Garuda reduces flights on Jakarta-Yogya route

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned Garuda Indonesia airlines will reduce its number of daily flights between Jakarta and Yogyakarta from seven to six starting next week.

"The decision was taken as part of the company's efforts to cope with the crisis, which has reduced the number of our passengers on the route," Pudjobroto, a company media-relations official, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

The monetary crisis, which has seen a 70 percent fall in the rupiah's value against the U.S. dollar since July, has drastically reduced the number of travelers in the country and forced domestic airlines to reduce flights or suspend service on several routes.

Pudjobroto said Garuda temporarily suspended its Jakarta-Seoul route last month which had five flights per week.

The company also has temporarily stopped service to Singapore and Malaysia from North Sumatran capital of Medan.

Sempati Air, the country's largest private airline, has also suffered a severe loss of business during the crisis.

Sempati will suspend flights to six domestic destinations -- Ambon, Maluku, Denpasar, Bali, Jayapura, Irian Jaya, Manado in North Sulawesi; Surakarta in Central Java; and Timika, Irian Jaya -- starting next week due a drop in its number of passengers.

It also will temporarily suspend service to Singapore.

Sempati stopped service on several domestic routes last September.

The routes include Ampenan, West Nusa Tenggara; Bandung, West Java; Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan; Dili, East Timor; Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi; Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara; Padang, West Sumatra; Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan; Semarang, Central Java; and Tarakan, East Kalimantan.

Sempati said the crisis has severely affected its business because it paid 80 percent of its flight costs in dollars and its load factor has decreased. (jsk)