Garuda launches Jakarta-Batam-Jeddah route
Garuda launches Jakarta-Batam-Jeddah route
BATAM, Riau (JP): The state-owned airline Garuda Indonesia
launched its Jakarta-Batam-Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, route yesterday,
becoming the first scheduled international flight via Batam's
Hang Nadim international airport.
The maiden flight by a DC10 aircraft departed Jakarta
yesterday morning, carrying some 210 passengers including Garuda
president Soepandi and Batam Authority executive chairman S.
Djatmiko. When the flight landed in Batam, there was a ceremony.
The plane then continued to Jeddah carrying about 30
passengers.
"In line with the national development plan in general and the
Batam development plan in particular, Garuda Indonesia wants to
make Batam a new distribution center for its flights in western
Indonesia, like Denpasar is in eastern Indonesia," Soepandi said
yesterday.
Garuda Indonesia will fly the Jakarta-Batam-Jeddah route as a
round trip every Wednesday using DC10 aircraft. Every Monday and
Friday it will fly DC10s on the Jakarta-Jeddah route as a round
trip without stopping in Batam.
The airline used to run three direct flights a week from
Jakarta to Jeddah.
Garuda Indonesia plans to move its transit point from
Singapore to Batam soon for its Jakarta-London flights, because
Singapore transits are inefficient, Soepandi said.
"In Singapore, we are not allowed to take passengers and we
must pay higher ground-handling fees and refueling costs. So it's
better for us to transit it Batam," he said.
Hang Nadim airport offers 48 percent cheaper ground-handling
fees and 5 percent to 15 percent cheaper aviation fuel than
Singapore's Changi airport.
Soepandi said he was optimistic other international airlines
would use Hang Nadim airport as a transit point for international
flights because of the savings.
Hang Nadim airport has been renovated to an international
standard costing Rp 500 billion (US$217.4 million). Its runway
was extended to 4,000 meters. The runway at the country's main
airport, Cengkareng, stretches only 3,650 meters.
Large jets, including Boeing B-747-400s, can land at Hang
Nadim.
The renovated airport was opened by President Soeharto late
last year. But only chartered international flights had used it
until Garuda launched its new service yesterday.
The government has made Hang Nadim the country's main cargo
airport. It recently ordered all foreign cargo jets to land
there.
The Garuda Indonesia Batam general manager, Iskandar Basro,
said Garuda wanted to improve its service for costumers wanting
to join the pilgrimage to Mecca.
"Of 70,000 Indonesian umroh pilgrims to Mecca every year, only
10 percent of them fly Garuda. The rest go via Singapore or Kuala
Lumpur aboard foreign flights, because they find that going via
Jakarta is more expensive," he said.
Umroh pilgrims are pilgrims who go to Mecca outside the haj
season.
Garuda Indonesia plans to open Medan-Batam, Pekanbaru-Batam,
Padang-Batam and Palembang-Batam routes in April 1997 to get more
pilgrims to use its service. Merpati also plans to fly direct
from Kalimantan to Batam then.
He said the new flights were motivating the Saudi Arabian
government to open a consulate in Batam in future to simplify the
processing of pilgrims' visas.
Garuda Indonesia also wants to fly Filipino workers, who now
transit in Jakarta, to and from Saudi Arabia.
Philippines Airlines, he said, had agreed to start flying from
Manila to Batam in April, 1997, to serve workers going to Saudi
Arabia. They will fly Garuda to Saudi Arabia. (jsk)