EVA Air urges Indonesia to open its skies wider

TAIPEI (JP): EVA Air, Taiwan's second largest airline company, has urged Indonesia to open more of its air routes to foreign airlines in line with the Open Sky policy.

"We are quite happy with our Indonesian operation and look forward to increasing our service to your country if the market needs it," EVA Air's Junior Vice President K.W. Nieh told a group of Indonesian journalists visiting the company's maintenance facilities and training center in Taipei late last week.

EVA Air, owned by Taiwan's transportation giant Evergreen Group, began flying to Indonesia in 1991.

The airline now links Jakarta and Taipei seven times a week, Denpasar-Kaohsiung-Taipei three times a week and Surabaya- Kaohsiung-Taipei (three times a week).

Nieh said the opening of Indonesia's new routes to EVA Air would benefit the company and Indonesia, as more Taiwanese tourists are expected to visit the country.

Peter Chen, EVA Air's outgoing representative to Indonesia, said about 120,000 people flew to or from Indonesia by EVA Air in 1996, 33 percent higher than its 99,000 passenger figure for 1995 and the number is expected to increase by 5 percent this year.

In line with this promising trend, EVA Air is hoping to increase its services to Indonesia. "We want a privilege (similar to that which has been) given to Singapore Airlines," Nieh said.

Singapore Airlines now serves 16 points in Indonesia.

EVA Air, according to Nieh, is ready to take part in tourist development in Indonesia through its holding company Evergreen, which also oversees sea transportation, travel bureaus and manages hotels in several countries, if it is the requirement to gain wider access to Indonesian air routes.

"We have hotels in Bangkok, Thailand, in Penang, Malaysia and will open a new one in Paris soon," Nieh said, adding that the company was also willing to participate in the development of a new tourist spot in Indonesia.

Nieh hopes Indonesia will sign the Open Sky agreement with the United States government following the signing of similar accords between Singapore and U.S.

"If the agreement is signed, we can collect cargo from Southeast Asian countries and take them to the U.S.," Nieh said.

EVA Air flies to Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Europe and Central America with a fleet of 27 jets, including its strong cargo fleets. It also serves several cities in the U.S., including San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Anchorage, New York, Newark and Honolulu.

EVA Air and Indonesian state-owned Merpati Nusantara Airlines recently also signed a commercial agreement expanding both passenger and cargo services linking the tourist island of Bali in Indonesia and Taipei. (has)