Flights full as people return home

Flights full as people return home

KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Flights to Indonesia from Malaysia and Singapore, the two main destinations for those fleeing abroad when unrest hit the country, were packed over the weekend as many Indonesians began returning home.

A Malaysia Airlines' ticketing official said here yesterday that no seats from Kuala Lumpur to Jakarta were available until Tuesday (tomorrow).

Flights from Malaysia's northern Penang island to Medan in North Sumatra had been fully booked through June 4, the official said.

"There are a few business class seats left for June 5 on the Penang-Medan flight," the official said.

Ferry operators said services between Penang and Belawan, near Medan, had been fully booked until the end of next week as the situation in Indonesia began to return to normal.

Many Indonesians, mostly from Medan, fled to Penang to escape the violence that left more than 500 people dead, shops looted and town-centers in ruins.

The rioting and looting followed widespread political protests against president Soeharto, who stepped down Thursday.

The minority ethnic Chinese, who control much of Indonesia's commerce, became a frequent target of violence as the sprawling archipelago suffered its worst economic crisis in decades.

Flights

In Singapore, flights to Jakarta were also mostly full as Singapore hotel guests escaping Indonesia's violence began checking out, travel industry sources said.

With yesterday's flights to Jakarta already packed, travel agents said the trend was extending further into next week.

"The next available seat is on Wednesday," a ticket agent for Indonesian flag carrier Garuda Indonesia airlines was quoted by Reuters as saying.

Singapore Airlines introduced larger-capacity planes for some flights to Jakarta yesterday.

State television said two of the six scheduled flights were upgraded to a larger capacity in response to demand for seats.

Agents for Singapore Airlines also said only a few tickets were available for today, and tomorrow's flights were fully booked in economy class. One flight had a business class seat.

Singapore Airlines has seven daily flights to Jakarta.

"Basically people are slowly starting to go back," said Marc Dardenne, manager at Singapore's Hyatt Regency hotel.

"Some of them have gone back already," said Gina Tay-Weers, marketing communications manager at Marina Mandarin hotel.

Singapore hotels experienced an unexpected boom in business in mid-May when thousands of expatriates and Indonesians fled violence which hit several parts of Indonesia.

The exodus gave Singapore hotels occupancy rates of between 90 percent and 100 percent, well above averages earlier in the year.

Dardenne said he expected occupancy rates at his hotel to gradually fall back to about 70 percent.

Tay-Weers said the Marina Mandarin had been 90 percent full in the past few days because of the Indonesian visitors.

Dardenne said not all expatriates who were leaving were heading back to Indonesia. Breadwinners were returning but other family members were going to their home countries because it was already close to normal vacation times.

Expatriates said many of those returning to Indonesia had return tickets to Singapore in case violent demonstrations reignited.

Navy

The three United States Navy vessels sent last week to evacuate Americans from Indonesia were called off at the last moment but could return if the situation there deteriorates, Navy officials said yesterday.

An amphibious group comprising the USS Belleau Wood, USS Dubuque and USS Germantown entered the Java Sea for about 24 hours Thursday and Friday, but turned around and docked in Singapore after the situation in Indonesia stabilized, a U.S. Navy public affairs officer, Commodore Greg Smith, told the Associated Press.

The task force, with about 2,000 Marines, is due to leave Singapore tomorrow and return to Thai waters for a planned military exercise there.

The Belleau Wood task force was just entering the Java Sea on its evacuation mission when Soeharto made his announcement to resign.

Smith added, however, "If things heat up again in Indonesia, there's the capability to return to the scene and participate on very short notice."

He said, "Our capability involves a large number of helicopters that can go in and pick up a lot of Americans across Indonesia."

Taiwan has also partially lifted its travel ban on Indonesia by letting travel agencies resume sending tour groups to the holiday resort island of Bali.

"But the travel ban will remain on other parts of Indonesia until peace and order are restored," the Foreign Ministry said as reported by DPA.

The ministry made the decision after President B.J. Habibie announced his new cabinet Friday.

Bali is one of the top destinations for travelers from Taiwan. Last year, 202,095 people from Taiwan visited Indonesia, most of them went to Bali.

The Taiwan Foreign Ministry has also stopped chartering planes to evacuate Taiwan nationals out of Indonesia.

Since riots erupted in Indonesia, Taiwan has airlifted 7,000 investors and tourists out of capital Jakarta and Surabaya, East Java, where Taiwan investors are concentrated.

Taiwan is Indonesia's No. 6 investor, despite the lack of diplomatic ties. The unrest has shaken the confidence in some investors, but others remain optimistic.

Many investors who have fled Indonesia in the past week prepare to return there to restart their businesses.

The state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp. will send its staff back to the Putata oil field in Indonesia to explore for oil. The Wei Chuan Group said its staff would return to Indonesia soon to reopen its instant noodle factory.