Garuda raises Japan flights

JAKARTA (JP): Garuda Indonesia will increase its service to Japan by operating an MD-11 aircraft to Osaka three times a week starting on Sep. 4, a spokesman for the national flag carrier said here yesterday.

The carrier currently serves three major cities in Japan, including Tokyo (seven times a week), Nagoya (five times a week) and Fukuoka (three times a week).

Garuda's chief of the services division, Tony Sonawidjaja, said the airline is inviting its clients to check in at its "city check-in" facilities in the peak tourist season in July and August. This will be used both to guarantee that travelers flights have been confirmed and to reduce congestion at airports.

Tony said that the facilities, introduced in late 1993, are open 24 hours up to four hours before flight departures.

He said that each month some 14,000 passengers in Denpasar, Bali, used the city check-in service in the first six months of this year, with 1,800 passengers in Jakarta and 2,500 passengers in Surabaya, East Java. (icn)