Extra flights not used by foreign airlines
Extra flights not used by foreign airlines
JAKARTA (JP): Several international airlines including EVA
Air, Emirates Airlines and Singapore Airlines (SIA) denied on
Friday that they have asked the government for permission to
boost flight frequency from Indonesia.
EVA Air's assistant manager for the passenger section Diana
Mawarsari said the airline didn't need extra flights to meet the
rise in outbound passengers.
"We can still take more passengers without extra flights as
our load factor is still about 64 percent," she told The Jakarta
Post.
She said EVA Air opened only one extra flight during last
year's May riots when a great number of both Indonesians and
foreigners fled the country to avoid being trapped in the unrest
which led to the downfall of former president Soeharto on May 21
after 32 years of rule.
EVA Air flies seven times a week from Jakarta to Taipei and
five times a week from Surabaya via Denpasar to Taipei.
At least 48 foreign airlines operating in Indonesia have asked
for the government's approval to increase their flights to
anticipate a possible surge in outbound passengers in the coming
months, a senior aviation official has said.
Director General for Aviation of the Ministry of
Communications Soenaryo Yosopratomo said on Thursday at least 48
foreign airlines had asked for government approval to boost their
Indonesian flights.
"On average, they asked permission to expand their flights by
40 percent above their regular frequencies," he was quoted by
Bisnis Indonesia as saying. But he added none of them had used
the extra flights and the volume of outbound passengers was still
within the normal level.
The official did not say the reasons why the airlines sought
extra flights. But tour operators said that booking for overseas
trips were on the increase as many people wanted to avoid
possible unrest ahead, during and after the general election in
June.
He said the aviation industry considered the recent increase
in outbound traffic of up to 30 percent at the Jakarta Soekarno
Hatta International Airport as normal.
Analysts have warned that the rivalry among the 48 political
parties contesting the election could spark a further unrest.
Emirates Airlines sales manager Ilonka Leiwakabessy echoed
Mawarsari's explanation, saying more passengers could still be
served with the existing flights.
Emirates Airlines, which flies three times a week to serve
return flights from Dubai, Colombo, Singapore and Jakarta, has an
average load factor of 70 percent, she said.
While SIA's general manager for Indonesia, Alfreds Vijendran,
said the airlines' existing flights were still able to
accommodate the surge in demand.
"We expect the load factor to continue going up to about 70
percent for May from 65 percent recorded for April," he said.
"This figure (70 percent), however, is still not good compared
to at least 80 percent we usually booked before the economic
crisis began," he added.
SIA flies seven times a day from Jakarta to Singapore, nine
times a week from Surabaya to Singapore and three times a day
from Denpasar to Singapore.
The only foreign airline that has declared its flight
expansion was Japan Air Lines (JAL).
In mid-April, JAL doubled its weekly flights to 14 times from
a previous seven to connect Jakarta and Surabaya to destination
cities in Tokyo, Osaka and Narita.
JAL's sales manager for Indonesia Shuichi Sakamoto said the
increase was to meet the high outbound demand during school
holidays of May and June, and not to accommodate the forecasted
mass exodus of Indonesians who might flee the country to avoid
possible riots.
According to Soenaryo, the government would use the Halim
Perdanakusuma airport in East Jakarta, which currently serves
only presidential, governmental and chartered flights, as an
emergency gateway for necessary evacuation. (cst)