Garuda closes its Manado-Taipei route

Jongker Rumthe, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

National flag-carrier Garuda Indonesia announced it was halting flights between the North Sulawesi capital Manado and Taiwan because of the sharp drop in passenger loads over the past six months.

The head of Garuda's branch office in Manado, Koko Ritongga, said on Monday Garuda closed its Manado-Taipei route on April 12, the second time the airline had halted the route since opening it in December 2001.

"The (route's) prospects are no longer promising," Koko said.

Garuda, he said, had incurred a total loss of US$700,000 on the route since October 2001, when it was reopened following an eight-month suspension.

"The drop in passenger load has worsened since SARS struck Taiwan last March," he added.

Taiwan is one of several countries in Asia affected by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

But Ritongga said the prospect's for the route were bleak even before the SARS outbreak.

Garuda opened the Manado-Taipei route in December 2001 and after only four months found that it was not profitable, closing it in March 2002.

In October last year, however, the North Sulawesi government asked that the route be reopened, promising to shoulder some of Garuda's operational costs.

According to Ritongga, the province promised to quote the airline a number of costs like fiscal payments, landing fees and fuel costs in rupiah rather than US dollars. But, he said, the promise had not been kept.

Over the last six months a total of 2,500 passengers flew from Manado to Taipei aboard Garuda, said Gito, the head of Garuda's ticket office in Manado. He said the number was 2,600 passengers from Taipei to Manado.

Meanwhile, an official with Singapore's Silk Air said that airline's passenger load on its Manado route had also fallen since SARS hit Singapore last month.

The passenger load had fallen by between 40 percent and 50 percent, said Silk Air's customer service manager in Manado, Devi.

She said the airline would maintain its Manado-Singapore route, though the flight frequency would be reduced to twice a week from three times a week.

Silk Air would review its flight schedule next June, she said.