Govt to allow increase in international air links
Govt to allow increase in international air links
JAKARTA (JP): The government will soon allow an increase in
the number of international air links with several foreign
countries to boost foreign arrivals, Minister of Transportation
Haryanto Dhanutirto says.
He told Commission V of the House of Representatives here
yesterday that his ministry is considering the establishment of a
bilateral air relationship with, at least, 10 potential
countries.
"We are studying to establish or improve air agreements with
South Africa, Zaire, Mexico, Suriname, Venezuela, Argentina,
Canada, Uzbekistan, Mauritius and Slovakia," Haryanto said.
He said Indonesia has recently completed the amendment of air
agreements with the United States, Spain, New Zealand, Germany,
Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
"The government has also set four new airports to serve
international flights, which include Blang Bintang in Aceh,
Hasanuddin in Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, Selaparang in
Mataram of West Nusa Tenggara and Husein Sastranegara in Bandung
of West Java," he said, adding that Lufftransport Unternehhmen
(LTU) International Airways of Germany started services linking
Medan in North Sumatra and Munich via Langkawi of Malaysia and
Denpasar in Bali and Munich via Colombo early this month.
He also said that air services for Singapore and Malaysia have
been improved by the addition of a number of international
airports serving direct flights to the island republic, including
Palembang in South Sumatra, Surabaya in East Java, Jakarta and
Denpasar to Johor Bahru; Solo in Central Java and Ujungpandang in
to Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile, Director General of Air Transportation Zainuddin
Sikado told reporters after the hearing that three domestic
airlines are welcome to serve flights to Singapore from Solo,
Ujungpandang and Mataram.
"They can start the service whenever they are ready. The
government has appointed Mandala, Merpati and Sempati to serve
either Solo-Singapore, Mataram-Singapore and Ujungpandang-
Singapore routes," he said.
The Indonesia Air Carriers' Association (Inaca) complained in
a hearing with Commission V last week that the government has not
yet picked any domestic airlines to cooperate with Singaporean
air carriers in serving the routes. Meanwhile, Merpati Airlines,
a subsidiary of the state-run airline Garuda Indonesia, has
served the Bandung-Singapore route since Oct. 24. (icn)