Garuda to provide flights to Fukuoka

Garuda to provide flights to Fukuoka

TOKYO (DPA): The Tokyo office of Garuda Indonesia airlines
said Wednesday it will resume flights between Fukuoka in
southwestern Japan and Denpasar on Bali Island during the summer
season to respond to the demand from Japanese tourists.

The Indonesian national flag carrier will tie up with the
Crystal Travel Company, a travel agency based in Fukuoka, and
operate two chartered flights a week between Fukuoka and Denpasar
starting on July 24 for two months to meet the increasing demand
for flights to the Indonesia resort island.

An official at Garuda said the company, however, does not have
a plan to provide regular services from Fukuoka to Denpasar.

Currently, Garuda Indonesia provides regular flights from
Japan's Kansai International Airport, Narita Airport and Nagoya
Airport to Denpasar.

Garuda suspended Fukuoka-Denpasar services in May, 1998,
because of a sharp drop of Japanese visitors to Bali due to an
unstable political situation in the Southeast Asian country as
well as to a fatal accident in 1996 at Fukuoka Airport.

On June 13, 1996 a Garuda DC-10 jetliner overran the runway
during takeoff at Fukuoka Airport and caught fire, killing three
passengers and injuring 170 others.