Government to issue licenses to four chartered airlines
Government to issue licenses to four chartered airlines
JAKARTA (JP): The government is expected to grant operating
permits to four new chartered airlines this year, adding to the
existing 110 licensed operators, a senior official of the
Ministry of Communications said here on Friday.
In a media conference, Soenaryo Yosopratomo, Director-general
of Air Communications, did not disclose their names but warned
that other applicants in the pipeline might not be as lucky.
"Most will probably back down when they can't get the routes
they want," Soenaryo said when asked about the fate of about
60 other companies which have registered with the Ministry to
operate chartered and scheduled flights.
In June, the government gave seven local airlines permission
to operate domestic and international scheduled flights.
The seven are Pelita Air Service, Indonesian Airlines Avi
Patria, AIRWAGON International (AWAIR), Lion Mentari Air (Lion
Airlines), Bayu Indonesia Air, Rusmindo Internusa Air and Jatayu
Air. They will compete against the existing five scheduled
carriers: state-owned Garuda Indonesia and Merpati Nusantara
Airlines, and private operators Mandala Airlines, Bouraq
Airlines, and Dirgantara Air Service.
The rest of the existing airlines operate chartered flights.
The government categorizes routes as being "fat" such as
Jakarta-Denpasar and Jakarta-Surabaya with more than 200,000
passengers a year, or "thin" such as Jakarta-Yogyakarta, Jakarta-
Lombok, and Ujung Pandang-Irian Jaya with less than 200,000
passengers.
"There is a limit to how many airlines can service a `fat'
route," Soenaryo said adding that if the limit was met, then the
route would be closed to other airlines.
"Thin" routes could only be serviced by one airline. "If we
give permission to more, they will likely die," he said.
An airline could state their proposed routes, but the decision
to award them would be up to the government, he said.
On the same occasion, Soenaryo outlined the government's plan
to upgrade the existing terrestrial-based air traffic control
system to a satellite-based control system.
The initial project would be launched in 2005 and is expected
to be fully operational by 2010, Soenaryo said.
The satellite-based system would make navigation more
accurate, and ensure a strong signal across Indonesia, he said.
"There will be no more blank spots, where communication is
rendered impossible," he said. (10)