's senior vice president, K.T. Chiu.

He said his company had added flights to meet the demand for passenger and cargo services. "Demand for outbound cargo services is especially strong and continuing to grow."

With the added flights, EVA Air could now accommodate for about 1,300 passengers a week with services from Taiwan to Bali, he said.

Travel agents, tour groups and independent travelers have greater choices and more flexibility and can combine stops in Jakarta and Surabaya with Bali, according to EVA Air.

The privately owned Sempati Air of Indonesia flies to Taiwan. (icn)