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.